GEORGE TOWN: A family of five’s misery – living in a tiny, decrepit room at a kampung house in Jalan Utama here – will come to an end soon after they were offered a government-owned unit at the Rifle Range Flats in Air Itam.
Last month, FMT highlighted the plight of security guard Paner Selvam Subramaniam and his wife Kogilavani Suppan and their three young children, who could not afford to pay rent due to their low income.
More recently, the family and some 30 others, all living within the same house, had to be put under quarantine due to a Covid-19 positive case among the occupants, forcing Paner to lose more than half of his RM1,400 income.
Even when the Penang government offered him the unit at RM90 a month, Paner could not afford the two months’ advance rent, first-month rent and utility deposit.
Luckily for him, businessman R Ravi, an FMT reader, came to his rescue, paying the RM370 fee he needed to collect his keys on Dec 19. Ravi also bought the family groceries.
After two years’ of suffering in a room only slightly bigger than a queen-sized bed, Paner and his family will be able to stay at their new flat from Jan 4.
A delighted Paner and Kogilavani, when met at Komtar recently, could not hide their excitement at moving into a proper home. They brought all three kids along to the state government office on their old motorcycle.
“I want to thank all who have donated to us and the Penang government for offering us this flat. And also FMT and NGOs for highlighting our plight.”
See how Paner’s family underwent quarantine after one of their house mate tested positive for Covid-19. – FMT