Shoebox family overjoyed after move to new flat, despite lack of furniture

 

Paner Selvam Subramaniam with his wife Kogilavani Suppan and children at their government rental flat at Rifle Range, Air Itam.

GEORGE TOWN: Not long ago, the nation was moved by the story of Penang Hospital security guard Paner Selvam Subramaniam, 37, who lived with his family in a tiny room above a restaurant at Jalan Utama, here.

That tiny room was just slightly bigger than a queen-sized bed and it was on the verge of collapse with the family sleeping on a hardwood floor with unopened diaper packs fashioned into pillows.

When FMT highlighted their plight, a torrent of help came, including a pledge by the state government for a home. That was early November.

While waiting for a home, one of the 30 other people staying at the makeshift accommodation above the restaurant, tested positive for Covid-19.

As a result, Paner, his wife and three young children had to endure two weeks of quarantine with very little food and continued to share one outhouse bathroom when occupants were supposed to practise physical distancing.

In December, Paner received a letter with an offer of a government rental flat at Rifle Range in Air Itam. He, however, had to wait until Jan 4 to move into the unit and had to pay close to RM400 in deposit, which a generous individual decided to settle on his behalf.

On Wednesday, Jan 6, the family moved into their one-bedroom, 355 sq ft flat, which will set them back RM90 a month. This is a lot more affordable compared with the RM350 for the earlier room they occupied for over two years.

Paner and his wife Kogilavani Suppan, 39, were overjoyed when FMT visited them the next day.

He said they had to abandon most of their clothes and belongings from their previous accommodation, as it was severely infested with bedbugs.

But the relief in his voice was apparent when he spoke about the experience of spending the night in the new flat for the first time.

“We had the most peaceful sleep in many years. It has been just one night and the kids slept well, too,” he said, expressing his gratitude.

It was odd to hear Paner say they had a sound sleep, despite not having any mattress and just sleeping on the cold, concrete floor. The Rifle Range flats are not tiled.

Their older children, aged two and four, were also enjoying their newfound space.

There is no bed, chairs, fridge or a cot for their eight-month-old son. Rather than spending his RM1,200 salary on these items, he chose to buy an altar worth RM400.

“It is not the grandest altar. But it is the only way we can honour the divine intervention that came to save us,” he said in Tamil.

Paner added that there also seems to have been some confusion over his family and that of Ganesh Soundarajah, another poor Penang family who were recently reported to have lived in a car for the past eight months.

Ganesh’s plight also grabbed national attention when philanthropist Ebit Lew came to his rescue two weeks ago.

Both Paner and Ganesh, ironically, work as security guards, and both have three young children. Paner said many had texted him and his wife thanking them for saying they did not need any help anymore.

He said he was not surprised by the mistaken identity, saying it could be plain ignorance. Paner also described how many people stopped to ask him if he was from the “car family”.

Oddly enough, a kind “uncle” who lent him a car to move a few items from the family’s previous accommodation – mainly the children’s toys – also had a blue-coloured Proton Saga Aeroback, similar to the one used by Ganesh, which saw many waving him down to check on him.

He said, however, he was happy that Ganesh’s family had received help, but hoped that generous folk would help them with the essentials needed for their home.

“There was a man who said he would buy us a kettle. But then he said he read somewhere that I don’t need help anymore, so he rescinded his offer,” Paner said with a strained laugh, referring to Ganesh’s announcement last week refusing further donations as the family had received enough donations.

Paner said he is on the lookout for a used fridge, so the family could store fresh vegetables and meat to cook and to store milk for the children, among other things.

In the meantime, he said he and his wife remain on an instant noodles diet.

Fortunately, there was still milk for the children (the youngest one is still breastfed) but he was hoping to feed them something solid soon.

The kind “uncle” who lent them the Proton, food stall operator R Vairavasundaram, also pledged to donate a mattress to them. - FMT