Disabled activists too harsh against PH, says blind singer

Activists with a memorandum for Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Hannah Yeoh in Putrajaya yesterday.

PETALING JAYA: Blind singer Alfred Ho has come out in defence of the government after a group of disabled persons submitted a protest memorandum to the women, family and community development ministry.

Responding to the group’s allegation that the ministry had done nothing for the disabled, Ho said he had learnt from personal experience that the Pakatan Harapan government was more caring than its predecessor.

He said he went to the Parliament building last year to see the human resources minister over some problems he was having with Socso.

“The minister was unavailable,” he said, “but I got to see his deputy, Mahfuz Omar. He attended to me.

“My problems have not been properly settled, but the point is that he paid attention and got the Socso officials to see me.”

He told FMT he tried to enter Parliament with a letter to a minister when Barisan Nasional (BN) was in power.

“They didn’t even allow me in. They merely sent someone outside to say they would take the letter to the minister. But nothing was heard of it after that.”

Singer Alfred Ho.

The disabled group with the protest memorandum said yesterday that neither the women, family and community development minister nor her deputy had met them despite repeated requests.

They also said the BN government had treated them better.

Ho disagreed, saying some of his welfare issues were taken care of after he wrote to the relevant department under the current administration.

“On the contrary,” he said, “there were many issues with the former regime. There was no response to any of the letters I wrote to the former government.

“You need to give credit where credit is due. This is a new government. You cannot expect miracles. To get things done, you need time. How can you undo damage that has been done in 60 years in just a year?

“The group’s criticism was harsh. They are making noise just because they haven’t got what they want.

“I feel quite angry about this.”

He said he didn’t believe the group’s claim that former minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil once cancelled a meeting to meet its representatives.

“I think that’s rubbish,” he added. - FMT