Ismail Sabri to aid of ex-naval officer down on his luck

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob (left) having a chat with Hassim Ahmad and his family at their home in Telok Ayer Tawar, Butterworth, today.

BUTTERWORTH: Former naval officer Hassim Ahmad has had a string of setbacks over the past two years.

The 75-year-old man was once a contract gardener at a school earning RM1,100 a month to support his family, two of whom are disabled.

After two years as an adept gardener, trained by an armed forces veteran vocational school, the school terminated him in 2018.

Then last year, he discovered he had three major blocks in his heart, with doctors insisting that he be operated on immediately.

He had three stents inserted into his heart at the Penang Hospital last December and is currently on medication.

Since then, he has been living from hand to mouth as he has to care for his 72-year-old wife who is wheelchair-bound after a stroke, and his 23-year-old daughter who is mentally handicapped.

Hassim has three other children, two of whom are staying with their husbands away from Penang, and his 22-year-old son, who works at a factory nearby.

He said his son helps out with the bills with whatever little he earns. His two other daughters send some money, but “just enough” as they have bills to pay, too.

With his current heart condition, Hassim is unable to do hard labour. He takes it upon himself to take care of his wife and daughter, from the diapers to getting them food.

“I get RM300 from zakat and another RM300 from the Welfare Department. We are doing okay. But sometimes, with all the medication and diapers that we need to buy, it can become quite difficult, ” he told reporters here today.

Hassim does not receive pension despite his 16 years of service with the Royal Malaysian Navy as a hydrographer on KD Pelantau and KD Mutiara, serving in waters off Sabah and Sarawak from 1980 to 1996.

This was because he opted to leave the armed forces before retirement, leaving him without pension.

Hassim’s last post was as a lance corporal repairing naval ships at the Butterworth naval base. After leaving the Navy, he sold nasi lemak and other food, became a security guard at a college in Bukit Mertajam and then a gardener.

Learning about his hardship, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob today flew to Penang after his daily press conference on the movement control order to meet Hassim.

Ismail handed over cash aid and other necessary items such as diapers to him and his family. The Armed Forces Veteran Affairs Department director-general Dzulkarnain Ahmad also made a separate cash donation from the department.

Later, Ismail urged people like Hassim, who are not pensioners of the armed forces, to register under Perhebat, which is the Ex-Armed Forces Affairs Corporation, which provides courses for veterans.

He said currently, there were about 100,000 veterans, but only 70,000 have registered.

“We take care of all veterans, regardless of whether they are drawing pensions or non-pensioners. We are trying to get more to register under Perhebat.

“In the meantime, we have been giving Prihatin aid to our veterans. But some of them are not registered. We urge them to register so that we can help.

“Under Perhebat, we can upskill our veterans so that they can find new jobs, start a new venture and more.”

Abu Hassan Abd Malik, who is the Penang chairman for the Persatuan Veteran Tentera Tidak Berpencen Malaysia, also urged veterans facing hardship to contact them on Facebook for help. - FMT