Single mum with six kids forced to live in car for months

A 30-year old mother and her six children had lived in a car parked near a petrol station in Hulu Selangor for four months.

The woman was laid off from her job in March after her employer struggled with maintaining the business due to the movement control order.

She and the children, aged between five months and 14 years, were forced to move out from their home as they could no longer afford to pay the rent.

She is in the process of getting a divorce from her husband who has not come home for four months.

Her plight came to light after the Selangor Zakat Board shared her unfortunate situation on Twitter today.

Malaysiakini has also learned that the woman herself suffers from cancer while three of her children are sick and need hospital treatment.

When contacted, the woman, who requested anonymity, said she had initially contacted social activist Kuan Chee Heng, better known as "Uncle Kentang", for help.

Subsequently, she received assistance from the Selangor Zakat Board and several other NGOs such as Darul Jariyah.

Kuan Chee Heng

Kuan told Malaysiakini that he received a call from the woman two days ago and immediately went to the petrol station to check on her condition.

Following that, he went to the police station to file a report to enable her to receive assistance from government agencies. He also gave her some pocket money.

Kuan shared his experience of helping the woman and her children on his Facebook page revealing he also helped to repair their car.

"It's such a pity that they had to sleep in the car with a malfunctioning air conditioner.

"So I brought the car to a workshop to fix it," he said. - Mkini