KUCHING: A family is left in despair after
the main breadwinner, a labourer, Chai Ah Onn ferried his second daughter, Ai
Liang aged 17 back from work in a bakery shop to their house on his motorcycle
on the night of last 20 January. Chai died in a horrifying death at 10.00pm that night at a road junction near his house.
Chai was hit three times by vehicles and a
motorcycle after his body was flung from one side of the road to the other due
to the impact of the crash. Ai Liang who was riding pillion was certified brain
dead by the time she reached the Sarawak General hospital. She died two days
later.
The family of Chai stayed in a dilapidated
farm house which is a state land in Sg. Tengah with their grandparents and
uncles.
Chai had eight children. The eldest son,
aged 17, died in a road accident three years ago. The eldest daughter aged 18
has left school and is working in a bakery in Batu Kawa. The late Ai Liang, was
the third child. The fourth, fifth, sixth and eight siblings are all boys aged
15, 12, 10 and one respectively whereas the seventh child is a girl, aged 7.
Chai’s wife, Bong Nyet Lin, 47 is yet to be
aware of the huge impact of hardship she will face with the demise of her
husband and daughter.
Yesterday morning, Padawan Municipal
Council (PMC) Chairman, Lo Khere Chiang went to the house to give cash and food
stuff to lighten their burden. Also there was a welfare assistant who gave
RM300 cash and food to the family.
Lo said he was touched by the plight of the
family and the Welfare Department had come in to give assistance. He hoped that
the family would get RM450 monthly to relief the family’s financial burden.
He said the Welfare Department under
Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister, Datuk Fatimah Abdullah had done a lot to help such families in need.
Saying that there are also a lot of kind
hearted people in Kuching, Lo said helps had come in to the family in cash and
kind. He said those in the Padawan area can also pass their donation through
him or his office if they do not know the whereabout of Chai’s house.
He said it is important that Chai’s younger
children who are all young should continue with their education.
Chai’s elderly parents, his father Chai Ah
Pu aged 70 and his mother, Liew Chaw Moi aged 66 are both retired farmers.
Chaw Moi who has to bear the full impact of
taking care of the family told Lo that the death of her son is sorrowful for
her. The house did not have electricity as the place they were staying in is a
state land. She said she is also getting old and worried about the young
children’s future.
By : Connie Chieng Sarawak Tribune
Date Posted : Sunday 26-Jan-2014
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