KUALA LUMPUR: A blind singer who has been trying to get assistance from the Social Security Organisation (Socso) for the past 10 years, claims he has been sent on a wild goose chase by the authorities.
Alfred Ho said he went to Parliament yesterday in an attempt to meet human resources minister V Sivakumar, but was turned away by security guards.
“Sivakumar is close to impossible to meet,” Ho, 73, told FMT.
“I then rang one of his secretaries, who said I should go to Putrajaya, but it is inconvenient for me to go there.
“If they don’t want to help me, just be straightforward instead of sending me on a wild goose chase.”
He claimed the aide “sounded arrogant” and “patronising” and did not want to entertain his request.
Ho, a busker who has recorded several songs, said he had applied for assistance from Socso on more than four occasions in the last 10 years.
He said he had met with politicians from Barisan Nasional and also former deputy human resources minister Mahfuz Omar, but did not get any help.
He said he needed money to pay for his medical bills due to his old age.
“I thought the prime minister said this is a caring government but, unfortunately, it’s not,” he added.
FMT has reached out to Sivakumar’s office for comments.