(From sixth left, back row) Abang Shamshudin, Tiong, Hii and others posing for a photo session.
Tiong (third left) officiates at the mini carnival for UMK 2016 (central region) at the lobby of Wisman Sanyan here while Hii (left), Abang Shamshudin (right) and others look on.
SIBU: The Welfare Department is promoting its Micro Welfare Entrepreneurship (UMK) programme under the ‘WellBest’ brand as a new approach to lift monthly welfare recipients out of the jaws of poverty.
State Welfare director Abang Shamshudin Abang Seruji said the programme was to turn recipients into welfare entrepreneurs to boost their income, making them less dependent on the monthly welfare assistance.
“In other words, we give them fishing rod rather than fish to ensure they have a stable income to enjoy a better life. We give them training and provide them capital starting with RM5,000 for them to buy small equipment and as working capital.
“They will start small and progress upwards over time and eventually move out of poverty,” Abang Shamshudin told reporters at the UMK 2016 mini carnival held at the lobby of Wisma Sanyan here yesterday.
The mini carnival organised for the first time for the central region and centred in Sibu began on July 29 and ends today.
It features 30 stalls set up by welfare entrepreneurs from Sibu, Sarikei, Kapit and Betong to promote their products.
Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) chairman Datuk Tiong Thai King, who is also Dudong assemblyman, officiated at the function which was also attended by Sibu Resident Hii Chang Kee, Sibu division welfare officer Norhayati Abdul Rahman, Temenggong Stanley Geramong and Pemanca James Semilan.
According to Abang Shamshudin, the poverty level for Sarawak is around RM990 per household.
“We want to get them out of poverty through this sort of thing – entrepreneurship. The government’s objective is to get them out of poverty.”
He noticed that many of the monthly welfare recipients were still productive, including some of the physically challenged people (OKUs).
Hence, he reckoned there was no reason for them to rely solely on monthly welfare assistance of RM200 to RM300.
“We want to motivate them to have a better life and one of the better choices is to be an entrepreneur.
“If they can do business, they can earn perhaps RM1,000 a month. So, it is a better life if they can do business rather than being a monthly recipient,” he pointed out.
Asked the criteria to be eligible to become a welfare entrepreneur, he explained they only have to be interested in business.
From there, those with interest would be selected for training and guided to do business, Abang Shamshudin added.
Touching on the carnival here, he said it was an exercise to coach welfare entrepreneurs on how to approach customers.
“WellBest (WB) stands for ‘Welfare at its best’ and WB is our brand,” he said and that the programme started some three years ago.
He said this year the department was aggressively promoting the carnival.
The mini carnival had been held in Miri and Samarahan, while a state-level carnival in Kuching gathering all micro entrepreneurs across Sarawak has been slated for October or November this year.
He noted good response to the carnival here, where the total sales volume generated on Friday was nearly RM10,000.
He also noted good market response in Sibu, Samarahan, Kuching and Miri.
“Sibu could be a gateway for the products from Sarikei, Kapit, Betong and even Mukah.”
Earlier, Tiong lauded the initiative by the Welfare Department as a step in the right direction to lift recipients of monthly welfare aid from the poverty bracket.
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- Hii (right) and Tiong (second right) check out the product by welfare entrepreneurs at the mini carnival for UMK 2016 (central region) at the lobby of Wisman Sanyan here.
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- (Seated from second left) Tiong and Hii show the products by the welfare entrepreneurs joined by Abang Shamshudin (left) and Norhayati (right).
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- Tiong (third left) presents a certificate of participation to a welfare entrepreneur while (from left) Stanley, Hii, Norhayati Abdul Rahman and Abang Shamshudin look on.