By Avila Geraldine January 21, 2020 @ 1:00pm
KOTA KINABALU: A total of 350 underprivileged children received RM100 in school aid each, courtesy of Luyang assemblyman Phoong Jin Zhe.
The assistance was part Bantuan Orang Susah (BOS) allocation under the Luyang state legislative assembly's fund meant to assist the needy within the state constituency for the new school year.
The recipients were from, three primary schools - SK (C) Anglo Chinese, SK Sri Gaya, SJK (C) Shan Tao; and two kindergartens - Tadika Peak Nam Tong and Tadika Chung Hwa.
The three primary schools received RM10,000 each, while the two kindergartens received RM2,500 each.
"During the budget wind-up for the fund last year, there was allocation under BOS with RM35,000 balance," said Phoong, today.
"To avoid it from being withdrawn and spent elsewhere, we decided to return the money to the people and focus on education as there are students who will need money to buy additional learning materials," he said.
The state Youth and Sports Minister was speaking to reporters after handing over RM10,000 mock cheque and 'ang pow' to 100 poor pupils of SK (C) Anglo Chinese here.
Present to received the mock cheque were the school's headmaster Ong Kooi Hung and Parent Teacher Association chairman Tan Peng Juan.
Phoong said although the RM100 assistance was small, the intention was to lighten the financial burden of parents.
"I come from a poor background, so I know the feeling when it comes to purchasing list of books...
"Parents need to get the compulsary books for their children, but then there are also the additional and optional books.
"They may not be able to buy additional books. So, there is a gap there when (poor) students are not able to purchase learning materials," he said.
Phoong added that he would look into preparing an annual budget for a similar purpose if the the response from parents and schools were encouraging.
Earlier, the Luyang assemblyman spent time engaging with SK (C) Anglo Chinese pupils, advising them to focus on their education among others.
Also receiving the BOS assistance from Phoong today were schoolchildren of Tadika Peak Nam Tong and SK Sri Gaya.