New Straits Time, 4 April 2008 - GEMAS: In what should be their golden years, poverty has forced an elderly couple to turn an abandoned toilet into their home.
Ismail Mat, 70, and his 68-year-old wife Rahimah Jolan have been living in the dilapidated toilet at the Gemas railway station since the end of last month, when Ismail was employed to maintain the new toilets near their "home". Ismail said he has used planks and plastic sheeting to prevent leaks and to cover the toilet bowls."We earn about RM10 a day from the 20 sen people pay to use the toilet and from the sale of tissue paper. With that we buy some packet rice to eat twice a day," he said."Before I got this job, I was the caretaker of the toilets at the stalls managed by the Tampin district council. I lived under a staircase there for three years.
He said he was thankful to a Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) officer in Gemas who gave him the job of looking after the toilets at the station, and did not stop him when he moved into the abandoned toilets nearby.Ismail, who comes from Jelebu, said he has two children and 11 grandchildren from his first marriage. But he said they don't bother about him anymore.State executive councillor for Women and Family Affairs Zainab Nasir visited them at their "home" recently and promised to get them a house under the Program Kesejahteraan Rakyat (Community Welfare Scheme)."I will also get them financial aid to meet their daily needs. I will try and persuade the couple to move into the Seremban Welfare Home until their new home is ready."
