By Siti Rohaizah Zainal
KLANG, Feb 15 — A total of 1,500 participants of the Skim Mesra Usia Emas (SMUE) at Sementa constituency received shopping vouchers as of yesterday.
Its coordinator Afrishah Azizi said they have distributed vouchers using several methods including going to the homes of infirm elderly people.
“Residents can come to the public service center office to collect them but we also work with the Village Community Management Council to organise programmes in certain areas for the distribution of vouchers,” she said when met at the Sementa Jelajah Ehsan Rakyat roadshow at the Dewan Orang Ramai Kampung Tok Muda, here today,
Afrishah said his party also utilised social media to publicise the state government’s initiatives to the residents.
“The use of social media accelerates the message we want to convey to the community about all the benefits the state government has,” she said.
SMUE was introduced more than a decade ago to appreciate the state’s elderly with each member benefiting from birthday gift vouchers and death benefits.
Starting this year, the value of SMUE vouchers was increased to RM150 compared to RM100 before and the same amount is also given to participants of the SSkim Mesra Insan Istimewa (SMIS), involving an allocation of RM37.5 million.
The household income eligibility limit for Jom Shopping voucher recipients has also been increased from RM2,000 to RM3,000 per month.
Previously, SMUE recipients received RM100 shopping vouchers at selected supermarkets only in the month of their birth, which was handed to them at the community service centre of their respective state constituency..
