In 2018, he fell on the streets and injured himself. As a diabetic patient, the injury later developed into gangrene. Following his doctor’s advice, a year later, he had his toes and part of his left foot removed.  Unfortunately, while he was recovering, the doctor discovered that his right foot was also suffering from gangrene and recommended that my cousin have it removed as well. 

Poor chap, unable to imagine a future without both feet, got scared and rejected the doctor’s advice. To save his right foot from amputation, my cousin went against our family’s advice and opted for traditional medicine which promised to heal him without any surgical procedures.   More than one year down the road, he lost all his savings to alternative medicine.

To make matters worse, his marriage failed and my cousin’s only remaining parent, his mother who was his strongest supporter, also passed away. 

No longer able to survive on painkillers alone, he finally decided to end his misery. He agreed to have his other foot amputated at the hospital. Unfortunately, the gangrene on his right foot by then had developed up to his knee.   Giving up on life, he agreed to have his right leg amputated at the end of last year.

Recovery was a hard process for him. As relatives, we helped where we could. We crowdfunded his recovery process in a wonderful hospice home where help and support were available while his brother's rented home was renovated to ease his movement and help him function better.

By the middle of this year, my cousin began moving slowly with a prosthetic leg and a pair of shoes specially made for him, courtesy of his kind employers. But to get him back to his routine as an independent, working adult, was difficult.

My cousin needed a suitable motorcycle which would enable him to function like a member of the community and no longer be the burden he thinks he is. But to purchase a motorcycle wasn't easy as everyone in the family had already tirelessly helped him financially in so many ways.

Caring leadership

As a last resort, a simple letter was emailed to the Penang chief minister’s office, requesting help. I kid you not, within one week of the email, my cousin received a phone call enquiring about his condition and within the next few days, he was visited by representatives from the chief minister’s office.

Nothing surprises me : I wish all voters from all states will read your article before the GE. There are only handfull of court clusters pushing to have the election this year. How sad !!!

Coward : I have to admit the speed which he got the assistance he needs from the CM office is fast by any standard, local and overseas. This is in no doubt the effort of the state government. We see improvement in governance since DAP took over which there are doubts whether the same will be seen if the government had remained BN. 

Two examples: the cleanliness of restaurant toilets and the street lights at the main road are all functioning. Before that the stinginess of Penang government means there was no overlap in the light arc from streetlights on Lim Chong Eu Express way and with poor maintenance, we have patches of light and total darkness. If it is an effective government you want, then you can forget PN or BN. 

BN set the standard for states in Malaysia and we all know how good that is. PN in the form of PAS is in the Malaysian context the reason for failed state (Kelantan and Terengganu) or is leading the state towards it (take note Kedah) However, other than that, I cannot put my hand on my heart that if he was in another state and he wrote to the MB there he wouldn't had got what he needed, after a lengthy delay and he having to go to a ceremony to receive the help of course. 

It's quid pro quo as far as the MBs are concerned, even though he is receiving what he can expect and deserve to get from the government in the first place and the politician only do what we expect of him and nothing more What this also shows is our welfare department is failing to catch those in need. 

With a minister that is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, we are not expecting anything to change, it is left to the failsafe service such as those offered by the CM's office to do the job it is supposed to do.

PinkPanther9291 : Just imagine how many motorcycles (or any other necessities) can be bought for those in need if Najib/BN didn't steal the RM42Mil in SRC case, not to mention the other cases like 1MDB. 

Penang is not only clean physically but also from the corruption. We as anak Malaysia should aware that DAP isn't anti-malay, islam nor the ruler, Don't let the PAS or BN agenda to ruin our nation.