SELAYANG residents persevere despite the lack of balanced nutrition in food supplies provided by the Social Welfare Department (JKM) under the enhanced movement control order (EMCO).

Since the EMCO began on April 20, residents have received dry goods – such as rice, oil, flour, canned sardines and eggs – from the department.

Raj Batumalai, resident of Sri Murni Phase 1 condominium told The Malaysian Insight that for the past 10 days, he and his family have been eating rice with dhal, canned sardines, mashed potatoes, and thosai.

However, he said there have been no vegetables or meat for daily consumption and hopes that the department would consider supplying these items.

Raj, who lives with his wife and her two sisters, also said even though sundry shops at Sri Murni are allowed to operate from 10am to 6pm during the EMCO, it is difficult to get supplies because there is usually a long queue.

Despite a lack of items here and there, Raj said he is satisfied with the department’s assistance and thinks it is doing a good job.

According to Raj, the department will sometimes deliver from door to door, but on most days, the department will drop the food at a designated pick-up point on the ground floor for residents to come down and pick up.

As of April 20, residents of Sri Murni Phase 1 have received food from the department three times in the space of nine days.

“For the past six days, I’ve been making porridge, fried rice, fried noodles and buns from the dry goods I received,” said another resident of Sri Murni Phase 1, who did not want to be named.

She lives with four other adults in her house and said the dry goods were enough for a simple meal.

However, she complained that for the first three days residents did not receive any supplies and her neighbours had to share dry food among themselves, because some were not prepared for the EMCO.

“The EMCO began in the morning on April 20 but there was no help at all, so on the second day, the residents decided to help each other because some of the units did not stock up food, had no gas or oil to cook.

“In some of the units there are elderly people who don’t have anyone looking after them and some babies have no milk or nappies,” she said.

The 51-year-old said she and other residents in her block have a WhatsApp group, so they talk to one another and deliver food to units that need it.

“It was only on the third day that we received rice, oil, and one packet of flour to cook. Other people who wanted to send goods to their families living in the area could not enter the building, including the civil society groups,” she added.

She said her family was coping well with the meals she is able to cook, yet, like Raj, she hopes the department will include meat and vegetables on the list.

Although sundry shops have been operating since yesterday, residents from each block are only allowed two hours to go out and buy goods.

As many residents rush to stock up within that period, this creates long queues and empties the shelves in the shops quickly, she said.

She added that she has no issues with the current distribution but hopes the department will look into cleaning the area and provide a technician to fix the lifts, which tend to break down quite often.

Eight minutes away from Tmn Sri Murni, residents of Tmn Batu View told The Malaysian Insight they only started receiving proper dry goods yesterday after residents complained that for the past week, they have only been supplied with oil, rice, and flour.

Pancake, porridge, and canned sardine with rice are some of the meals Mei Fong and her family have been surviving on for the past week before being supplied with proper dry goods yesterday.

Mei, who lives with seven other family members, said her mother suffers from kidney problems and her father is diabetic so the supplies provided to date were not suitable for her parents’ consumption.

“The items the department provided us with on the first day were not enough to make a proper meal. I have sickly people in the house, how do I make a proper meal with rice and flour, you tell me?” she said, adding she tried to reach out to a civil society group to help supply her family with vegetables and meat since it was obvious the department would not do so.

However, she said, the department rejected the group’s goods, which left Mei and her family to make do.

She also said she tried contacting the department directly a few days ago, to no avail.

However, after yesterday’s delivery, she said she is happy because the department provided them with eggs, biscuits, canned sardines, and a couple of extra items compared to the previous few days.

Currently, Pusat Bandar Utara and Selayang Wholesale Market area in Kuala Lumpur are each under an EMCO, which began on April 20 and is expected to end on May 3. – April 30, 2020.