21 elderly and differently-abled (OKU) people were left outside of the Malaysian Tamilar Kural office in Prai, Penang, after they were forced to endure horrible conditions by an unlicensed nursing home in Padang Serai, Kedah.
Thankfully, all of them have since been resettled in different shelters. 8 were received by the Rumah Kasih Sayang in Kulim, while the other 13 were transferred to the care of the Penang Social Welfare Department following their abandonment. 3 of the residents with mental health problems will be managed by the Penang Health Department.
All of this started when the Tamilar Kural organisation brought attention to the unlicensed nursing home in Kedah in April after they had received a complaint of assaults that took place at the nursing home.
After Tamilar Kural shared their findings on social media, the nursing home’s inhumane treatment of the elderly under their care came to light, causing the Kedah Welfare Department to shut them down.
Though, following their closure, the operator of the nursing home allegedly did not hand over all of the residents to the Welfare Department and instead, moved them to a hut in an oil palm plantation in Sungai Karangan, Kedah.
Tamilar Kural eventually managed to track them down last weekend, and what they found shocked them to their core.
Apparently, several residents, with some suffering from mental health problems, were chained to their beds and to the hut. The conditions they were living in were also horrific with foul smells and a lack of basic facilities.
“When we visited the location last Sunday (November 3) and questioned the operator as to why the residents were not handed over to the Welfare Department, they apologised and promised to do so before November 20,”
“However, yesterday (November 5), they left all 21 senior citizens in front of our office in Prai,” Malaysian Tamilar Kural Foundation adviser, M Satees told Berita Harian.
The founder and trustee of Yayasan Malaysian Tamilar Kural, David Marshel, also took to his Facebook page to call for action to be taken against the nursing home operator.
“The appropriate action needs to be taken against this irresponsible party, for chaining up several individuals,” he wrote.
What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
Also read: Elderly Kepong Man Has Been Throwing His Faeces Out of His Apartment Window Every Day for 2 Years
