HELP IS A PHONE CALL AWAY

By : SHALINA ROSENI

HARASSED? Jilted? Broke? Battered? Call 1-800 222 333 toll-free for help. SabahCare Hotline will put you in touch with the right people to solve your problems. Azizah Dun, Minister Of Community Development And Consumer Affairs, says her ministry is offering this service because more and more people, particularly women, are vexed by crime and social problems such as domestic violence, unwanted pregnancies, underage marriages, drug abuse and trafficking, human trafficking, profiteering and loan sharking.

Five receptionists, known as 'call agents', will answer calls from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on work days from Monday to Friday at Wisma Wanita in Kota Kinabalu. Callers can leave messages with their names and contacts on an answering machine after office hours and during public holidays.

These receptionists, conversant in English, Malay and local dialects, are volunteers. Their job is to take down names and contacts of callers and their problems. They will then hand them to the right government officers who will get in touch with the troubled callers within 24 hours.

Asnimar Sukardi, the ministrry’s permanent secretary, says a caller’s identity is kept confidential. All information is kept in computers and every case is monitored until it has been successfully dealt with, she says.

The receptionists are trained by Telekom Malaysia which provides the toll-free number. The Sabah government is spending 300,000 ringgit ($95,000) on the call centre which was launched last month. Azizah says the SabahCare Hotline is another proof that the Sabah government has the people’s welfare at heart.

Without giving statistics, Azizah says her government is worried over rising social problems and is bent on helping families live happily.

Her ministry has a department that helps the handicapped, the aged and widows with food, shelter and clothing. (Insight Sabah)