When told that kind people would come to his assistance if he flew a white flag, Harrichandran, 42, said he wished he had known about it earlier. He could have fashioned a flag out of an old T-shirt and a broomstick.
Harrichandran, better known as Harri, is blind, suffers from diabetes, and needs to find a new home. The 17th floor flat at Taman Bukit Jambul where he now lives is about to be sold.
He said he is looking for a flat on a low floor, for which he is willing to pay RM350 in rent, using his social welfare aid and Socso money.
He said he was eyeing a city council flat at a five-floor walk-up block near the Pesta grounds in Sungai Dua. His current place has unreliable lifts and he has to use the stairs; it takes him an hour-and-a-half to reach his flat.
“I just need someone to get me a reasonable flat that I can afford,” he told FMT.
Harri lives alone. His wife left in 2014, two years after he went blind after a stroke, and took their 11-year-old son with her. Harri said he keeps in touch with his son by phone.
After going blind, he continued to operate the flower stall until 2018 when his health deteriorated; his kidneys failed and he now needs to have regular dialysis.
He continued making jasmine garlands and tied other flowers on request at home and sold vitamins over the phone for a direct selling company, earning RM30 per sale. But business was hard to come by during the pandemic: he sold just three boxes since the MCO began last year.
“I can tell you which vitamins are good for you based on your diseases. Although I’m blind, I can still tie flowers. It is a muscle memory I have had since I was 12. I also don’t save phone numbers, I remember them by heart,” he told FMT.
He receives RM300 a month in social welfare aid and RM900 from Sosco, which also pays for his weekly dialysis treatment.
However, the RM1,200 is not enough to live on. Half goes to rent, and over RM500 goes to Grab to transport him to his dialysis centre thrice a week. The remainder is spent on food. His friends bring hot meals from time to time and his sister in Klang has vegetarian food delivered through e-hailing apps.
Harri was introduced to FMT by activist Vimalan Chandrasekaran, who has been providing him with essentials for the past month after hearing about his plight. Vimalan has also pledged to get him hot meals daily.
If you wish to help Harri, send a WhatsApp message to FMT’s Helpline at 0193899839. No calls, just texts.