Desperate for help and on the verge of becoming homeless, handicapped labourer P Balan has turned to the Malaysian Human Rights Commssion (Suhakam) to resolve his predicament.
The bank had auctioned off his home in February in a purportedly speedy manner, after a freak accident left the welder paralysed waist-down and unable to repay his housing loans.
A metal column had crushed Balan, 37, while he was at work on June 22 last year, damaging his spinal cord and making it impossible for him to continue his job.
Now, he and his two sisters, as well as his sister’s three children, may be thrown out of the house that they are now occupying illegally.
They have already received a legal notice from the new homeowner, telliing them to vacate the premises…
Balan bought the house with a loan of RM115,000 in 2005. He was unable to service the loan from July 2015 onwards after the accident. He spent seven months in hospital, and for four of those, he was in a coma.
Even though the loan was covered by insurance, it was rejected by insurers due to insufficient medical evidence, and the bank proceeded to auction the property.
The family complained that the bank was unwilling to wait for a complete medical report confirming Balan’s paralysed state, which he only received in June after being discharged in January.
They later learnt that their home was auctioned off at a price of RM150,000.
We trust that the big spending Najib and his wife are enjoying the luxuries on their extended foreign tours, as the plight of the likes of Mr Balan are clearly beneath their interest.
Suhakam say they know of 50 others in a similar position who have lost their homes in the same way.
Where are Mr Balan’s employers, who ought to have been helping to solve his problems after this doubtless avoidable accident at work?
What were the medical bureaucrats otherwise doing that they could not sign a form to say he had been paralysed in less than six months?
Who are the disgraceful insurers who refused to respond to such a dreadful tragedy in a speedy and responsible manner, given that this is why people like Mr Balan pay them their fat fees every month?
And which was the bank manager who called in the loan and sold off the house with such callous disregard for the tragic circumstances of the case?
All these people represent what is wrong in Malaysia now under a regime that has become so corrupted that it has created a society where dog eats dog.
With Mr Balan so stricken these people saw only the opportunity for themselves to take his home and make a profit. All who failed him should be prosecuted and Suhakam is right to take up his case.