Hamidah talking about the difficulty of caring for her husband in a house on stilts.
THE smell of urine wafted throughout the house of the visually-impaired elderly couple's house in Tanjong Maya. Traces of human faeces were on the floor.
Unable to walk to the toilet, Abdullah Kudi, 71, has been bedridden since July and suffers from diabetes and hypertension. He and 67-year-old wife Hamidah Bidin have been relying on the government's welfare support.
While the couple has no complaints about government support, they are hoping that the government would provide a domestic helper to help care for Abdullah, as the less than five-foot Hamidah could not help and carry her husband to the toilet.
"I can only clean him with a towel because I cannot carry my husband to the toilet. He cannot walk," Hamidah said.
With no children helping to ease her burden, she said she purchases diapers for her husband, much to his annoyance. "I have been buying diapers for him, but he does not like to wear them."
Staff from home-based nursing at Pengiran Muda Mahkota Pengiran Muda Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah Hospital in Tutong have been coming over to the house once a month to draw blood samples from her husband, as well as to check his blood pressure.
Twice a week, both their family members visit them. However, Hamidah said they need a domestic helper to help them with the daily needs of her husband like bathing and other personal hygiene needs.
"I would like help from the government by providing a wheelchair for my husband, so I can move him around," Hamidah said.
When The Brunei Times asked Abdullah how could his living conditions be improved, he said, "I would like the government to help by paying for a maid for us, so the maid can help me and my wife. The money we both get a month ($1,000) from the government, is not enough for us to hire a maid ourselves."
They both receive $250 in blind pension, and another $250 in old-age pension.
Hamidah said their monthly expenses were about $300 a month on groceries, $20 for electricity, $17 for the house phone bill.
"The diapers cost $6.50 for eight pieces, and I usually buy two sets every two weeks."
"At the end of the month, it is not enough for us to pay for a maid," she said.
Asked whether he had approached their village head to put in a request to the government in hiring a helper, Abdullah said, "I knew if I asked the village chief for help, at the end of the day I still need to pay for a maid which I cannot afford. So I never asked him for help."
He explained that having a helper was important when he needed to go to the toilet.
Hamidah also requested for help in constructing the lower part of their house on stilts, so they both could move downstairs.
Living on top of the stilts was difficult, she said, as she had to climb 13 steps to the house. "Living downstairs will provide easier accessibility for us."
After visiting the couple, The Brunei Times relayed the couple's requests to Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Datin Hjh Adina Othman in hiring a domestic helper, providing a wheelchair and constructing the lower part of their stilt house.
She said: "We went to visit them a few days before Hari Raya. They were one of the four houses we were visiting in Tutong."
Datin Hjh Adina explained that at the time of the visit, she spoke to the couple's family members and suggested to them that with the amount of financial support, the couple could hire a maid to help them with their daily activities.
"I also suggested to them that we (the ministry) could build an extra room for them below their house for the maid to stay, because the wife said they only had one room upstairs," she added.
The deputy minister said she asked Hamidah to persuade her husband to accept the proposals, as he was unwilling at that time. "Everything we propose is ultimately subject to their approval," Datin Hjh Adina said.
She added: "When we went to visit them, we mooted the idea of them employing a maid. When we found out they only had one room, we offered to construct a room for them downstairs. However, we have not received a response on the proposal yet."
She said the ministry had "no problem" in giving a wheelchair as soon as possible.
"We will help them in every way, but it is subject to their approval. Any requests made by the couple, the government will consider, taking into account all considerations and reports about them from our social workers," she said, adding that the ministry "is concerned" about the welfare of the couple.
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