For the last three years, singer Alfred Ho has been trying to persuade RTM to give him back his part-time job. He is visually impaired but - as he has found out - even ministers have remained deaf to his appeals for help.

In all, Ho has written six letters to Information Minister Khalil Yaakob, Human Resource Minister Fong Chan Onn and Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik, seeking their intervention, but has not received a response beyond acknowledgment of receipt.

As a last-ditch measure, he even handed a letter to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi during a Hari Raya open house at the Putra World Trade Centre last November.

Ho said he managed to speak to Abdullah while handing over the letter, to ask for help. However, he was unable to make out the response due to the noise in the venue.

Ho then attempted to pursue the matter later through Abdullah's political secretary Vincent Lim, who told him to take up the matter with the industrial court.

"But I don't want to take up the case. Assuming I win, they will only give me a pay-off. What I really want is the (Radio 4) job," he said.

Ho, now in his mid-50s, provided malaysiakini with copies of his letter and details of his predicament. He was accompanied by his wife Rufina Baptist.

Financial difficulty

Ho said RTM had employed him as a part-time Radio 4 deejay in October 1999, After six months, however, he was told not return to work because the studio in which he worked had caught fire.

"Since then I have not been notified to resume work. I haven't been able to get a full time job anywhere else," he said, explaining he has only been involved in a few musical performances. (Ho sings evergreen and country and western songs.)

"I am finding it hard to get by...I have to repay a private housing loan that I took while I was employed with RTM."

Ho has been unable to repay the loan, amounting to about RM800 a month, for more than a year now.

Contacted yesterday, Radio 4 controller Rohani Harrithuddin clarified that Ho was employed as a "piecemeal artiste" and therefore was not bound by contract.

She said Ho had hosted a pre-recorded show that was aired during the weekends, and that it catered to listeners in the older age group.

However, she said a change in audience taste - along with the fire in the recording studio - had led to the slot being replaced.

"After the mishap in 2000, things were different. Some of the programmes were subject to review, and his was one of them," she said.

Socso benefits

Apart from needing a job, Ho also said he wanted the government-run Social Security Organisation (Socso) to pay benefits since he has been a contributor since the 1970s, when he worked as a telephone operator with the Penang Municipal Council.

Although he tried to obtain a monthly subsistence allowance from Socso, his claims were rejected without any reason being given. There has yet to be a response to his appeal, he claimed.

Ho added that he was disappointed the government has overlooked the abilities of the disabled community.

"If government is serious about using disabled people, it can find out from (the relevant) associations if there is talent that can be used," he said.

Rufina suggested that the government should give the disabled a chance to utilise their abilities effectively.

"Don't just use them as telephone operators or basket weavers," she added.

Asked what he would do now, Ho said he would continue to find ways to make ends meet.

"I will still look for help, and maybe go to the media. I'm also looking for someone to help me organise a concert or cut a album ," he added.