PARLIAMENT | A BN MP today urged the government to distribute Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) to individuals, instead of households, to be fair to men with many wives.

Zahidi Zainul Abidin (BN-Padang Besar) said this would especially affect Malay households, some of which have men who have many wives.

“Malay men who collect the BR1M which is distributed per household but they have three wives. The BR1M is to be divided among the three households. This is problem,” he said.

“There are reasons people marry more than one, and financial needs are greater.

“When the wife collects BR1M, the husband gets none. So it is better to distribute it individually,” he told the Dewan Rakyat while debating the royal address.

He said it also helps protects wives, because some men do not use the BR1M they receive for household expenditure.

“Let us help the rakyat,” he said.

The BR1M is distributed to households earning less than RM4,000 a month.

Households earning less than RM3,000 will receive a one-off payment of RM1,000, while households earning between RM3,000 and RM4,000 will receive RM800 in aid.

Households earning less than RM1,000 will receive RM1,050.

Unmarried individuals aged 21 and above earning less than RM2,000 will get RM400.

A total 7.1 million applicants have been approved to receive BR1M this year.