By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Aug 21: A total of 22 million Malaysians aged 18 and above will each receive RM100 under the Bantuan Penghargaan Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA), which will be automatically credited to their MyKad starting Aug 31 in conjunction with National Day celebrations.
According to a TVS news report, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement today that the one-off assistance will be channelled automatically without requiring any registration or application.
“SARA Appreciation is a sincere initiative of the MADANI government, which for the first time extends cash assistance to all adult citizens, in order to redistribute the gains of public financial reform to the people at large,” the statement said.
The ministry also announced that eligibility checks for the SARA aid can be made starting today at the official portal sara.gov.my.
According to the statement, the SARA credit can be used at more than 7,300 registered retail outlets nationwide to purchase over 100,000 essential items across 14 categories, including staple foods such as rice and eggs, medicines, school supplies, and household and personal hygiene products.
“Recipients may also choose to channel their aid back as contributions by purchasing basic items to be donated to NGOs (non-governmental organisations), houses of worship, or those in need,” the ministry added.
The ministry further cautioned the public to beware of scams, stressing that the assistance will be directly credited into the recipient’s MyKad.
Unused balances by year-end will be redistributed to vulnerable groups through other MADANI government programmes to be determined later.
“With this implementation, the total allocation under STR and SARA for 2025 has increased to RM15 billion, which is 50 per cent higher compared to RM10 billion in 2024,” the statement added. — DayakDaily
