The Unsung Heroes

Parents issues

2011-02-11T07:52:00.000+08:00

It is sad to know that this thing on parents going to war with each other and having their children in the middle and in a limbo, still persist. Some kids are lucky where one parent fights for their custody and determine to keep them. Some just keep on fighting and without reaching any conclusion decides to have the child be placed in a home. Some may be abused because when they lack of attention, they tend to fuss, and they become an easy target to the already enraged parent.

This is what is happening to 9 year old, A (name with held to protect privacy). He is such an intelligent and charming young chap. When he is enticed by gifts and winning, he would definitely give more than requested. Although his drawings need polishing and also to minimise the word 'Then' in his writing, other than that, he is quite okay in his studies. He does tend to rely a lot on luck though. In objective questions, he said that he would get correct all the time even though he just simply pick his answers. It was true for the first 3, but then his luck drained off. I told him that if he does succeed and becomes a doctor, and he based his surgeries on luck, the patient could die on his table. He paused for a while, then told me he wanted to become a pilot. Huhh? Anyway he won the point system for the month of January though. He told me that he wanted a battery-operated toy car, which reminds me I have to go and get one after this.

He did tell me that he would be going back home end of this year. I was happy when I heard that but was short-lived as the supervisor said that she did not hear anything from the parents yet. All it needs is a simple yes from the dad, and the mum will be able to bring the boy back. Oh not to mention money issue. Alimony and such. Who is paying the school fees etc etc. Sometimes all this things further dampen the efforts to bring back the boy home, where he belongs.

Of course I will be sad to lose a student. I not only teach them a subject in school, but I also would like to impart some life values and to see where they will end up later in life. This is how a teacher feels huh. It is truly a great sense of satisfaction. Kudos to all teachers out there.

As for little A, yes I will be going out to shop for his toy car later. Hope I will get the others to win as well.

Free tuition classes for the Kids

2011-02-08T10:00:00.083+08:00

I have been giving tuition classes for about 7 (and counting) Kids at the Rumah Juara home for the past 2 weeks. The first week was a bit difficult as all were recovering from flu and coughs, and they were half drowsy when I was conducting the class. Gosh, what did I get myself into, i told myself. But having had experience in tutoring before in Uni and also to my own son, patience played a VERY important part in it.

As time progresses by and I got to know the Kids, I got to know their weaknesses and difficulties. For example, a girl is 12 years old and goes to a Tamil school but she could not write and read proper English and Bahasa. Instead of teaching her the level that she is, I went down 4 levels down, just to see where is her standing. Not that great, because even at Primary 2 level she could not perform well. So what I did was to give her books to read instead, and gave her a dictionary to help her improve her vocabulary.

I have also started a journal for each of them. Well the original idea is for them to treat it like a diary and to record their personal and daily activities every day. But now since they themselves are bogged down by homework and such, I do still encourage the 'Dear Diary' method but also I am giving them certain topics to write on. First one was about themselves.

I made them do 10 lines each on their journal. They were some who was a bit apprehensive to do it. Whining and giving excuses, just like a normal kid would do.

THEN, I started the point system. A report card book. Little little marks for the little little things they do. 2 marks for being quiet. 5 marks for finishing on time. 10 marks for giving me more than 1 page and 10 lines. Alas, I did minus some points here and there, for making excuses and distracting the class. Although the Report Card book was only for my viewing, but to encourage 'WAR' between all, I made it public. "Teacher, can I check my marks please." Teacher, why I get 5, he got 10?" Stuff like that. I am pleased that they are attentive in my class, even though it was because of the point system. ; ))

Minus marks for not concentrating AND lying about not getting a gum, when I have already given it to her.. sigh.....


An unexpected winner, as he was quite uncooperative the first day of tuition... yayyyy!!!

February Birthday Bash Rumah Juara - proposed outing: Desa Water Park, Taman Desa, 26th February, lunch time

2011-02-07T15:02:00.000+08:00

February Birthday Bash Rumah Juara - proposed outing: Desa Water Park, Taman Desa, 26th February, lunch time
... need sponsors (food, tickets for the Kids etc) and volunteers to play with the kids....

Our February birthday babies are .....

Kong An Nee ~ 5 year old girl

Kasturi @ Jennifer ~ 13 year old girl

Phillip ~ 8 year old boy

February Birthday Bash at Rumah Juara.... coming soon

2011-02-06T23:47:00.000+08:00

Hiya all... As you know a group of friends and myself have pledged to celebrate the birthdays of 50 orphaned/abandoned/neglected/abused children in Rumah Juara, PJ Old Town every month for the year 2011. We have successfully done it for 2 young January girls with the help (volunteers and donation in kind) from among ourselves. We have managed to find sponsors for some of the other months, thus it would be a great pleasure to get some from your kind self. It can be anything, your time, gifts, money to buy cakes or outing to the water park etc. Be creative. We hope to hear some good news from you!!!

Project Manager
Edna
for Rumah Juara
(to donate directly, Please call Pastor Elizabeth at 03-7783 1568)

Cheeky little girls - Esther and Rinisha

January babies and celebration at Rumah Juara

2011-02-06T17:02:00.000+08:00

It was a spur of the moment kind of idea, where suddenly the bulb just pops out of the head kind of thing. We wanted to do a bit more for the kids so I called up Pastor Elizabeth and told her that for a year we would celebrate together the birthdays of each of the children. She was ecstatic.

Born on 13th January 2003, Sally Rani is an epitome of kindness and joy. She is never stingy with her smiles and has eyes as big as the moon. She is half Indian and half Indonesian. As with the elder sister (Shalini) and her younger brother (Yoel), they are unable to go to school as they do not have any birth certificate. And because of that 8 year old Sally and her siblings have a long way to catch up in terms of education. Despite of that, judging from their jovial characters and friendliness, their family background would have been an okay one - minus the fact that their mother was deported to Indonesia a few months back, after having staying here under the radar for 10 years.

The second January baby, Rishona (pronounced as Rish-wa-na) is 6 years old this year and together with her 3 siblings at the home, is a cutie herself. She would sit down properly as a lady and wait for her food to be served. At her birthday party she wore an off-shoulder red dress and she looked ravishing. These girls really took the extra effort to look nice on their birthday, don't they?

We had cakes, praise and worship and prayers after that. We bought 2 cakes for the both of them. Chocolate cake for the lady in white and mango cake for the lady in red.

Here are some of the children singing

We ended the day slightly after 9pm. But I would bet the celebration has not ended even though we left for the 2 little ladies.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SALLY AND RISHONA!!

A New Year, A New Journey, A New Beginning

2011-01-13T12:51:00.000+08:00

Yes this is 2011 and it has been around 3 years since my last post. Goodness me. I have been pretty busy now, have I.

But as the title says, it will be a whole new circle and a whole new adventure, as this blog continues to feature those who are in need, troubled and less fortunate.

Here's hoping that someone's life will be in touched - be it the reader or the home/child/person featured in my article.

A Blessed Day - for everyone..

2008-08-01T10:29:00.035+08:00

It all started on Friday evening, where I just got the car from hubby of which I used it to the max. Went to so many places to get so many things and I was tired, but I think the adrenaline of getting everything done to perfection got me going.

I just got the idea of celebrating the July babies a few days ago, so here I am trying to figure out what to buy for them. I got the most basic toys, some nice socks (inspiration from Cindy) and a beautiful simple bracelet for a 34 year old lady. I bought two 1 kg cakes, one was a fruit cake and the other was a cheese cake from King's Confectionary. I went to Giant and got 2 bottles of Pantene shampoo and 2 tins of Gain Kid milk powder. After that rushed back home to eat (that was already 10pm) and continued doing the remaining 60 over party packs for the children. I had to hide the cakes from hubby as I planned for him and 2 other July babies to celebrate together with the residents. Thank goodness for the 2nd fridge upstairs. My Friday ended at 4am Saturday morning.

Saturday morning - 1pm. Family and had lunch first before going to Dominoes Sunway to pick up our 20 large pizzas. I have this Express Card of which if you order 10 large pizzas, you get 10 large ones for free. Waited for 2 more cars full of friends to come and at around 2.40pm, we reached the gate's home.

We were greeted by curious on-lookers and then when they realised we were the people whom their caretakers had briefed on earlier, they opened the gate and 4 or 5 boys and grown men came to help us to carry the things we bought for them. My goodness. That was fast. The boys were so thoughtful as they dilligently carried the pizzas, gifts, supplies, drinks and plastic bags all at once.

The next thing we did was to find the person whom had patiently answered and catered to our every needs. Mr Baskin, the home's Operations Manager. True enough as obliging as he is in the phone, he is also very warm and friendly in person. Truly the home is indeed lucky to have him as their guardian, as there is a certain aura around him which attracts people to come and help. During his briefing he talked about almost all of the residents so passionately, and I have to give him two thumbs up for his ability to remember their names and histories.

In my recent post I highlighted a boy who is blind and has celebral palsy, and was also abandoned by his parents. Today we managed to meet with little Patrick in person. He was so attached to one of the caretakers so much so he wanted her to carry him all the time. He is 2 years old this year and he just underwent a minor surgery on his neck and head. That is why his head has to be supported all the time. More like a 1 month old baby. As I sat with him and talked to him, his skin was fair and smooth. He had a very pleasant face and I could not help but to caress his cheek all the time. If he is a normal baby he would have been a very handsome one. I was just a little bit dissapointed because he could not see me. Mr Baskin mentioned to us that his father comes by often to see him, whereas the mother would call once in a while to check up on him. I pray for the family to have strength and courage to bring up little Patrick well.

I thank God for the staff and caretakers of the home for their help. They assisted in organising the distribution of the pizzas and drinks almost flawlessly. The residents were very obedient and they were as if in perfect motion whenever the main caretaker (Ms Raj) rang the bell. Almost in unison, the knew that it was time for tea, separated into groups, arranged the tables and chairs, and took their places accordingly. I was impressed, and so were my friends. Hubby managed to squeeze himself through some children, sat and talked with them. Glad to know he is having fun. Kenny, Kit and a few of the boys helped in blowing up the balloons and shaping them into animals. CK and her gang were busy mingling with the kids, and there was this one lady who wanted her picture to be taken so many times. Nita, Vicky Ate and Janet Ate were making their rounds around the home, while stopping once in a while to talk to a small kid, chit chatting with the caretakers and Mr Baskin. The boys, Adam and son were running around from one the girls and almost at once they made friends with a boy name Kah Hoe, who was intrigued with Transformers and Tokyo Drift. One of the boys, who is actually a Malay was speaking fluent Tamil to Selva. I was flabbergasted and now determined more than ever to have son master Tamil.

Another boy told a very very cheeky joke to Yoges. It went like this:
There was this man driving a lorry which was full of things to be delivered to Mr. A. Once he arrived at Mr A's house, Mr A opened the back of the lorry and found out that all the things were missing. So what do you think happened to the things in the lorry?
Yoges and hubby were confused. So they admit defeat.
The boy cheekily said, " the things were missing because the man was carrying ICE!!"
Yoges and hubby laughed. Good one.

Half an hour later they finished eating and I signalled for the cutting of the cake. Ms Raj gathered the 9 July babies (1 was not here as he had went home for the weekend), and I gathered the 3 confused July babies in our group - hubby, Selva and Yoges. When everyone was ready, Ms Raj counted 1-2-3 and everyone sang Happy Birthday. Such a sweet moment for all of them. After taking several pictures of that, I ran to the car and got the birthday gifts that I bought for them. I had hubby, my two aunties, Nita, Selva, Yoges, Marianne and CK to give out the gifts respectively. I know that some of them could not enjoy the gifts, but I am happy enough to know that the gifts would be shared among all the residents.

After that Ms Raj got them all in a queue to receive the party packs. I got CK's friends - Mages, Latha, Yoges and the others to help out in this. I want to sincerely thank them for coming and making this visit a more merrier and meaningful one. Actually they were not in my confirmed list as CK did not inform me earlier. But I was moved nevertheless for their effort and time sacrificed to help me in this event. Thank you to all of you.

Then came the reps from my home fellowship - Kenny, Marianne and Kit. They helped in ensuring that the balloons were ready, even though the balloons kept on popping. Lol! Marianne was as usual superb with the children. And children are children, because when they saw the balloons, Kenny and Kit were swamped, surrounded, stalked and wrestled to the ground (hee hee, I exaggerated that) for it. Ha ha ha. Thanks again you guys!

That was the end of our agenda. It was now their turn to entertain us. Ms Raj and her troops of dancing princesses and princes put on their dancing shoes and began dancing to various Indian songs. Wow! Very well done. They even danced to the macarena song and (unlike me), they were all syncronised. Double wow! Mages, CK and I wanted to join in the macarena, but nobody dared to jump in first. Aiyo. Wasted la guys. Hey! Next time ok.

Hubby had made a little buddy as well. His name is David and apparently the common passion that bonded them was football. The home does send a couple of the normal boys for football sessions in Brickfields. Hubby saw that the boys looked up to this David chap so hubby was pretty impressed. David is a good looking Indian boy, pretty confident, friendly and smart. Later on hubby confided that he would like to spend more time with David and requested me to find out how can this be done and what was David's background. Sigh.. Never judge a book by its cover. No matter how normal a person looks like or happy he/she is, everybody has an ugly history. David had one. This is what I found out. He is a normal 12 year old boy and will be sitting for his UPSR soon in September. He plays football and is quite active in school. So I was still expecting a sickness or something that might have trigerred the family to place him at the home. Mr Baskin told me otherwise. Apparently the mother did not want him. I asked him again. Yes, the mother DID NOT WANT him. My heart slumped. Period.

In between, I managed to sit down with little Patrick again. He looked a little bit drowsy and was slowly falling asleep. I was not sure why I was drawn to him. Maybe because I knew of his plight earlier on which made me think of him even before coming here. I did tell hubby of his story as well. I cannot imagine how his future will be. In 5 years time, he will be 7. The same age my own son will be next year. Different from my son (who is going to Primary One), Patrick would still be struggling to eat on his own, or walk, or to talk even. Would he even know what is going on with his body. Maybe being blind provides a little bit of solitude because he would not be able to see how his normal friends are - walking, laughing, talking and playing. Maybe it is better for him to not know all this so that he can grow at his own pace and not live up to other people's expectation. Sometimes being trapped in a difficult situation like this is much more easier because he does not have to answer to other people, but only to himself and God.

It was almost 6pm. I saw in the home's agenda, they have another group coming in for dinner. One thing I am glad is that they are well taken care of in terms of human interaction and love. However they still do need the supplies as one big tin of Gain Kid milk powder will be used up in just under two days. The diapers that they use are in huge amount as most of the smaller babies are not toilet trained or completely unable to go to the toilet at all. I will not even mention on the medical treatment that some of them have to go through. Due to their conditions, some of them will be prone to sickness. Or maybe some would need extensive surgery such as little Patrick. Who is going to fund them? What about physio theraphy? Currently they only have one physiotherapist to ensure that 10 special children have their daily massage and exercise. Then there is the construction of their 4 storey facility in Taman SEA. So far they have only secured the land. They have not started constructing the structure yet. Would they have enough money to realise this simple dream of theirs. From what I know, there are a few children and adults in waiting list, waiting to be accepted in the home. The reason of the waiting list could be anything. Lack of fund, not enough space, not enough man power. So what would become of them? Another undetermined future awaits.

I write this on a Friday evening, half expecting to see the solar eclipse (I guess not), watching my son play with his new found friend, and glancing at my hubby at the footbal field. Normal. All is normal. No defects. No deformities. Not one single child without their parent watching over them. Not one of them has abandonement issues. Not one is short of love and care. I felt a little bit guilty sitting here with my laptop, typing away instead of doing something more for the home. What can I do for Patrick? For David? For Kah Hoe? I am no saviour and I cannot save the world. But I can make a difference in the lives of this 3 boys. All with different backgounds, different histories, different expectations. What is my hope for them? Nothing much actually. But I know they deserved more than what life has cruelly given them. All of us went through to some dark moments of our lives, and we lived to have a better ending or for me, a new beginning in the end. I believe that Patrick, David and Kah Hoe deserve this second chance, this new beginning. I will not only pray for it, but I will try my very best to make sure they have it. Till then, let's pray for those who are not accounted for and still lost out there. Let's pray that one day they too will be found and thus be cared for by selfless people like those in this home.

Taman Megah's Handicapped and Disabled Children's Home

2008-07-23T14:21:00.002+08:00

i write this with utmost difficulty as i began to dig and dig and dig more on the home that so few of us are going to visit this saturday. i have made my peace in asking and highlighting to all the people that i know to come and help and also to spread the cheer around this particular home, and now it is time for me to concentrate on the home itself.

I was touched by a story of a young blind, celebral palsy 2 year old boy of which what happened to him made me felt angry, betrayed and sad. It made me felt that I wished I was God so that I could scoop those unwanted ones from any near death experience or stop those unscrupulous parents who has too many irresponsible acts up to their sleeves to even think about their children. But here is his story.

This boy was sent to the Home when he was only 11 months old by his father, of which I guess he could not cope up with taking care of the baby anymore as he needed more attention than any normal baby. I am not sure where is the mother back then as she was not mentioned. However a few days later the father and mother came back and expressed their attention to take back the baby as they wanted to take care of him themselves. Of course the Home encourages this, as it is always better to have their own parents to take care of their own children. Not long after that, a worker of the Home wanted to throw a pile of rubbish at the rubbish dump out in front. Suddenly at the corner of her eyes, she saw a box that was moving under a tree nearby the Home. She went closer to take a look , lo and behold the blind, celebral palsy little baby boy was squirming in the box. Lord knows how long he has been there and I am not even sure if the heat had gotten to him, or if there were any ants or stray animals around. Your guess is as good as mine, he was abandoned there by his so-called parents. WHY? The Home is always open, 24 hours a day and accepts anyone and everyone who walks, or crawls or limps into the Home. Why did the parents had to leave their baby son, in a box, under a tree, in the hot sun, with flies, ants, stray animals and rodents probably lurking nearby, hoping that the somebody from the Home will catch a glimpse of the box, and hopefully takes a look inside, and hopefully takes in the baby to safety?? Where in the world did they came from??!!

This are just one of the stories that I managed to find from the Net and it is courtesy from http://babysashanmom.blogspot.com/. I will find out more this Saturday, as it takes stories like this to actually reach to the society and make them learn that a lot of people out there need our help.

As we know the Home is housing more than a 100 people, children and adults alike. Residents around SS24/10 are constantly complaining that there are too many children and too noisy in the Home. I figure that they too need a certain peaceful atmosphere in their neighbourhood, so okay we should not blame them. But what we want is solution. Thus they are eyeing in building on a land nearby in Taman Sea. So far as of today, they have already paid the 10% to secure the land. However according to the manager, Mr Baskin, they are some minor problems which have led to the delay of securing it completely. Well I am not really sure what are the problems, but I hope to find out this Saturday. Mr Baskin also mentioned that the construction of the building will only commence next year, thus it will be a year or more for the children to bear with the current home that they have now.

As far as I know this Home survives fully on donations from NGOs, good samaritans, anonymous donors, daily donation from the public and donation drive or funds. I am not even sure how are they going to raise funds (amounting to half a Million) to complete the construction of their new home. Man it really takes a miracle to help them because donation alone would not even cover that. What more with the daily expenses that they have to incur for the residents?

They need people to take care of the 60-70 odd children below the age of 12, mainly for their sanitary needs, food, massage theraphy for those who cannot move, medicines, constant care for those who cannot care for themselves. I mean to cater for these 70 odd special children, they need at least 1 helper to 5 children, that would be a whopping 14 helpers alltogether (and this is just for the children below 12).

How about for those above 12 and are school going children? There are unfortunately some children who are not handicapped or disabled but was abandoned by their parents. Yes, they need tutors who know how to handle them and to reach out to them as they are completely different from our children. Their learning capabilities will sometimes frustrate those who are not used to it. A simple phrase of "I want to eat" may take them a while to digest or write. Patience is a virtue here, and there are not many volunteers who will do it for free. Special education comes with a price. It includes effort, time and love as well. Do we all have this, even with our children? What more to these special ones?

I just cannot help to wonder if something could have been done earlier on to detect the abnormality of the children from the mother's womb itself, could there be a cure or maybe a medicine to help prevent more damage to the child, thus lead to less suffering on the child now? I know that the parents might be poor or lack of knowledge to take for their unborn baby or just maybe they were destined to have a special child in their midst. But whatever it is, I know of parents who are willing to take up the challenge to nurture, educate, love, care and pamper their special child all on their own. Thank God for the support from their family and friends, as without them they would not be able to do it. I respect this families and my prayers are with them.

As for the children and residents of Taman Megah Handicapped and Disabled Home, I hope that the visit this Saturday will help them to realise that there are a lot of people out there who are really sincere in helping and easing up their burden. I hope that the caretakers and management of this Home, helmed by the passion and love of their founder, the late Mr S.K. Manikumar would endure the hardship and frustration whenever they encounter cases of abandonement, lack of funds or supplies and even lack of volunteers. Pray for those who are going this Saturday so that their presence will cheer up the residents, pray for those who had contributed in cash and kind so that they will receive the blessings that they deserved, and pray for those who will come again and again to help these organisations to achieve their common objective - to just lend a helping hand...

The easiest way to donate!

2008-06-04T13:33:00.001+08:00

A lot of us want to donate but we do not know how. We wanna give to that beggar with no legs, no arm and practically crawling on the street, but we are just damn scared to think that this beggar is part of a syndicate, or he himself is a multi millionaire and gets his money from begging.

Hhaaiii!

The mentality as well as the fear is there, cos it has been proven that some of us were conned before. So we refused to help!

And now I introduce to you the revolutionary of donation. Just click a link, and instead of you paying, other sponsors will pay based on the number of clicks for that particular cause.

We take a real life example. Rozella just requested a handful of us to spread a word on this website. Just by clicking as many as you can, you will be helping a lot of women out there to conduct mammograms for early detection of breast cancer. It is easy now isn't it. All it needs is TRAFFIC and CLICKS!

I found out a few other similar sites like this, and it is all worth clicking and donating. Check it out and do your bit...

http://brentsplace.info/freedonations.shtml
http://www.habitat.org/ap/

Charity football tournament

2008-06-01T02:51:00.002+08:00

Christian Care Centre (CCC-FGA church) will be organising a football charity tournament in less than 7 hours time. It is a great way to foster relationship between the outside world with our brothers in CCC as well as our Singaporean brothers - Teen Challenge Centre.

As both centres houses rehabiliated and healed drug addicts (among others), I am very proud to be a part of the tournament as it encourages our brothers to be confident and committed through the spirit of playing football.

I guess sometimes counselling or hard gruelling sessions with a troubled one, may not succeed in opening up that person. And this is why we recognise the need to foster trust and dependability through sports, especially football.

Please do pray that this tournament would be a success and whatever good intentions that we wanted to instill in every player would happen on this day.

Welcome Hospice Services, Tanjung Arang

2008-05-27T13:28:00.016+08:00

A statue of Mother Mary with her hand outstretched as if to receive the souls of those who were shunned from family and community, greeted us when we reached the hospice. I did not know what to expect but as always I geared myself to expect the worst. What I knew that there were 30 patients or occupants in this place who are contracted with the virus HIV and were given treatments to prolong their life and also to ease their pain and suffering.

We had a short briefing by the person manning the centre and he gave us an overview of how the centre was operated, when it was established, how many other centres are there, basically the whole nine yards. Currently the centre is housing 33 occupants and there are plans to build more rooms to house more. Unfortunately due to the increasing medical costs that each patient incur is unbearably high, thus the centre are unable to accept more.

Let's just say that the budget for each patient that is given by the government is not enough. The centre has to bear the rest of it, by selling their own organic plants that they plant on their own as well as doing odd jobs whenever it is required outside the centre. They also rely heavily on donations. It also really helped when they received a special recognition from the Malaysian Aids Council last year. But is this enough to sustain them another year?

Currently each patient is registered with the Sungai Buloh Hospital for a planned treatment for free. They would have to go to the hospital and take this treatment on the same day at the same time, or else the treatment would not work. Moreover, if the first stage of treatment is missed, that particular patient would have to bear the next stage of treatment on his own, which will be more expensive. Here the centre has a case where this person missed his first treatment a couple of times. The hospital had no choice but to stop the first stage treatment. This patient coupled with a string of other diseases, could not cope with the high expenses that he had to incur for his second treatment. Thus now he is at the centre, not knowing what his future holds for him. Darn it.

Welcome Hospice Services has several homes under their credit. One of which that houses healed drug addicts, called Positive Living Community. These are ex-patients who were brought from the streets, stripped off their lust for drugs and slowly trying to gain respect from the community and family members. Actually there are several reasons why they remained in the centre. First, they found their true family here. And second, their real family cannot accept them anymore. In the centre, together with the love from the caregivers alike, they regain their confidence and self worth. In fact they have their own drama group - Falling Leaves, which will be doing a nation wide tour soon. They will be in Sabah performing this coming 31st May. Those who love theatre should go for this as the performers are the occupants themselves depicting their whole life story. Pretty impressive.

So what do they need now, you ask me. On top of what the centre needs to survive and provide (canned food, rice, sugar, bedsheets, pillows, perishable food, clothes, cooking oil etc), the other aspects that is much needed is the human interaction. The occupants range from as young as 20 years old to an uncle named Mr Wong who is 74years old, are all either abandoned or hardly visited by family and friends for fear of contracting the virus themselves.

A refresher course, the virus HIV can be only be contracted by having sexual intercourse, sharing of needles and mother through baby. Fortunately if detected fast, there is a treatment plan for pregnant mothers who are HIV positive to take in order for the virus to not reach the baby.

Whatever it is, they need to have that sense of belonging again to the outside world. WHat if it was one of our closest friends or our relatives? What if there was a 50/50 chance of them to kick off that drug habit and live a normal life, if not better? I personally relate to this very well. I had a relative who was way out there and one day he just vanished. We thought he was done for. But one sweet day, he came back with clean cut hair and pressed clothes with a Pastor. He has turned to a new leaf and walking in the light of God. How the love of men/women had changed him so much..

We had done our part for the day, I might say. We sang, we visited, we talked, we planned and we visualize.

What else can be done to help them? They need to survive on their own and they need to be taught how to fish, and not to be fed fish all the time. We all could see that there were tremendous things that could be done for this hospice centre.

But the question is now, will you have the initiative to go and find out how to help? Will there be funds for it? How many more that has to be turned down due to lack of funds and ultimately our 'tak apa' attitude, thinking that there are others who will help? Why can't I help?

Let's just ponder on that..
But please do not ponder too long. It is better to help one, than to be bogged down by helping too many. It just takes one to make a difference.

Malaysian Artistes for Unity

2008-05-22T16:43:00.002+08:00

I got this clip from Cathy and it is simply superb.

I love the lyrics and the music itself.

It really focuses on unity, peace and freedom.

I think for a change instead of passing chain letters on peace and freedom in text, I wanna pass this clip instead.

Hold on brother hold on
The road is long. We’re on stony ground
But I’m strong. You ain’t heavy

Oh there’s a misspoken truth that lies
Colors don’t bind, oh no.
What do they know? They speak falsely.

Chorus:
Here in my home
I’ll tell you what its all about
There’s just one hope here in my heart
One Love undivided
That’s what it’s all about
Please won’t you fall in one by one by one [with me]?

Push back sister won’t you push back?
Love won’t wait. Just keep pushing on.
Yes I’m strong. You ain’t heavy.

Oh don’t you worry about that…
What we have the shadows can’t deny
Don’t you know it’s now or never?

Rap:
[Malay: TRANSLATED]
Years of fears and years of tribulation
The heart keeps searching for that endless devotion

[Chinese: TRANSLATED]
Hand in hand we’ll march like blood brothers
I speak for my people hope we’ll find peace forever

[Tamil: TRANSLATED]
May the road ahead quench my thirst for success
May the road behind echo a song of the blessed

[English]
So I will let it be known yes I feel it in my bones
No matter where I roam this is home sweet home
Sing!

- Words & Music by Pete Teo featuring rap by KLG Sqwad &
Altimet. copr Redbag Music 2008. All Rights Reserved -

More on our charity drive - Sg Buloh

2008-05-14T17:56:00.002+08:00

As mentioned earlier on in my post, a group of us will be going to Sg Buloh this coming Monday (I believe a public holiday for all) to a sort of hospital or hospice to a number of drug addicts staying there.

Our programme would start with a prayer from one of the members going there (as this occupants are mostly Catholics), followed by fellowship, a tour in the mansion and maybe those who have plumbing or painting or any type of fixing skills, would lend a hand in repairing what is need to be repaired.

Well what is tragic and sad about what I found out regarding this place is that it is sort of like a final place for the occupants. In other words (rather harsh words actually), if they are not out there sick and about to die, then they are in this hospice, having a roof on top of their heads, with good company and courageous people taking care of them - sick and about to die.

The purpose of us going there is of course for the fellowship. They are also in need of bedsheets (as mentioned earlier on) and we are still in need of at least 10.

But if those who have more to donate, again feel free to contact me at 012-329 3258 to pass me the items before this Sunday. We will arrange for the time and place. If there are a lot of people, then I will arrange for a neutral place and time this Sunday, as well.

Please do help in any way you can. Pray for journey mercy for all of us who are driving. And lastly do pray for the occupants of this hospice as they take their last journey in this world.

Charity drive to Sg Buloh

2008-05-09T16:20:00.003+08:00

A few friends and family members will be donating their time and effort to lend a helping hand and also to spread a cheer or two this coming May 19th to a drug centre in Sg Buloh.

Before we go we do need 30 bedsheets, but I think we do need more than that, however so far this is what they required.

So if any of you would want to donate some of your old bedsheets, do give me a holler or call me at 0123293258.

Facebook Group - Doss Family and Friends will be having activities now and then as part of our 'give-back' to the society.

THus we need your support and encouragement whenever there is a call for help.

I will post up pictures and more information on this May 19th charity visit.

Till then!

A heart made of gold..

2007-12-13T01:16:00.000+08:00

What better way to start a new blog based on heroes whom do not appear on tv or given countless of awards for doing humanitarian work, than to point out that heroes live among us, and impact the daily activities of our lives. They also shape and mould and become role models for the younger generation.

This happened a few months back. Jerry, Jilus and I were eating KFC in KLCC. We just got back from one of our apartments near there. The queue was as always long and slow, so our stomachs were making the usual 'pancaragam' band inside.

So finally we got our food, barely sat down for 15 minutes, when a lady carrying a baby and her friend, came to our table begging for money. I mean she looked decent enough to actually get her own meal, but to beg?

She went straight to Jerry, and I was not sure what he would do. But the moment I saw his eyes mellowed down and the quick glance at me, I knew he would definitely say this, " I will not give you money, BUT I will pay for your food and you will come and sit with us.." So the duo agreed.

He looked at me, and I reached for my purse for a 10 ringgit note. He went back to the line, queued up for a good 15 minutes to buy a snack plate meal for them. I remember his chicken was not finished yet, but we had to vacate the place for others already. He got the food and gave it to them. They left the place and did not go in to beg anymore.

Recently, we were eating outside near our house. I did not see a boy who came to beg at our table, but Jilus did. He said, "Mummy, look at the little boy with the basket selling nuts. Go buy some from him. Dadda (Jerry) would definitely like some." Then I said, "Dadda gets his kacang from the shops, son." Jilus said, "But Mummy, we must give money to the little boy. It's a good thing to do right?"

I was stunt. My heart leapt a bit and a sudden rush of admiration came to me. My 5 year old boy knows the meaning of giving and generousity.

I guess this is the type of attitude we strive to give our young ones. Charity does not start big. Charity starts from home...