With all focus on the coming General Elections, by-elections, racial integration, building skyscrapers, impressing foreigners and the people with promises of this and that - what truly needs to be addressed ( not when the General Elections is around the corner ), is the people who are neglected - especially the the gullible Indians and the rural Malays.
I believe there is a saying. Charity begins at home. Millions, perhaps even in the billions, are spent by sponsors on unnecessary events. These estate and kampung people remind me of the 50s. Drive around in a mobile theater and show a movie and they are happy.
I go often to a kampung and I know what is happening there. Some may find it hard to believe but you know what ... there are poor Malays living in deplorable conditions while some of their own kind are very content living in mansions and driving around in fancy cars.
And what do I do?... you may ask. I am in no way wealthy but I have helped one family of poor Muslim Malays in more ways than one. At least that's one family that's taken care of. I put a roof over their heads ( literally speaking ) as the zinc roof was blown off during a thunderstorm. I rushed there and saw the rain pouring in the house. The local representative did nothing to help them. I put food on their table. Now they have a roof on top of their heads and food to eat.
The house reminds me of documentaries I have seen ... houses with no furniture, no proper place to cook food, a small place to have a bath and an outhouse. Not very different from the 'houses' of the poor in Africa. I felt compelled to get a refrigerator and that was the very first time they had cold drinks. I also bought a washing machine and now it's less painful to wash clothes.They were so proud of the fact that they have 'sophisticated' machinery that they invited some friends over just to give them ice-cold drinks ... complete with ice cubes!
I added a vacuum cleaner for them. I tried to make things easier for Ibu.
When I go there with my family, I am treated as the eldest in the family and everyone greets me in accordance with the Malay custom ( salaam ). Yes, I am not a Malay but a Hindu Indian who cares. I am still paying off my credit card bills. No fish to catch meant no money which in turn meant no food. Pension is insufficient to feed a family of ten children.
I have personally seen how difficult ( to use a mild term ) it is to catch fish. Sometimes, one fish ( 1 kilo ) is caught and immediately sold to a shop for RM25.00. On a good day ( twice a month, once in a few months, it varies ) they manage to get a bonus, RM150.00. Rain, no fish. And I'm not talking about deep-sea fishing, can't afford that luxury. A small sampan that can be used to catch fish in a river, with the help of a tube, to keep afloat and tie the nets. That's when I helped to buy more nets and other paraphernalia to catch more fish. The fish that is caught is sold ( fresh ) by them at the kampung and the left-overs for personal consumption.
I was hard on these generous Malays and told them that if they cook 'lavish' ( by no standards as lavish as what the average people eat ) food when I go there, I will not make a trip there again. How could I eat all that good food when I know they borrowed money to cook good food knowing I am coming? But all my 'threats' were in vain. They will always cook the best food when I go back to the kampung. I have no choice but to inform them that I am going there because if I don't, then the man of the house will go fishing and he usually stays for a few days just to get some extra fish.
Incidentally, I am still sending money to that family. I am also sending money to yet another Malay lady who is probably even poorer than that family I mentioned.
So much for the NEP.
Let's not even go into details of the plight of the Estate Indians. Who the heck cares if they rot in their estates. I personally know of some who were in the same estate about 55 years ago and are still there ... yet there are wealthy Indians who turn the other way. Indians who could ( if they really wanted to ) help these poor estate wallas.
My late mother helped in her own way. We drove to an estate where we used to stay a long time ago ... like I said ... the same estate where we discovered that some people who were there 55 years ago were still there! She gave whatever money she could afford to the people there. How many Indians dare say they have done that? Yet there many wealthy Indians engrossed and engulfed in their wealth. Put your money where your mouth is. Where is your conscience? Do you have one? You disgust me.
Strange how wealth finds its way into the hands of the wrong people. But that's how it is, they are so caught up in their wealth that they seemed to have forgotten the plight of the poor.
Malaysians generally have the tendency to lash out at the West, the U.S. in particular. But the care and generosity of the Americans cannot be matched by the any loud speakers here who are ignorant of the difference between the policies of the government and the ordinary citizens on the streets.
Do not misconstrue what I am trying to put into words. I am in no way pro-American but I think they could teach us all a good lesson ... on giving. The foreign policies may be high-handed and thus portray a 'high & mighty' nation ... but believe me, most of the people are not. Yes there are some who are nothing but a reflection of the KKK. Incorrigible racists. Then again racists can be found in every country on Earth. But I do not wish to dabble in politics.
I am sure a whole lot of us watch 'American Idol' ... See for yourselves what I mean ... Idol Gives back. Over 70 million voters just for this episode alone ( Idol Gives back ) ... double the figure ... just to donate to the have-nots. They do not discriminate. They are donating not just for the victims of Katrina but for the poverty-ridden people of Africa, not thinking twice about the color of their skin or what race or religion they are.
Why didn't I mention the amount collected? Because that is not the point. The point is ... a whole lot of people donated.The woman host even lashed out and embarrassed some wealthy people. They never asked anyone outside the U.S to donate. It was written for all to see. Plus we had our people to remind us about that.I can tell you what I thought of the show ... I was ashamed.
That programme made me so ashamed that I am living in a country infested with indifferent people who are too busy piling and stashing $$$ selfishly ... and condemning generous people.
Yes, we too certainly have our share of generous people, caring and compassionate. But let us not ignorantly condemn anyone or any country. Let us show the world that we do have a caring society and help those in need. But more important than showing the world, let us show these needy people that we care.
Millions are spent on sending sms ( quick text messages aka short message service ) to pick your favorite idol on our local Reality Show, the 5th one, Academy Fantasia. The singers ( if you can call them that ) are all a pampered bunch. But that's a different story. The winner gets a house worth more than a quarter of a million dollars ... 270 big ones to be more precise, a car worth more than 80,000 and other endorsements worth ??? I do hope that a small portion of the collection of money ( via sms etc ) which I believe is in the hundreds of thousands will be spent wisely.
You better believe it ... I am absolutely annoyed and thoroughly disappointed that there still exists poor Malays and Indians who find it difficult to feed their children while so much money is spent on 'entertainment'. I can't remember the last time a winner, come to think of it, anyone, saying he/she will donate some money to the needy or the elderly. If someone did, good for you.
Please donate generously to lift the spirits of the poor and the elderly some of whom are abandoned by their family ( reminds me of a good Malay movie ... Pondok Buruk ) and are in homes for the elderly. You could even visit them and spend some time with them, talk to them, cheer them up ... you will make them happy and you will feel good. I have done my part to help these people ... the ball is in your court.
I honestly do not know the status of the Chinese. But I do know that there are poor Chinese too. That's for sure. Perhaps not as many as the Indians but they too have their share of have-nots. Who are these needy people going to turn to? They have been neglected for far too long.
This post is written from personal experience. To those who generously helped in any way, helping the poor and needy, the elderly ... you have done a wonderful thing. We have our share of millionaires and billionaires too. So why are there still people who are living in appalling conditions? This is not a huge country with a billion people. It's a Peninsular with a population of 26 million. The poor, homeless and the needy are not in the millions ... It's shameful, to say the least.
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There will be a sequel to this article ... pertaining the Malay Muslim (?) family.
For now, let me say that this family I helped so much is certainly not a Muslim family - just a plain Malay family.
... to be cont'd
...the sequel...
and so this poor Malay Muslim family that I literally put a roof on their heads and food on their table have betrayed me - I am now fighting a battle - I have to appear in a court in Segamat and provide my defence - for 'not paying the car loan.' A pick-up truck that I helped them to get - with a promise that they will pay every month. Three in the family are working now.
This f***ing uneducated, ungrateful moronic, scum-bag, pathetic Malays deliberately did not pay the monthly loan as promised.
So yet another expensive lesson learned.
They earn RM1,500 a month and after all the help - they fix me up. I fed them all - and they bit the hand that fed them.
I WOULD RATHER TRUST A JEW THAN A 'POOR' MALAY FAMILY.'
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