On the 19th of December, we took the time to volunteer for the Pertiwi Soup Kitchen. After missing a few turns in the busy streets of Kuala Lumpur, we were glad that we arrived at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman with some time to spare. We waited for Aunty Munirah and the rest of the volunteers to arrive at the alley behind Tune Hotel where some of the homeless people were already there waiting patiently. 

Not long after, Aunty Munirah arrived with the Pertiwi lorry. We greeted her and gave her all of our names to be recorded. All the volunteers immediately started to get the packages of food lined up and mixed the drinks while the homeless started queueing up. As it was our third time being there, we already got the gist of what we should do. So, we split up to give a hand to the other volunteers where our help is needed. It didn’t take us long to distribute the food and drinks to all the homeless and before we knew it, we were already on our way to the next pit stop.

Since the next pit stop, Puduraya isn’t too far away from Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, we decided to walk there instead of going there by car to avoid the traffic. When we arrived, some of the volunteers were already distributing the food so we tried to squeeze in help where we could. The queue grew short quickly and after everyone had gotten their dinner, we were off to our third pit stop of the night, Masjid Jamek.

We made a call to go there by foot as well, but when we arrived there, unfortunately the food had already been distributed. Aunty Munirah told us that for this pit stop there wasn’t a lot of people waiting for food so it only took them a few minutes to settle everything. Then, we set out for our fourth and last pit stop of the night, Masjid India. We challenged ourselves to walk there as fast as we could so that we could arrive earlier, if not as fast as the rest of the volunteers. 

It was a little further to the last pit stop then the rest and we thought we couldn’t make it on time so we were quite surprised to find that we managed to arrive there with just minutes to spare. This time, the queue wasn’t that long and we managed to give the food to almost everyone before everything was finished. We stayed around for just a little while longer to give the latecomers some drinks and apologised as we have no more food to distribute. 

We finished distributing all the food and drinks at around 11pm and made it back to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman safely.

HOW TO HELP?

1) Volunteer : Take some time off from your busy schedule to help out on these days ; Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 8.30 p.m. The meeting place is at the alley behind Tune Hotel. It is advisable to park at the parking lot beside Tune Hotel so that it will be easier to go to the next pit stop.

2) Money : A donation of RM300 can feed 150 people a night. Individuals or companies interested in making donations can do so by making cheques out to Pertiwi and sending them to No. 63, Jalan SS3/53, Kelana Jaya, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor or bank it into RHB Bank Bhd, account number: 2-14035-10201591.(All donations are tax exempt)

3) Food : Donation of food is always accepted. If food like bread and candies are not finished on the day, the food will be distributed on the next day if they have not yet expired.

4) Share – Tell people about this community project. Like Pertiwi Soup Kitchen’s Facebook page or write to pertiwisoupkitchen@gmail.com.

For more information, call 012-2363639(Munirah).

                                                                                                               Written by Sabr

On May 4th 2011, Jamey Rodemeyer uploaded a video to the It Gets Better project in order to give hope to the LGBT community after a spate of gay teen suicides. He said that despite being constantly bullied for his sexuality, he managed to pull through due to the support from his family, friends and his idol, Lady Gaga and advised others to do the same which is to hold your heads up high and just love yourself the way you are. Unfortunately, as he started his freshman year at Williamsvile North High School, the bullying got worse. He was told that “Gay people will go to hell!” “You weren’t born this way. You shouldn’t have been born” I wouldn’t care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone way WAY more happier.” “Jamie is stupid, gay, fat and ugly. He must die!” and these are only some of the comments given by the bullies which eventually led to his breakdown. On 18th of September, Jamey took his life away in his room and left two final messages on one of his blogs saying he was looking forward to seeing his great grandmother who recently died and one as a tribute to Lady Gaga, thanking her. He was buried in his favorite ”Born This Way” t-shirt as requested when he was alive. Word of what happened reached Lady Gaga soon after and she was extremely infuriated by the whole tragedy. Quoting her, @ladygaga “Jamey Rodemeyer, 14 yrs old, took his life because of bullying. Bullying must become be illegal. It is a hate crime” “The past days I’ve spent reflecting, crying, and yelling. I have so much anger. It is hard to feel love when cruelty takes someones life” “I am meeting with our President. I will not stop fighting. This must end. Our generation has the power to end it. Trend it #MakeALawForJamey”. She has been fighting ever since to make a law against bullying and recently, she visited the white house to discuss on bullying prevention and though, she didn’t meet Barack Obama, she managed to meet with several of the members of his administration. She was also a major proponent of repealing the U.S. military’s ”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy toward homosexual servicemen and women, which law had been officially erased soon after she gave a speech condemning it. And, now, she’s working on her “Born The Way” foundation which you can be a part of. This post is not only written as a tribute to Jamey Rodemeyer’s immense strength and Lady Gaga’s admirable effort to prevent discrimination, this post is for everyone out there whether you are gay, bisexual, transgender or straight who has been a victim of bullying, to just keep holding on. But, most importantly, this post is to remind all of the bullies out there who have nothing else to do than ruining other people’s lives to just stop bullying and discriminating others for you are gaining absolutely nothing from it. After all, “We’re all human, aren’t we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.” - J.K. Rowling

On the 28th of November, we decided to spend the day revisiting three of the shelters that we have been to the past year;  Pusat Penjagaan Kanak-Kanak Cacat Taman Megah, Pusat Jagaan Orang-Orang Kurang Upaya Dan Terbiar Lovely and Pusat Jagaan Kanak-Kanak Sayang. We started the day early so that we could spend as much time as we could at each of the shelters. We brought along some unused toys to be given a new home and also planned a few games and activities that we could do. We stopped by Tesco to buy some food, beverages as well as a few gifts such as food containers, stationery, notebooks, stickers and sweets. Our first stop was Pusat Penjagaan Kanak-Kanak Cacat Taman Megah and the place looks as lively as ever. A few kids were running around playing chasing games and some others were still being fed their lunch by the caregivers. We handed over the unused toys to the kids as we are sure they would appreciate and take good care of them. All of us managed to communicate with the kids over a short period of time as it was our second time around and some of them even remembered us. They were elated when we gave them packets of stickers, some of them even made nail art, customised necklaces and bracelets out of the stickers. We spent our time there talking, playing games, making Lego buildings and dancing. The talented kids also showed us their breakdancing skills with handstands, cartwheels and also left us dumbfounded when they showed us some magic tricks. We had a great time with the amazing kids and when we had to leave, they playfully didn’t want to let some of us go and said that they were going to kidnap us. We were so delighted to be able to see them again, all well, joyful and healthy. By the end of our visit there, almost everyone was covered in colourful stickers and in happy spirits.

We then took a short drive to the Pusat Jagaan Orang-orang Kurang Upaya Dan Terbiar Lovely. We arrived after they had their lunch and met the helpers to give the food that we bought such as biscuits, cookies and drinks for them to have during tea time. We didn’t get to talk to some of them as they were tired.  Although some of them were weary, most of them still wore smiles on their faces when we greeted them hello. It moved us when an old man apologised to us for not being able to take the time to talk to us as he felt sick and needed to take a nap, and told us he hoped to meet us again next time. We did manage to talk to some of them about various things such as music, interests and listen to the stories of their lives. The clock striked four and we had to say our goodbyes as we had one more place to go. We had a lovely time talking and getting to know the old folks.

Our last stop for the day was Pusat Jagaan Kanak-kanak Sayang which is situated barely 5 minutes away from the old folks home. The last time we visited the home, some of them had to leave to attend school, therefore we were so excited to meet some of the kids again, and some for the first time. We arrived right after they had their tea time and as soon as we stepped through their front gate they were already running out from the kitchen to give us a warm welcome. They were all so friendly, giving us handshakes and telling us their names. They never fail to make us smile with their enthusiasm and excitement. We proceeded to play some games that we have planned for them straight away. We brought our laptop and speakers so we could have music to play our first game, Chicken Dance. We then played a few rounds of charades before playing ‘Ice and Fire’. We were amazed when we saw all of the kids arranging themselves according to height without even being told to. They were truly taught and raised well. They were divided into two groups, Girls versus Boys, and we had a great time running around chasing after each other turning our opponents into ice and melting our ‘frozen’ team mates by tapping them on their shoulders. They were all great sports, they joined every game and never argued with each other. We gave the presents that we bought earlier to the winners and gave sweets for everyone to share. We also had a little arts and crafts session with the creative kids, all of them sat around a table while we gave them a couple of big drawing papers & distributed colouring pencils and crayons to draw with. They were very proud of their work and after taking pictures with everyone’s art works, and playing a little bit more, it was time for us to leave.  

At the end of the day, we felt exhausted but the smiles on our faces weren’t wiped out. We had a wonderfully fulfilling day at all three of the shelters and we were so glad we made it to all of them.

This is an inspirational, tear-weeping video of an ordinary looking young man with the name Sung Bong Chai who was dumped at an orphanage at 3, he ran away at 5 because they beat him and ended up selling gum on the streets and sleeping in public toilets for the next decade. When he turned 22 years old, he braved himself and went to audition for Korea’s Got Talent. He told the judges that, he is not a good singer but he likes singing because it is the first thing he likes after living the dayfly-like life. Then he sang — “Nella Fantasia,” the pop opera tune first done by Sarah Brightman in such a beautiful and melodious way which made everyone in the audience in gasp including the judges who offered hugs and vocal lessons and a ticket to the next round when he finished. His perseverance is indeed admirable and he reminds me of this quote by Patrick Carman that I love, It occurred to me then that it was in times of struggle that I found the best parts of myself — courage, loyalty, an unexpected peace — and I always discovered what I needed to break through and go on.

Lovely Nursing Centre is a place for the abandoned, old-folks, disables, handicapped and mentally ill-ed. The Directors receive no salary and their service is entirely voluntary. Assisted by paid employees and volunteers, they take care of the entire needs of the abandoned. Pusat Jagaan Kanak-kanak Sayang is a shelter centre mainly for abandoned and single parent children. Currently, they are sheltering 29 children (as of 14th August 2011). They provide stay-in caregivers, a clean living environment, fresh home-cooked food and arrange children to attend school. They do not see them merely as objects of charity but each abandoned that comes in is received warmly as a source of life. These are not just homes for the abandoned, these hav become homes for the people in Petaling jaya, where the community has become a sign, a witness and a hope to all human kind as love has crosses out barriers and obstacles.

On 4th of November, five of us went to Pusat Jagaan Orang-Orang Kurang Upaya Dan Terbiar Lovely and Pusat Jagaan Kanak-Kanak Sayang. Our initial plan was to go to the nursing centre only, but, as the other branch for kids was situated nearby and we had some time to spare, we decided to go for both. It was easy for us to find the house (first house) because of the bright flowers that were lined up in front of the house. As soon as we arrived there, we went to see MS KUMALAR to give him the things that we bought which was Milo, cooking oil, rice etc. Then, his niece showed us around the house. Eventhough we had been to an elderly house before, it was a bit more challenging this time because the people there looked very reserved. Nevertheless, we braved ourselves to approach them and though some of them were reluctant to talk to us, most of them were very warm and friendly. As soon as we got to know them better, everything started to make sense on why they had unapproachable exteriors because they had gone through so much in their lives. As they were either sent by the policemen from the hospital/the streets or abandoned by their family members, it is understandable why most of them were reluctant to be there. We were very grateful to be able to listen to their life stories and experiences which were very moving. As Barry Lopez once said, If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive, we would forever cherish their stories like the story of the lovely Indian grandmother who believes in the importance of unity among Malaysians as she was born way before Malaysia gained independence yet she was abandoned by her six children, Sasi’s story who didn’t just lose her foster son but also raped, abused, went into a coma and when she woke up, she had schizophrenia, Ethan’s story of how he used to be a successful financial lawyer but had to stay in this house after his surgery because he didn’t have any family members to take care of him and many more.

Around 1 pm, after we said our goodbyes to them, we headed to Pusat Jagaan Kanak-Kanak Sayang. We felt really happy when the kids greeted us into their house. The house was very homey and made us feel at ease. After talking to Madam Madhu, we started playing with the kids. Althoug some of them had to leave for school, those who stayed were very active and playful. We played Superman, the motorbike, Tag You’re It, drawings and many more. The reason why we came was to cheer them up but never had we thought that it would be vice versa. It was them who made us happy and put smiles on our faces. We would love to stay longer but time was not on our side. Overall, it was a lovely day and we learnt a lot from both of them; the witty elderlies and the joyful kids.

HOW TO HELP? 

1) Volunteer :  Take some time off and spend time with them. You can also provide the children with tuition and recreation activities like handicraft projects. The addresses are : 

• Pusat Jagaan Orang-Orang Kurang Upaya dan Terbiar Lovely : No 7, Jalan SS3/80, University Garden, Seapot,47300, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
• Pusat Jagaan Kanak-Kanak Sayang : 65, Jalan SS1/11, Kampong Tunku, 47300 Petaling Jaya 

2) Necessities : Food, Clothes, Money and other basic necessities are always welcomed. It’s advisable to call first to ask for the current needed things

For more information :

• Pusat Jagaan Orang-Orang Kurang Upaya dan Terbiar Lovely : call 03-78768071 or check out this website
• Pusat Jagaan Kanak-Kanak Sayang : call 03 7877 7522 or check out their facebook page

lointain:

I will keep this post up for a month and everytime somebody reblogs this photo I will donate 10 cents to World Vision to aid people who are living in poverty stricken nations

“The world has enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.”

(via freedomandjustice)

“SlutWalk started in Toronto in Feb of 2011 as a response to Constable Michael Sanguinetti’s statement at a York University safety forum that “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order to not be victimized.” This sparked a backlash which has resulted in SlutWalk groups forming all over the world — from Seoul to New York City to Helsinki to Delhi to Johannesburg — to protest a culture that blames victims for rape, and to challenge the attitudes that come with that, which usually leave sexual crimes under-reported as a result. We recognize that we need to end not only the acts of sexual violence, but the excuses that allow that violence to continue.This Dec, Singapore will also be having our very own SlutWalk. We are proudly taking a stand against sexual violence and the bully tactics of victim-blaming, as we are tired of being oppressed by slut-shaming; of being judged by our sexuality and feeling unsafe as a result. We recognize that we need to end not only the acts of sexual violence, but the excuses that allow that violence to continue. This is not just a women’s issue or a men’s issue; it is everyone’s issue — regardless of gender identification, class, religion, race, or any other identity markers. Join us in our mission to spread the word that those who experience sexual assault are not the ones at fault, without exception. Sexual assault is never justifiable, regardless of age, gender, class, profession, or race. We demand respect.”

For more information, check out their website, facebook or twitter.  

29 October 2011 : World Hunger Relief Malaysia Walk