THEY WILL ASK thee as to what they should spend on others. Say: "Whatever of your wealth you spend shall [first] be for your parents, and for the near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer; and whatever good you do, verily, God has full knowledge thereof." - Al-Baqarah (2:215)
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Sunday 26 August 2007

Yah's kampong revisited

During the Buddies Family Day held recently, one of Yah’s daughters asked, “Kenapa makcik dah lama tak datang rumah?” Alamak…. guilty as charged….

The truth is, ever since Yah and her children moved further up north, I simply couldn’t find the time to visit them as often as I did before. Usually those with babies I’d visit more often to send them the baby necessities like milk powder and diapers, but since this family is staying further and Yah for the past few months had been traveling to Ipoh quite often to get things done (hospital appointments, blood tests, EPF withdrawal applications etc) I’d just hand over to her 1 or 2 packet of milk powder for her to bring home each time. I couldn’t give more as it would be troublesome for her to bring the bulky things up and down the buses.

But after her daughter asked me why I hadn’t been visiting them for so long, I thought I’d better make it a point to spare one Saturday or Sunday to do so.

So, yesterday I made sure I had no other commitments. I had called Jah earlier to ask her if she’d like to follow me. Being someone who loves to “jalan-jalan” but never really having the chance to do so, Jah agreed to follow me even before I could tell her where we were going! Jah is the easy-going, fun-to-be-with type of person, so I figured bringing her along for my house visits would not only be good for Jah, but also to the PLWHA families I visit.

I told Jah to be at the bus-station by 9.30 am, but she called me before 9.00 am to say she was already there!! I just came home after my Saturday pasar tani routine… so had to rush off immediately to the bus-station to fetch Jah. Jah was all excited. She had never been anywhere north of Ipoh before, so her excitement was understandable. Anyway, Jah had always been a highly excitable kind of specie…:). The journey at the highway was smooth, but after having to exit the highway and follow the trunk road to go to Yah’s kampong, there were so many lorries on the road. Sigh!

By the time we got to Yah’s house, it was already after 11 am. Yah and the kids were already waiting for me. Yah’s son, Abang Chik was his usual naughty self. Upon seeing visitors coming in, he rode his bicycle into the house, prompting his grandma to shout at him. The more I see Abang Chik, the more convinced I am that he has ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Not that I’m an expert, but after listening to Yah’s stories about him, and seeing for myself the kind of kid Abang Chik is, I’ve been searching on the internet on this kind of kids. He never pays attention, he never listens and he’s always up to something. Tak makan saman! Even his teachers in school can’t cope with him. Scolding him day in day out will not help him. I advised Yah that Abang Chik may need professional help. Yah agreed to bring Abang Chik along to the hospital the next time she needs to bring baby Aini to see the doctor.

As for baby Aini, she’s doing just fine. Aini’s already 1 year plus now and she’s a chubby little baby (banyak telan susu free… so her mother says!). During my last visit (I think it was in May) Aini would cry at the sight of strangers in her house. This time she no longer cries. Her grandma (Yah’s mom) kept telling her to “pergi kat mama”, referring to me as the “mama” because I’m the milk supplier (not my own milk, of course… this is a case of lembu punya susu, si Pi dapat nama… haha!). Of course, baby Aini was very cautious… probably afraid that I may take her away from her family… I don’t really visit that often anyway.

Remember I mentioned earlier that Yah has got her EPF money and that she wanted to buy the piece of land her aunt wanted to sell? Well, Yah had already taken out some of the money and went to KL to meet the aunt. But the aunt ended up canceling her intentions to sell the piece of land because her children disagreed. Although nobody stays there any longer, they wanted to keep the house as their “balik kampong” spot.

So, Yah is back to square one… still has to stay in the same old house on a rented piece of land, which, although the landlord has given the OK for them to keep on renting, is still subject to the landlord’s son’s change of mind anytime.

And as for the money that Yah withdrew from her bank account? Well, she put them all back in. That’s how trustworthy Yah is when it comes to money. She doesn’t spend as she likes and she always think of her future. If the money is for the purpose of buying a land, she won’t spend it on anything else even though nobody can stop her from doing so.

Some of the poor, like I said before, would finish off their money in no time the moment they get their hands on a lump sum of money… like Mr. K’s family for example. Aah… this one’s another story… I’d better give them a pep talk soon before they get their EPF money. It will be fasting month soon and they may be tempted to spend and finish the money before Raya!!

Anyway, after leaving Yah’s house yesterday, I brought Jah for lunch… she’s always game for makan free! I even tapau-ed some food for her before I sent her home. Just as we were approaching the town where Jah lives, suddenly I saw a bus heading right towards my car. For a while there I thought I was on the wrong side of the road. Then I realized the bus was trying to overtake a tractor. Lucky thing there was enough space on the left for me to swerve to before I flashed the lights to the bus driver. Knowing pretty well he was in the wrong, the bus driver raised his right hand and smiled to me. Sheeeesh!! The cheek of him! He could still smile!

Thank God nothing bad happened and I am still here to post this entry. It will be fasting month soon and I will have lots of house visits to do to send some Raya goodies to the poor families…

24 comments:

silversarina said...

Jah mesti best dapat jalan-jalan dengan you... you're so kind ....

Bagus kalau Yah tau berjimat dengan wang EPF tu, untuk masa depan di juga.

"lembu punya susu , si Pi dapat nama.." kelakarlah you ni.

have a nice sunday !!

Anonymous said...

Happy National Day!
Feel free to send it to frens n family!

http://bp3.blogger.com/_lL8ANefKlGs/Rsmkm7X5UzI/AAAAAAAAARM/4GNQ65LJPP4/s1600-h/2007kad.jpg

http://bp3.blogger.com/_lL8ANefKlGs/Rsmkb7X5UyI/AAAAAAAAARE/GMLTuflsYyc/s1600-h/wp06.jpg

Pi Bani said...

LUJ,
Dah kebetulan nama pun Pi, sesuai sangatlah dengan perumpamaan tu... :)

Have a great week ahead!

Pi Bani said...

Laman,
Happy National Day to you too... and thanks for the free stuff! So rajinlah you... :)

Kak Teh said...

pi bani - selamat berpuasa to you and all. It'll be a break from makan-makan for me. For now.

Unknown said...

KakPi...baca second last para you tu buat I lupa apa nak komen tentang Jah...gerunnya...and masih boleh smile lagi tu...tu lagi gerun kak!

Pi Bani said...

Kak Teh,
Selamat berpuasa to you too! Apa program merdeka kat sana? No makan-makan? ;)

Pi Bani said...

Raden Galoh,
Tu lah pasal! Dia boleh senyum... takde muka guilty langsung!! Nasib baiklah selamat... kalau tempat tu takde space kat sebelah kiri jalan, naiya I dengan Jah! Bas pulak tu, punyalah besar...

Anonymous said...

Dear Pi
I've just started reading your blog after my yahoogroup introduced me a couple of months back. what a great job you r doing.

Di Bukit Merbah 77-81

Pi Bani said...

Anonymous,
OK, so you're one year my junior. Why the anonymity? Takut kena renung dek my big glasses at the header tu ke? :)

Anyway, thanks for dropping by.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

nasib baik she has put her epf money back in. i mean, epf money is a once in a life time thing and coming frm a not so well-to-do background, the money shld really be spent on necessary item, which one can get to enjoy it for future use, til her last breath.

winniethepooh said...

Yah must be so disappointed that the aunt change her mind. It felt as if ure brought up to the highest point and then thrown right down to earth again..Will pray that Yah will oneday be able to own a house and all will be more stable for the family.

Pi Bani, I'm sure the kids love to see u at their place, some days I just wished I had 48 hours in a day to do things hehehe

Take care and hv a great week ahead Pi Bani!

Anonymous said...

salam,

wahhh.. tak boleh tak komen, nanti the BIG glasses cari I... love the header's pic....

IBU said...

wahhh... new look heh? cool... your glasses ke tu?

Kesian Yah! Selalu jugak intended land deal jadi cam tu, especially if the owner know there's a potential buyer, then they start 'jual mahal'. Hampakan harapan orang jer... Maybe takde rezeki Yah la kan? Mesti ada hikmahnya. Good thing she's careful with the money. Hope she'll find a better premise soon.

Pi Bani said...

Kerp,
Yes, in that sense, Yah is a very disciplined person. I am not too worried about her overspending. She's the type who thinks of her children's future.

Pi Bani said...

Winnie,
Yah is disappointed alright. She went all the way to KL to see her aunt for the purpose of buying the land and came back empty handed. What to do... let's just hope another reasonable offer will come her way soon.

Pi Bani said...

LUJ,
I memang suka observe orang... now using the BIG glasses to do so... :)

Pi Bani said...

Ibu,
Not my glasses lah. I only need glasses for reading... no need glasses that big lah. Saja je letak gambar spec besar tu kat situ bagi orang perasan sikit they are being watched!!

As for Yah's aunt who cancelled the deal, as usual, bila anak-anak tuan tanah masuk campur, semuanya tak jadi. I guess they still want a kampong to go back to even though nobody's staying there anymore. InsyaAllah ada rezeki, Yah will get a better place.

Monster Mom said...

I sure hope teachers will understand more about the ADHD kids...

The kid needs help... and proper medication...

poor him..and the family.

Pi Bani said...

Monster Mom,
Problem is many are not aware of this ADHD. Those who are aware pun sometimes tak terfikir. I myself only thought about it after one commenter, tak silap Cik Kiah Kidman, commented in one of my earlier postings. Dah dia sebut tu baru teringat nak search more on ADHD.

To most people around him, Abang Chik is just a very naughty boy.

Pak Zawi said...

PI, I have missed so much since my last visit to your site.
Why not make a report of the driver to the CVLB for careless and dangerous driving? Just give them the time, date and registration number of the vehicle. Since it was a public service vehicle, CVLB will haul up the driver when its time for him to renew their license. More often they go unreported so they are free to terrorise small vehicles like yours and mine.

Pi Bani said...

Zawi,
Everything happened so fast I didn't have the opportunity to see the registration number of the bus. I think that's why in most cases they go unreported - they simply speed off before victims could even think of looking at their registration number!

Anonymous said...

Dear Pi,

Alhamdulillah, u dapat elak accident tu.

On Yah'e EPF money, pls ask her to put it into a Unit Trust Fund (UT) so that it could 'earn' more than the lousy bank savings rate. I am not sure whether ASB is giving better return compared to other UT.

May be reader(s) could assist Pi.

Regards

Nani - Cheras

Pi Bani said...

Nani,
Thanks! InsyaAllah will advise Yah to put aside the money in a unit trust.