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)
Malaysia Flag Pictures, Images and Photos

Wednesday 24 October 2007

Raya visit to Fuzi's house

After fulfilling Mrs. K’s raya invitation on Thursday last week, the next day I decided to pay Fuzi a visit for raya. Besides it was already time to deliver milk powder and diapers to her little Iwan.

First I went to shop for the things, then I called Fuzi just to be sure she was home. It was after all raya season and she may be off with her children to beraya elsewhere. When I called and asked Fuzi if she was home, her immediate answer was, “Ada kak, orang macam saya ni nak beraya ke mana?”

So off I went on the 7th day of raya. The main door was already open when I got there as she already knew I was on the way. Otherwise, the door is most of the time closed since it is just a makeshift door. I need to start asking around for a discounted rate for a proper door as the present door sometimes opens by itself whenever it is very windy. It seems very unsafe.

When I got inside I saw the children playing some board games. Fuzi’s baby, Iwan, who’s now about 16 months old, and can already walk, was rather cautious seeing me. He’s always afraid of strangers and although he does see me every month, it takes a few minutes for him to warm up to me – unlike Mrs. K’s 9 month baby who’d recognize me immediately whenever I went to visit them.

Fuzi said the children did get some duit raya from some neighbours and while her girls were the saving type, and the 2 younger boys’ duit raya was given to Fuzi, her 9 year old son finished all his duit raya buying firecrackers from a nearby shop. The shop owner even called Fuzi every time the boy went to buy firecrackers from him, telling Fuzi that her son was wasting his money buying firecrackers. (Dah tau budak tu wasting money, pergi jual kat dia buat apa?!)

When scolded by his mother, he answers back. Poor Fuzi has been having a tough time dealing with this boy. Tell him nicely, he doesn’t listen. Scold him, he answers back. Yeah, I’ve heard about how tough it is bringing up orphans, but in Fuzi’s case, the other kids do listen to her. As a matter of fact, the 2 older sisters are very responsible girls who help out their mother to look after the family. It’s just this boy giving her the headaches. I don’t know, maybe he needs a fatherly figure to talk to him for him to listen. I’ve tried talking to him… went in one ear and immediately out the other…

I asked Fuzi about the status of her marriage cert – whether it has been legalized. She said she had gone to the Pejabat Agama to be interviewed by an officer there and was asked to supply a few sets of supporting documents for them to submit to the relevant authorities. At least it shows progress. Hopefully things will be finalized soon although I am still not satisfied with the fact that she had to pay some suspiciously large amount of money to get things going.

* A fellow volunteer who had been helping Fuzi to get Bantuan Kanak-kanak had been relating this problem to a few officers at the Welfare Department. All they could tell my colleague was “Alaaah… biasalah tu, yang sanggup bayar lebih lagi pun ada.” 'Biasalah tu' was all they could come up with. I wonder if it is also a “biasa” practice amongst them too.*

Anyway, Fuzi’s children kept asking when the raya gathering will be (like the one I organized last year). I haven’t planned anything yet for this year so I couldn’t answer their question. Obviously they’re eager to attend the gathering so I’d better start thinking of organizing one.

I’d better bring this up in my NGO’s board meeting next week.

10 comments:

kina said...

Kak Pi,

Ni lari tajuk sket ye, nak tanya

Did Boboy come back for raya?

Pi Bani said...

Kina,
I haven't checked on Boboy yet. Time raya the guardians balik kampung so they wouldn't be home. But I trust Boboy did come back with the auntie who stays somewhere near the shelter home but by now probably dah balik semula ke sana when the auntie balik KL.

Nantilah, one of these days I ingat nak call up the home and speak to the lady in charge.

zaitgha said...

Pejabat Agama pun mintak bayar lebih...macam mana tu?? What a world we live in now...just feeling so sad to hear all this...they are paid to do their job anyway...

Pi, a bit late but still Selamat Hari Raya...

Pi Bani said...

Zai,
To them they probably got paid to go to the office. To get them to actually work, needs extra perks. That's where duit kopi comes in - although their kopi can be so damn expensive.

Selamat Hari Raya to you too.

The Pisces Man said...

Mujur le jugek penjual bunga api tu nak juga consider tak mau jual kat bebudak, although the penjual should not have opted to sell fire crackers in the first place, hahaha...

Selamat Hari Raya Kak Pi..

Pi Bani said...

Pisces man,
The shop owner DID sell the firecrackers to the boy. Tapi knowing Fuzi orang susah, dia cuma call bagitau Fuzi, expecting Fuzi to stop her son from buying. Dalam pada tu dia tetap jual jugak. Amende lah...

Salt N Turmeric said...

Pi, cuba u get the names of those ppl kat welfare dept and tell them tht ur gonna put their names on ur blog and their (in)famous-quotes. if they ask u why, tell them, "biasalah tu, saya memang tulis dlm blog tentang perangai orang".
if not, just give me the details (names, whc deptand and etc) il do the dirtying-their-names job.;) (btw, i serious ni).

Pi Bani said...

Princessjournals,
That's actually the "general" attitude of their staff, there may be one or two exceptions but hard to find lah. My colleague (the one in charge of client's welfare) not only know their names, but have actually met them. Problem is arahan orang atas lain... implementation by orang bawah lain cerita. We're still waiting for the date of appointment to see the State Welfare Director where we hope to bring up all these issues.

What I'd actually like to do now is to get proof that the money that Fuzi is supposed to pay tu is indeed duit kopi... the name of the person asking for it... the department where he works etc.Yang ni bukan welfare dept punya orang but either pejabat agama punya orang or someone yang kenal someone inside. Si Fuzi tu macam reluctant nak bagitau I takut I take action gi report to the relevant authorities.

Seems that the way some of them work don't reflect the names of their respective departments - "kebajikan" and "agama". Apalah nak jadi...

Nightwing said...

Helo Kak Pi,

This is not good. People in trouble still want to create more trouble for people. sigh..

Oh ya...have u read today's news?

http://www.thestaronline.com/news/story.asp?file=/2007/10/25/nation/19266703&sec=nation

Another missing child (which could have been avoided).

Pi Bani said...

Nightwing,
Aaargh!! Tak sempat nak put Nurin Alert into action dah another girl missing!