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

Sunday 21 October 2007

Raya visit to Mr. K's house

A few days before raya, Mr. K’s daughter had already sent me a text message on behalf of her parents inviting me to come to their house for raya. Yeah, this is our temporary “Orang Kaya Baru” family who got Mr. K’s EPF withdrawal about 2 weeks before raya. Those of you who had been following the stories in my blog may remember my posting about Mrs. K installing Astro at home using the EPF withdrawal after being pressured by her children.

Well, the children are always excited about having visitors to their home, so yeah, I obliged their invitation. Besides, it was my chance to see if they had bought anything else unnecessary at their home… like a new sofa set maybe… ;)

So off I went to their house last Thursday. I was supposed to pick another volunteer at 10.30 am to go along with me but the volunteer called me up at 10 am saying he had to pull out as he had some things to do at the hospital.

I went a bit late myself as Rina passed away on that day and I went to visit Rina’s family first. My earlier plan to visit Hana first has also been postponed as another volunteer who stays in the same town as Hana, had promised to check on Hana. I may visit Hana later - I have 2 other PLWHA clients staying within the same district so I may just visit them all together once I finish my puasa enam.

When I reached Mr. K’s house, their 5 year old daughter happily greeted me by blowing soap bubbles… :)

In I went, and yes, they were watching Astro. There was a new motorbike outside. OK, the motorbike was necessary as the old motorbike which they used earlier to bring Mr. K to the hospital actually belonged to Mrs. K’s brother. After Mrs. K got the motorbike repaired recently her brother asked for his bike back. Oh well...

Other than that, nothing fancy. No new sofa set, no new curtains etc. Thank goodness. But I forgot to ask if they opened up SSPN accounts for the children as they had promised. I must remember to ask them the next time I see them.

Anyway, Mrs. K cooked some laksa especially for me. The gravy was so hot my lips felt so thick! And oh, I had a chat with their 9 month old baby. No, nothing political… just some goo goo ga ga stuff. Hey, the little girl was talking baby language okay? I just played along…

I brought along the form for them to apply to rent a flat in Ipoh. They agreed they should move to Ipoh during the school holidays so that the children can start schooling in their new schools at the beginning of next year. My colleague has also got a job for Mrs. K with a higher pay than her present pay; and since the flats are near the hospital, it will also be easier for Mr. K to go for his appointments. And the flats are also quite near the Sekolah Teknik where we hope to enroll Shah (their eldest son) for Aliran Kemahiran which he failed to get into this year as the school nearer to their present house did not have enough applicants to start a class.

Hopefully things will go through as planned. I don’t intend to keep bringing groceries and other stuff to them every month. Not that I mind but my main intention is to help them become independent. Once this family becomes independent, I can concentrate on other families needing help.

As I was about to leave, Shah asked if he could tumpang me to Ipoh. He promised to join some friends to go to another friend’s open house in Ipoh. Not a problem for me. At least it showed that he felt comfortable enough with me.

So far things are beginning to look quite positive for this family at last. I sure hope it will continue to be positive.

The only negative thing I’m hoping for them is that other than Mr. K who is HIV positive, the rest will remain negative…

16 comments:

Pak Zawi said...

Pi,
Another great job done by you. Only Allah can repay you for your kind deeds.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

kak Pi,

not sure about astro but a new sofa is a must-have if they havent had one yet. sitting on the floor can cause backache.

but good to read that things are lookin up for mr k's family. its certainly looking rosy for them and lets hope they will get what they had wished for.

*just wondering kak Pi...kalau PLWHA berpuasa, wld they face any problem especially being in the condition as they are? mintak maaf if this q may offend anyone.

Pi Bani said...

Zawi,
I couldn't have done it without help and support from my colleagues and donors. Anyway, it is our duty to help the needy, isn't it?

Pi Bani said...

Kerp,
Dah ada set kerusi lama kat rumah bought when Mr. K was still working dulu. Still boleh pakai. No need for a new sofa set lah...

As for your question, there should be no problem for them to puasa if they are not yet on medication. The only problem is for those whose CD4 are already low and they need to take their anti-retroviral drugs. You see they must take their medication on time every 12 hours. Say, kalau selalu makan ubat 8 pagi and 8 malam, then EVERY day they must take their medication at the same time in order to supress the virus. Non-compliance may result in the virus to merebak.

Nightwing said...

Helo Kak Pi,

Ya, its cool that they did not spend on unnessary things.

I think its because of your warning...so probably have that in their mind before buying...:)

Pi Bani said...

Nightwing,
Aiseh... now you're making me feel so garang one... ;)

Mat Salo said...

Hai Pi.. Bila nak take a break? Nak turun KL ke? Tau lah you letih masak rendang Perak.. Hmmm, rendang orang Perak tu macammana ya Pi? Boleh try tak?

Sent an Raya sms to Tajam.. dia ingat tak I siapa, hehe.. Or you keep your blogging activities SECRET ha-ha. Salaam.

Meh laa turun esok...

Pi Bani said...

Mat Salo,
Nak take a break apekemendenye lagi... dah seminggu opis tutup! I may be going to KL one of these days, but not on a weekday, so for the time being, takde chan lah nak join MRT.

Rendang Perak? Usually kat Perak orang suka buat Rendang Tok or Rendang Dendeng but since anak-anak buah I minat rendang dendeng, it's dendeng then for us. Nak rasa? Boleh... masaklah sendiri... hehehe

Tajam didn't say anything about your SMS when we met. Anyway, I don't keep my blogging activity a secret but at the same time I don't go round telling people I blog either. Yang I tau for sure my eldest sis reads my blog. Yang lain, entah... tak tanya pulak...

Daphne Ling said...

Hi Kak Pi,

Yeah, I remember Mr and Mrs K, the Astro dish and you (sarcastically) asking about the TV 36 inci...=)

Glad things are good though...But to be honest, I always thought Mr K was Indian...For some reason...

Sorry!

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

thanks for the explanation, kak Pi. only that from the answer given, another q surfaced. for those on medication, they have to strictly take every 12 hours? then how to puasa like that?

Pi Bani said...

Daph,
Bukan TV 36 inci lah... I told to buy 42 inci punya... :)

You thought he was Indian, eh? Maybe it's because I named him Mr. K instead of the usual proper Malay names I used for the rest. At that time maybe influenced by Datuk K kot... but then again, Datuk K is not Indian either...

Pi Bani said...

Kerp,
Islam tu memudahkan bukan menyusahkan. Those who cannot fast for whatever acceptable reasons including medical reasons are allowed not to fast. And since in the case of PLWHAs, the medications need to be taken for life (unless one fine day a cure for AIDS is found), they cannot even ganti puasa. So kenalah bayar fidyah kalau mampu. Wallahua'lam.

J.T. said...

Hi Pi

I finally made it to your blog after a few days of lazing around. Sad to see I was greeted with bad news. I am so sorry to hear about Rina. At least, she is in a better place now. I feel sorry for her child, though. Luckily there's grandma.

Anyway, just like Daphne, I always thought Mr K was Indian. :)
Glad things are working out well for him and his family.

Is Astro considered a luxury or necessity these days? :D

Pi Bani said...

JT,
If astro is considered a necessity, I am one of those without such a necessity.

Pak Idrus said...

pi bani, Carry on with the good works and do also take care of your good self. Astro is good, the more informations you get the better would you be. Try the new channel Awani, among the best that comes our way. Remember all works and no play....our species need to have a colorful life as well. Take care.

Pi Bani said...

Pak Idrus,
I am in no way saying that Astro is bad. But in the case of Mr K's family, they have so many other necessities they have to think of, one of them being some savings for the children's future.

As for me, I don't bother to install astro as I don't really watch TV that much. No point wasting money over something I don't really watch. And don't worry about me doing all work and no play. It sounds as though I work so hard because all I blog about is my voluntary work. I don't blog about what I do during my leasure time. To me as long as I enjoy what I do, I'm happy!