I went to visit Lin yesterday. After my usual Saturday pasar tani routine, I called to ask where she'd be around 3 pm as I wanted to drop by. Since she said she'd be at her stall, I told her I'd go straight to the stall.
I then immediately carried some pisang abu (2 tandan!!) into my car, although I planned to go later in the afternoon. You see, I didn't want to be carrying the bananas after I got ready - nanti kotor lah baju!
Yes, Lin is the one who now sells goreng pisang to earn an income for her family. I like her attitude. She applied for welfare and Baitulmal aid, so far nothing. But she doesn't wait for help to come her way. She finds ways and means to earn some money to support her children.
Oh yes, so far she's still getting the monthly alimony of RM300 from her ex-husband (that's Mr Darling - in case you have forgotten) but there are already signs that the said amount may only come in when pestered. Mr Darling himself told his children that his present wife doesn't like him seeing his children so often. She wants him to concentrate more on HER child who, according to her, needs more attention. Itulah... siapa suruh pi cari beban...
I told Lin to arrange with the pejabat agama for the alimony to be deducted direct from Mr Darling's salary since he is a government servant. Lin hopes to do so soon.
Anyway, business seemed to be doing well when I was at Lin's stall today. I sat at a table nearest to where she fries the bananas, facing her, so we could talk while she works. Meanwhile I ordered air kelapa from the stall she's sharing with.
When I saw she was a bit free, I told her to get the air kelapa guys to help get the bananas from my car. Nope, I didn't want to get my clothes dirty.
As I continued chatting with Lin, her 12 year old daughter came. She didn't argue a bit when Lin told her to show me her latest school exam results. The girl knew I'd need to send reports to her sponsor as she's covered under our Education Sponsorship for Children programme. 2B's and a string of C's. Lin had gone to see her school teacher earlier and due to the drop in the girl's performance, the teacher had asked if Lin could help out the girl when she studies or does her homework at home.
It's not that Lin doesn't want to help out with her children's studies. The question is... when can she do that? Daytime every day, she's at her goreng pisang stall as that's her only source of income. Night time, once she takes her ARV medication at 9 pm, within minutes she'd go into dreamland no matter how hard she tries to stay awake. As Lin herself mentioned, "Lepas pukul 9 malam, dah tak boleh pakai dah saya ni!"
So yes, when and how can she pay more attention to her children's studies? Tuition? Well, somehow the girl's school conducts tuition at night - which is not practical for the girl. Lin was not about to let her girl go to school alone at night, it's dangerous! Lin herself who is always knocked out by 9 pm, won't be able to send and fetch the girl from school. So, to them the school tuition was not an option.
I told Lin to ask around on the rates if the girl goes for private tuition near their place. I may be able to get the amount covered by her sponsorship money. Otherwise when Lin's second daughter comes back from overseas for holidays in August, she will need to give intensive revision course for her younger sister before her UPSR.
Why on earth does the school conduct tuition at night anyway? It may not be a problem for parents who can send and fetch their children from school, but the needs of people like Lin and her children need to be considered too!
11 comments:
I reacted to the same thing...why on earth at night? Kalau betul nak tolong, make it available for all la.
Penyakit nak kena minta duit bulan tu dah banyak I dengar once the man opens a new branch. Tak boleh minta buat direct debit from his account ke, Kak Pi. Tak payah Lin nak minta minta lagi.
Pi, Kalau pasal buka cawangan ni ramai yang bagi pendapat kan? Siap kata bini boleh dapat payung emas lagi (boleh gadai ke untuk bagi anak makan?). Bab bagi nafkah ni wajib, tak sehebat bab buka cawangan pulak. Padahal kalau tak bagi anak nafkah dan bagi hak anak tu pada cawangan dan gerabak-gerabak baru bukan ke menempah neraka? Haram kan rampas hak orang untuk beri pada org lain? Tak ada ke Tok Syeh, ustaz/ustazah, pendakwah, Mufti atau siapa-siapalah yang 'berjuang' di jalan Allah nak take up this issue? Rasanya penganiayaan macam ni jadi tanggungjawab masyarakat untuk cari jalan penyelesaian. Takut lak kalau tak buat apa-apa nanti hansap-hansap tu yang tak bertanggungjawab, kita lak ikut berdosa. Sama macam tak kebumi org mati je rasanya. (Kalau ada puak-puak nak kebumi hansap-hansap ni hidup-hidup beritahu I. Boleh sumbang sewa penyodok besar tu untuk gali kubur depa. Kena gali besar-besar sebab hansap-hansap ni ramai). Lagi satu I nak cadang kita buka website utk paparkan gambar dan fakta-fakta terperinci hansap-hansap ni. Hansap-hansap yang bapa ayam, yang bela/visit ayam, yang bela belaan-belaan pun kita masuk website ni. Sure Gempak!!! Nak beli hidden cameras nanti pun I nak sumbang gak.
Zool
You tahu Pi..you boleh jadi movie director.
Bila baca your entry and dengar lagu/musik iringan, by the end of the post, airmata I dah mula bertakung!! heeee...sadnyer!!
Naz,
Pelik kan? Ada ka buat tuition malam... budak sekolah rendah pulak tu!
As for Lin, boleh minta deduct direct from salary kalau kerja gomen, and kebetulan Mr Darling ni kerja gomen. Dah ajar dah kat Lin suruh dia gi isi borang for that purpose.
Zool,
Amboi, panjang ceramah nampak? ;) Masalahnya orang kita ni ramai yang nampak HAK aje... tapi tak nampak tanggungjawab. As for Mr Darling ni, dia bukan tambah cawangan. Dia tutup opis lama and buka opis baru. Tapi masa masih dengan opis lama dulu pun, dia banyak buat aktiviti haram kat luar - sampaikan opis dia pun tercemar dengan virus HIV. Apa yang patut dia bagi, dia tak bagi. Yang dibaginya HIV...
Mamasita,
Kalau I jadi movie director, nampaknya you kena jadi aktres airmatalah... baru background music pun dah cukup effective dah.
Pi..
Mana Cat from Sydney ? takde tinggal kesan pun..meow..meow...
Sherry,
Kucing tak minat banana lah...
Banana is not cat food...purrr....
But because I love Aunty Pi, I've left my paw prints here too...meow!
Pi, buka opis baru ke, tambah cawangan ke, apa-apalah. Hak anak-anak tak putus. Kalau rampas beri kat opis baru atau cawangan baru, sama macam mengundang opis baru atau cawangan baru untuk sama-sama bermastautin di tempat yang api menyala-nyala tu. Tapi kalau suka gak nak kekal kat situ, silakanlah... Pihak-pihak 'berkuasa' yang boleh melakukan sesuatu tapi tak buat apa-apa atau buat ala kadar tak berkesan, boleh tolong temankan. Jadi dayang-dayang atau kadam ke. Meriah ramai-ramai gitu. Setiap masa babikiu. Sodap!!! Kecik-kecik dulu hansap-hansap ni tak nak mampus lak. Menyusahkan orang je.
Zool
Zool,
Memanglah hak anak-anak tak putus. Yang putus duit dia aje. Orang macam ni bukannya pikir pasal tempat yang api yang menyala-nyala tu. Tak nampak depan mata dia.
Bab 'pihak berkuasa' tu I tak tau apa nak komen lah, cuma apa yang I boleh buat setakat ni sekadar mengajar wanita-wanita yang ditindas ni apa yang boleh diorang buat.
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