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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Tuesday 7 December 2010

Serial shopper strikes - 5

Today my shopping was for Nuri’s children. I purposely chose a public holiday as I knew Nuri would be opening her food stall on a working day and I didn’t want her to close her stall just to bring her children shopping.

Since Nuri doesn’t stay in or near Ipoh, finally today I went shopping at a different place. Her place is quite far, so we made a deal. We’d meet up at a supermarket in a town in between her place and mine. Not too far for her… and not too far for me either. Fair and square!

We promised to meet at 10 am in front of the supermarket. Turned out, we were both early. I got there at approximately 9.45 am, and within a minute or so, Nuri and her 3 children arrived. The supermarket opened at 10 am, so we had to wait for a while in front of the main entrance. We weren’t the only ones though… there were quite a number of people there already.

Nuri has an older daughter now in a nursing college. She wasn’t around today. But her 3 schooling children came – a boy, going to be in form 5 next year; a girl, waiting for her PMR results; and her youngest, Farah, the HIV+ child who will be in form one next year.

Anyway, I was the second customer to walk in once the doors to the supermarket opened. I don’t think that had ever happened to me before… :)

I let Nuri and her children choose their own stuff. Again, not much problem with these kids, they just followed whatever their mother chose for them… they were just there to make sure the sizes were right. However, like Norly’s son, Saiful, who’s so small despite going into form one next year; likewise was Farah. No problem getting her baju kurung as she could always opt for the sizes meant for primary school students, but to get a turquoise kain sekolah? No way. Nuri will have no choice but to sew for her little girl.

Well, so far I’ve brought 14 children to shop for their school uniforms, shoes, bags, stationeries etc. Total spent so far RM2627.70 – and that doesn’t include their fees, workbooks and whatever else that needs to be paid to the respective schools when school reopens.

Manalah rupa orang yang sampai sedozen anak bersekolah? :(

12 comments:

Naz in Norway said...

Salam Ma'al Hijrah Kak Pi,

There are people who spends that amount (and maybe even more) on a single handbag -.
Alhamdulillah for people like you.

Pi Bani said...

Naz,
I wouldn't even spend 10% of that amount on a single handbag! Wa cheapskate punya orang... takde class langsung! :)

Anonymous said...

kelas melas.. takde sape nk tanya how much ur handbag cost unless they are snobs who wants 2 showoff. Baik bli handbag murah tp functional drpd yg ada 'suratberanak' (berjenama). Huhu..takut kena soal kat akhirat nanti wooo...
~k.wynn

Naz in Norway said...

Kak Pi,

In India, Indonesia and Italy, you will ... there is no escape! ;D

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pi,
Thank God I'm home schooled - no need for uniform, fees etc etc. Bilalah agaknya nak bagi persekolahan percuma dari rahim ke liang lahad ye? Some countries in Europe boleh tanggung dari tadika sampai ijazah....wish we can be like that someday. So parents have no excuse not to send their children to school. purrrr.....meow!

Wan Sharif said...

Salam maal hijrah to you and may the new year bring more joy and nikmatullah to you..

Pi Bani said...

K.Wynn,
I sebenarnya nak pakai handbag pun malas... tu pasal my baju almost all mesti ada pockets to sumbat my wallet and handphone! So, kalau dah jarang pakai handbag, no point pun beli yang mahal2!

Pi Bani said...

Naz,
I don't buy handbags in those countries... :D

Pi Bani said...

CiS,
Amount yang I sebut tu tak masuk lagi all the school fees and what nots. Baru benda2 yang perlu dipakai untuk ke sekolah.

Bila nak free? Tu tak dapek lah den nak jawab...

Pi Bani said...

Ayoh Wang,
Salam Ma'al Hijrah to you too!

Yati Harvey said...

Glad the kids dah beli perkakas sekolah....kalau kena start sekolah takde yg wajib, haru beb!

To me and those kids, Makcik Pi paling KELAS!

Pi Bani said...

K.Intan,
I remember one of the clients (whose kids are now under sponsorship), telling me that dia sekolah sampai standard 6 aje. Masuk form one setakat seminggu dua aje because her parents couldn't afford to buy her uniforms. Dia pakai old uniform a neighbour, which was quite big for her and she got teased in school for that. Terus tak pergi sekolah dah lepas tu.

Hopefully none of the kids now will have to go through that!