Carolling at Jumble Station

Jumble Station became the liveliest place around the Angsana low cost flats thanks to some cell group members who turned up for our very caroling session. JS staff, supporters and the co-founders too were on hand and ready to belt out a couple of Christmas songs and carols.

Earlier on the workers worked feverishly to decorate JS itself setting up the Christmas tree, putting the ornaments on and yes, the twinkling coloured lights. A trunkful of Santa hats were available for the adults and kids alike with 2 year old Gunawan sporting the cutest costume – little Santa himself!

The dinner spread was another mouth watering experience with each staff and volunteer adding to the varied dishes from Assam Prawn Sambal from Adrian to Nadia’s meesiam, from Mala’s mixed veg to Alice’s macaroni, from Meow’s cauliflower and mushroom dish to Mariammah’s delicious chicken curry!

On the caroling part, everyone sang with gusto from young singers like NurFain and NurFazlyin who sang their hearts out with their fav number Feliz Navidad to Meow and gang who went through the likes of such carols as Jingle Bells, Joy to the World, Hark the Herald Angels Sing and Silent Night. While the crowd was strangely absent, the spirit of a joyous and Blessed Christmas was clearly evident.

To all JS supporters, a very Blessed Christmas and a much happier 2013 New Year.from the three of us co-founders – Sanice Kam, Lim Lian See and Mary Anne 

Sharing the “True Breath” of Christmas

The recent 1Muhibbah Christmas party hosted by the Breath of God Church led by Rev Aloysious Lopez and his charming wife on Sunday Dec 16 at the Vivatel Hotel is a marvelous example of how a church can bless so many children of different races and enable them to feel a fresh breath of what Christmas is all about. Jumble Station sent over some of its poor Muslim kids to the event and they were immediately enveloped in the spirit of love, fun and excitement from the beginning to the end. With hundreds of kids their age running around merrily complete with party hats and sweets, our kids, even down to the littlest one, Gunawan, 2 years old, felt right at home in the cavernous banquet hall. From the time they grabbed a candy floss, were handed a Christmas goodie bag to the time they got a Christmas present each, right up to the moment they were able to run on stage to do the gangnam dances and wiggle their bodies to the beat of music, the kids were in seventh heaven. For Nurain and Fazlyn this was their first ever Christmas party and they couldn’t get enough of it! The icing on the cake was when the VIP guest Datuk Seri Sharizat, former Welfare Minister and current head of BN’s Wanita movement genially agreed to have her photograph taken with the JS team. Sharizat who had met Farah Nisha some years back when she was just a kid was pleasantly surprised to discover how she had shot up in height and still as pretty as ever at the age of 12! Sharizat also handed over a RM5,000 cheque to the church on behalf of the Wanita UMNO team. The 1Muhibbah spirit was clearly present too in the array of performances that saw an Indian, Chinese, Malay and even a Michael Jackson dance performed to the delighted squeals of the young and not so young audience. However, the one clear message that came through that night itself was that the spirit of Christmas, the love for all mankind – still exists – and that sharing the sweet breath of God thru his birth (Christmas) is what’s most important! Glory to God in the Highest and Peace to all those who contributed to make this party so special to the less priviledged, we the NGOs on the ground truly appreciate the efforts that made this party so wonderfully memorable to our poor kids!

A Really Cool Party at Genting Resort

One busload of poor kids from Subang Jaya, Desa Mentari and Lembah Subang set off for the cool heights of Genting Highlands Resort recently and discovered an amazing warmth in welcome that still resounds till now! Jumble Station had been invited to bring some 40 kids for Genting’s annual Christmas party on December 13, 2012 and for many of the 30 kids that eventually turned up, this was their first time ever seeing this cool mountain retreat for real. The party themed “Out of this world” saw many of Genting’s Employees dressed in space like costume and mythological creatures. Each of the 10 charity homes that made its way up the hill resort was also encouraged to have its kids participate in the competition resulting in many a spaced out bumble bee, monster masked behemoth, a princess or two and other strange creatures. On our part we had single dad Adrian’s two girl Nisha and Natasha dressed in silver lame space gear complete with robotic masks and shocking blue and pink Afro hairpieces. Nisha’s natural grace and ability to carry herself well enabled her to beat the others and won for herself a RM500 first prize. The season’s merriment was made all the more warm and inviting with the presence of the VVIP, none other than Puan Sri Cecelia Lim herself who turned out to be a very charming, fun loving and hugely supportive persona – willing at the drop of a hat to join in the activities – from her impromptu Christmas carol singing to doing the Gangnam style dancing with happy abandon. She came across as truly a people person, different from the usually very formal top gun one would come across in the corporate world –a refreshing change indeed. However what got our kids even more excited was the part where their personal Christmas wish was fulfilled in a spectacular manner – some like single dad Yun’s two boys Hamizan and Heikal had wished for a bicycle each – while Nisha’s younger sister Farah Diyana had also wished for a bicycle – all found themselves “gifted” with a bike each! The bigger teens ended up with handphones, MP3 players with a surprise backpack thrown in! It was highly amusing to see tiny tots like 2 year old Gunawan toddling away with a Genting bag of goodies that was even bigger than he is while little Nur Ramadhani, 8, held tightly to her white teddy bear and cried later when she thought she had lost it! After the gifts galore, it was time for some outdoor fun but the steady drizzle and cold air drew the youngsters back into the fun of the indoor amusement park and the kids, both young and old were delighted to try all the various rides – from the paddle pop train ride to the carousel, from the screaming terror ride of the roller coaster to the more sedate Eiffel Tower car rides. All in all, everyone from Jumble Station had a fantastic time and our thanks must go to the dedicated Genting staff that took care of all the details and ensured a marvelously smooth party from the beginning to the end! Four year old Nurul Debby Syafika says it best when she woke up early the next day and insisted her mum wake her older brother up so they won’t be late for another ride up to Genting Highlands again!

Awesome ‘warrior’ performance

Jumble Station recently teamed up with Antah Healthcare to present a Dikir Puteri or Warrior Princess dance for its 50th anniversary celebration at the Sime Darby Convention Hall on Dec 6 2012. Under the guidance of single dad Adrian Ong, 10 girls from Antah Healthcare were trained in the traditional art of a female warrior dance complete with its delicate gestures and symbolic movements. Most of the girls had never attempted a Malay ceremonial dance before but they caught on soon enough and were passionate enough to want to practice the various dance steps every lunch break they could get! On JS side, some 16 volunteers were recruited including the children of single parents – Hasrun’s two boys Hamizan and Heikal as well as Adrian’s two girls – Farah Nisha and Farah Diyana. All were put through their paces in terms of learning to clap and do the dikir hand movements in unison without anyone missing a beat. Heikal at first could not grasp the complicated steps and burst into tears but after a little persuasion and patience, he finally caught on to it and believe it or not became the best dance performer not to mention the cutest and the handsomest to boot! The night of the grand performance, the dance team made a truly grand entrance with Adrian in his guise as Siti leading the way followed by the tiny warriors and accompanied by the older female warriors to the astonishment of the VVIP guest Tuanku from the Negri Sembilan Royal Family. The audience were then entertained to a lively rendition of P Ramlee’s song Ai Ya Cik Siti and Ah Pek played by single dad Hasrun Manaf (whose kung fu stance and ceremonial Chinese strides into the dining hall was jaw droppingly impressive) before being held spellbound by the smooth, slick and thoroughly professional dance performance of the Dikir Puteri dancers and the accompanying warriors. What made the show so mesmerizing was the fact that it was 1Malaysia at its best – the Puteri was Zsa Zsa a Malay single mother while four other handmaidens were Indians, the Dikir Puteri clapping troupe comprised, Chinese, Malays and Sabahans – plus the youngsters were so adorable in their earnestness to perform correctly throughout the show. Yun and Adrian’s impersonation of P Ramlee and Saloma’s comic hit song “Yang Mana Satu”sent the crowd into stitches as they verbally jousted on stage but the final applause was reserved for the lively a-go-go twist number “whooly booly” which saw the two boys and two girls donning shocking pink and blue wigs while gyrating gamely to the dance steps. Overall what made the performances so stunning was the riotous display of colours that went into the costumes, headdresses and “sampings” as well as the infectious joy and fun apparent in all the JS & Antah dancers. That everyone had a great time was obvious with many of Antah management and staff totally impressed with the level of sophistication and dedication that went into the conceptualizing, execution and final delivery of the shows itself. One thing is for sure, we do have inherent talents at JS that should be tapped further for the benefit of the Malaysian community… yes indeed!

Grieving Widows Blessed

Five single mothers who spouse have died were recommended by Parents Without Partners Bhd for this year’s GGP Dinner at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club recently.

The five single mums – Revathy, Sumathi, Shanti. Mages and Zuraidah accompanied by their kids were all given a RM300 early Christmas present each and RM200 a month allocation for the whole year of 2013.

Zuraidah from Puchong whose youngest daughter is only a year old is so touched by the Christmas gift and the monthly cash donation because she is currently unable to seek employment since she has to care for three children - two girls and a boy. 

Sumathi who has two young boys is equally delighted with the monetary gift because December is the leanest month for her since she earns a living driving young kids to school in her rickety car but with the school holidays she has less income for the month so this is a blessing indeed.

Edmund, the co-founder of GGP said that both the monies given was to help the single moms through the challenges of next year and enable them to realize they are not alone. Some of the invitees were also asked to get on the stage especially if their birthdays happen to fall in the months of November and December.

Zuraidah’s daughter whose birthday fell on Dec 2 was not around when the birthday celebrations took place, having gone to the washroom at that particularly important time. Nevetheless, the spunky girl did ask for a gift bag that all birthday gals got.. and yes she got one too!