Revitalising poor single parents

Single parents who are poor and struggling to care for their growing brood, generally tend not to seek help unless they have absolutely no choice and are at their wits end. Those who do come to Jumble Station and Parents Without Partners Bhd (PWP) for assistance are offered opportunities to take on new roles that can make a dramatic difference in their lives. Some accept the challenge, others turn it down flat. We cite three recent cases of those who opted to take on the challenge and will feature each as we go along… Case 1: Just after Chinese New Year this year single mother Irene Tong, 48, was told to leave by her restaurant boss who opted to hire a younger replacement and pay only half the salary Irene used to get each month. Irene a mother of two boys found it tough to get another job and settled for working nights at Jumble Station for only RM20 a night. Needless to say this was insufficient to pay even her rent of RM450 and JS stepped in to pay during these challenging months. A long term solution had to be found and when there was a vacancy for someone to run the Brilliant Light Charity shop at Desa Mentari, she was offered that opportunity. Irene was told that the 2nd hand shop, set up by Jumble Station to front the DUMC’s Tamil Ministry’s Homework Centre for poor kids, would be hers to manage, develop and generate the income she will need to survive. She accepted the challenge to be an entrepreneur and work towards paying off half the rent of the shop (RM500) as well as earn enough to feed her family with hopefully some left over next time, to someday buy her own flat. She is now a motivated business woman, determined to make this venture a success even if it means she has to travel by bus everyday and wait alone in the night for the bus to get home. Irene believes that she has been blessed with this great opportunity to own her own business and she relishes the idea of making a success of it. All she needs now is to get the shop's flyer to the many residents there and a constant, regular supply of good items that her customers want. For now it appears the migrant and Malay buyers love to buy bags, clothes, toys, electrical items and shoes. Anyone out there with stuff to donate - SMS or call for collection at 016-2202958.

Party Time

Parties are usually a luxury for poor families, single parents included. It is hard enough for them to find the money to put food on the table let alone pay for a glittery, fanciful event like a birthday party. So when the invitation came for poor families and single parents to celebrate two very special events, Jumble Station and PWP jumped at the golden opportunity.

The first was the day-long celebration of Nestle’s 100 year involvement in Malaysia where a carnival like atmosphere was evident at the Merdeka Square or Dataran Merdeka as we know it. Our kids were part of the thousands of Nestle invitees encouraged to participate in games, sample all the foods that Nestle is so famous for and gape in admiration at the many different performers that showed off their talents. Despite the long queues that one had to endure before one could get to the games stall, the food stall or the performance itself, the effort was well worth it and the laughter, fun and camaraderie made for a truly fun filled celebratory day indeed.

The second invite was to attend the birthday of Jasmine Leong who was turning all of 10 years. Four poor kids were specially invited for this event which was themed “Alice In Wonderland” and boy were our kids truly impressed! Karthik, 13, the son of a single mother for one had never had a real birthday party and it was the same with Min Min, NurFain and Nur Fazlin. They were truly in awe of the decorations, the games, the bouncy playground, the costumes, the food spread and the ventriloquist that had been hired just for the purpose of making a huge and colourful impact. Even the face painting had them giggling with happiness and the ease with which they won prizes brought smiles to their faces. By the time they left, they had armloads of goodies – from cotton sugar to popcorns, from toys to fancy hats. What is even more wonderful is the fact that birthday girl Jasmine was willing to share her birthday celebration with the less priviledged and so doing, enabled them to realise that there can be a better life ahead for them, if they only work hard at succeeding someday!

Winning a dream travel destination

How would you like to travel to the place of your dream? For many single parents and their kids, travel is a luxury they can least afford, yet most times it is the very thing they need to help them get over their depression, forget their financial woes and a time to re-energise.

Well this is exactly what a local television show, has realized is needed and it’s gone about introducing a TV programme to help many a disadvantaged youngster to get their travel wish fulfilled. The new programme is akin to the “Make A Wish”programme where terminally ill children express their heart’s desire and it is fulfilled by wellwishers who chip in to make the kid’s dream come true.

The difference in this 26 episode TV programme is that this wish fulfillment is targeted at kids who will be around a long time to remember this experience and it is hoped that the experience will further inspire them to make successes of themselves in the future.

However, to get into the programme, kids of single poor parents between the ages of 7 to 14 years must write in and share where they want to travel, within Malaysia, and what it is they want to see, do or experience and then they are also to share about their family background so the judges can get a feel of why they deserve to have their travel wish fulfilled.

Parents Without Partners began the search for the families keen to participate in this programme and we are kicking off with four families, a single mother of four kids, another single mother of two, one with 3 kids and a mute couple with a daughter aged 7years. Thus far, the single mum with four kids saw her youngest writing about how keen he was to travel to Pulau Tioman because he wants to see all the animals in the animal sanctuary, the corals & fishes, the rocks, cliffs and pebbles etc and all because he hopes to be a geologist or a vet someday.

The single mother of two had her son to write about how he had to cope with an alcoholic and abusive father who finally walked out on them forever and how they had never had a holiday trip in their life except to visit the grandmother in Perlis. The boy now wants to visit Sarawak to live in a long house, see a cockfight, watch native dancing and visit the Cat Museum in Kucing.

The other single mum of three boys wrote about how they escaped from an abusive family background to carve a life for themselves despite the little she earned but now the kids are living in a more peaceful and restful environment and a trip to Sabah would be the ultimate reward for their tough fight for survival. It will be a challenge to get the mute couple to articulate their dream destination but watch this space. Of the two appeal letters already sent in, the Pulau Tioman applicant was judged the winner because his family history was a real tear jerker one that if it can be re-counted on TV will surely tug at your heart strings….at any rate, he will soon be on his way to Pulau Tioman so do watch out for more news on this marvelously lovely TV programme.

JS enters the Dragon Year with Jaya One

Jaya One shopping outlet recently held its Chinese New Year celebratory dinner to usher in the year of the Dragon. The management was kind enough to invite some of the single parents from Parents Without Partners and JS co-founders and staff to participate in this special event which was held on February 2. PWP co-founder Sanice was happy to bring along single mum Suhaibah, single dad Ong Pang Seng, deaf and dumb Yeong Fong Pheng, Mala, and volunteers Joyce and others who agreed to help out for that day’s festive activities.

For a start, PWP was given a table to hold its promotional activities which included the sale of handmade crafts and the giving out of JS postcards for many of the retailers and customers who may have not been aware of PWP&JS role in assisting poor single parents of the Klang Valley region.

Among the crafts were dolls dressed up in specially designed costumes depicting the Baba Nyonya cultural heritage as well as recycled items made out in the shape of a train among other items. The single parents and JS volunteers were also treated to a sumptuous “loh sang” dinner where the 1Malaysia spirit was clearly obvious in the willingness of all races to just raise their chopsticks and the accompanying ingredients high enough to welcome in a newer and more prosperous year ahead.

Of course it would have been lovely if the VVIPs were encouraged to visit our stall, at least to learn more about what PWP&JS aspirations and plans were but ah well, perhaps there will be another time when we can be given the opportunity to actually share with the rich and the privileged how they can assist the poor single parents by donating the items they don’t need at home or in their offices. If that can be done, our task of making life so much better for the marginalised poor single parents will be made far, far easier and life will be so much more comfortable for them in the near future.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2 ALL

The Dragon has arrived and here's our little CNY card to wish everyone the very best for the Lunar Year 2012.

Welcoming the NEW YEAR... 2012!

Say hello to 2012 - a new year, a fresh start, a lovely chance to do more, do better and make a greater impact on the single parents community in Malaysia. Jumble Station and PWP Bhd takes this marvellous opportunity to say a very big and heartfelt THANK YOU to all our friends, fans and supporters for their unstinting cooperation and support over the last 41/2 years and as we move into our crucial 5th year of existence, we sincerely hope that we can together with all others, be there in a real sense for single parents in need and be the motivational factor for the success o their children's efforts to break out of the cycle of poverty that has gripped their families all these years. With your continued linkages, we can move mountains to reach each family, one problem at a time. So HAPPY 2012 to all and BLESS YOU for your friendship and love....from the three co-founders: Lim Lian See, Mary Anne Tan and Sanice Kam.

Graduates of Sewing Station

It has been 4 months of gruelling training – every Tuesday and Thursday nights – the students have been faithfully turning up at the Sewing Station at PJ Old Town to master the intricate art of sewing and fashion designing.

The students – Mala a mother of three kids, Yeong Fong Peng a deaf mute, Suhaibah a single mother of three, Carol a businesswoman and Joyce a housewife – all successfully completed their basic training in sewing and fashion designing just prior to Christmas.

To celebrate this momentous milestone, the class of 2011 (the inaugural batch) decided to throw a small graduation party and come dressed in the baju kurung that they had sewn for themselves. And to make the occasion even more special, Jumble Station’s co-founder Sanice was specially invited to grace this very special event.

For Jumble Station, this event marks a new milestone in our efforts to assist poor single parents and poor families wanting to improve their livelihood. For many of these students, the ability to sew a dress and to master the skills of fashion designing will enable them to earn extra money to feed their families or help them to start a home-based business by itself.

As for Adrian, the single father and ex-fashion designer, this graduation of the first batch of students is momentous in that it marks the first time ever he has been able to teach anyone his special skills and to be able to teach those who are illiterate to this stage is an achievement in itself.

Anyone interested in joining his class can contact Jumble Station at 016-2202958