A HELPing hand to Jumble Station

Painting a wall may not seem like a big contribution towards charitable activities for Uni kids but six students of psychology from HELP University learnt recently just how important a clean white wall can be for Jumble Station’s needs. The wall which used to be grubby looking and filled with graffiti got a much needed coat of white paint when the students slapped on a fresh coat for at least ¾ of the length of the wall. It needed to be painted because the wall, both the left and the right side of the wall next to JS shop acts as a nice clean backdrop for when we need to take photos of single parents and their children. The photo sessions are usually about the only means for single parents to have their family portraits taken since many can’t afford to pay for photo sessions in a professional studio. In some cases, the photos taken by JS were the only and last memories of a parent for the child following the unexpected demise of the single parent. This was the case with Susan a single mum who suffered for two years from a debilitating facial stroke and was unable to work during that time. JS assisted with groceries and financial aid to enable her to seek medical aid and treatment. She finally could get back to work as a freelance accountant when JS co-founders paid her family a visit and took lovely photos of Susan with her two younger daughters. A month later, she was tragically killed in a car accident and the photo taken was the last tangible memory of happier times. For the six students who participated in this wall painting community contribution, the lesson learnt was clear – no effort by a willing and compassionate heart is ever really wasted. The joy it can bring is immeasurable indeed!

NGOs participate in Make Weekend

Foreign students who were here on a short exchange programme with the Sunway University were given an interesting challenge during a recent Make Weekend event. Some 35 students and 5 charity organizations were asked to work on key issues that are plaguing the Malaysian charity sector.


The five charity organizations covered various sectors of society – cats, elderly folks, Do Something Good volunteers, disabled children and single parents under Parents Without Partners. From 10am till 5pm the enthusiastic youths cudgeled their brains even as they interviewed each charity organization to get an idea of our problems galore.

Issues such as attracting and keeping volunteers and workers, digitizing paperwork and records, promoting and creating awareness, fund raising and monetizing crafts and the works of the charity recipients were among the many that cropped up in the brainstorming sessions.

Ideas flowed from creating a volunteer loyalty card with efforts rewarded with points exchangeable for reward items whether for the winner or the charity concerned, the digitizing of records and paperwork was also deemed a very good idea, to the point the team beat all the others for the top prize. Should be interesting to see if any one or party takes up this idea and develops it so that charity organisations here and globally can truly benefit from such innovative ideas.

Zakat blessings for Hari Raya

Hari Raya for the Muslims is an important time for families to mark the ending of the month long fasting period, the Ramadan. It is also a day of celebration when one asks for forgiveness, reconcile and renew relationships as well as reconnect with loved ones.


It is also a time when Muslims have to spend the most, food to cook the many little feasts that family members and visitors have come to expect, buying new clothes for kids and adults alike and for those who can afford it, new furniture and appliances etc.

It is especially trying for poor Muslim families struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis and more so for poor Muslim single parents with so little cash to tide over month after month. This year thankfully, two kindhearted Muslim stalwarts have come to their aid – Datin Suriati Bwi and Datin Nor Faridah Abdullah, both decided to give ‘zakat’ to 25 Muslim families under Jumble Station/Parents Without Partners’ care.

The recipients of the two Datins’ zakat gifts are firstly amazed, stunned and joyful because now they at least can have a more enjoyable raya celebration in their homes or back in their kampongs. Many have tears in their eyes and tremendous joy in their hearts, knowing that they have not been forgotten for this all important celebration this time around.

On behalf of the happy recipients and their children, PWP and JS would like to say a big “Thank You” to the two very generous Datins and we hope many more will factor in the plight of the poor single parents and bless them during such annual festive periods as well.

Kuen Cheng scores A+ for JS

 Last Saturday was report card day for Kuen Cheng (2) students and the school decided to take that opportunity for parents to do their bit for charity. Every parent was encouraged to bring along items they don’t need from their home and donate them to Jumble Station for that one day only.


Some had predicted that the response might be poor but in the end, the response was indeed overwhelming – so many parents and even their kids streamed into the hall and handed over their bags of clothes, toys, books and electrical items to the volunteers of JS, single mum Irene and Ann.

Others who forgot, took a JS postcard so they can collect more stuff and call us for a pickup in their respective homes while most wanted to know more of how we help single parents. For those parents who made the effort to pack their cars with items, JS gives them top scores while those who promise to go home and do some spring cleaning of their own, get a high five from us.

From toys, to clothes, to books, baby stuff and even some Barbie dolls, the items proved mighty useful and we hope many more schools will consider doing a similar charity donation drive for our JS single parents in need, especially with the deteriorating economic situation in Malaysia alone. To all the teachers, helpers and parents of Kuen Cheng (2) A very heartfelt “Thank You”.

Monash Students try selling at Amcorp Mall

Four Monash medical students, Mark, Sam, Pei Li and Francine were around during the weekend to help out PWP with its flea market activities at Amcorp Mall. They were able to see first hand how PWP is able to raise funds through the sale of interesting items to help fund its activities with regards to assisting single parents in dire need.

The eager quartet were also able to personally interview three single parents who had been assisted by PWP towards a better life – single dad Adrian Ong and his vintage dress collection, Jennifer and her son who now jointly sell household items for extra income to pare down their liabilities and Zuraidah and her three kids who are still trying to find ways to supplement her meager income while caring for her very cute kids.

The flea market involvement is part of Monash University’s on-going push to get medical students to be involved in community works so that they will be able to understand the social determinants of community health and its related matters. For PWP’s part, we’re more than happy to have additional hands, young and active ones too, to brainstorm on ways to make life a lot easier, if not more healthy and happier for single parents within the Klang Valley region.

Koala Klass

Single mums Jayapratha and Sumathi as well as this little ant, got the chance to don a chef’s hat and an apron and try our hand at some artistic cooking in one of CultureRun’s series of Shareshops (workshops where skilled women practitioners share their skills) as part of this year’s International Woman’s Day events. This particular class was a DIY Food Art class by Samantha Lee who is fast making a name for herself as an online food artist who creatively designs her children’s meals as edible works of culinary art.

For this class, some 18 people had turned up at the Starhill Gallery Muse level and the proceeds for this class will be donated to Jumble Station/PWP to help poor single parents. The theme for the class was how to make a koala dish and Samantha very cleverly took us through this fascinating lesson so much so, everyone including this kitchen klutz (me) couldn’t wait to try our hand at making the dish. Paired off as a team of three, we sliced, diced, fried and decorated our dish with a difference – we made two single mum koalas complete with baby too while the others too used their imagination and cooked up some interesting variations on the koala theme. Both  Jaya and Sumathi were so inspired, they want to go home and try their hand at making interesting dishes and they asked when the next free cooking class will be held again… any one keen to teach cooking and baking for free???? 

Making space at Jaya One for PWP to assist poor single parents

Jaya One Mall is fast becoming a happening place in Petaling Jaya and yesterday it announced its plan to team up with Parents Without Partners Bhd (PWP) to assist poor single parents through various programmes planned for the year.

First off, it gave PWP’s social entrepreneurship arm Jumble Station (JS) a space in P1 of the new annexe called The School to run and manage a recycling centrer. This means that retailers in Jaya One, visitors and shoppers can now drop their donated items there and these items will then be given to single parents and their kids who need them while those not needed can be sold on site or at the Amcorp flea market on Sundays. The cash raised will be used to assist single parents in their hour of need.

Kicking off the event was a month long photo exhibition of 12 single parent families that are among the 50 hardcore poor being assisted by PWP out of the 250 families on its list currently. The photos taken by Azrul Abdullah are a testament to his incredible talent as a photographer capable of capturing images with enduring appeal.

The spontaneous, exuberant joy of being photographed as a family was wonderfully and artistically captured which brought smiles to the eyes of many a jaded viewer. These outsized coloured photos were printed for free by a very generous printer and the single parent concerned, can’t wait to have the photo take pride of place in their little low cost flats!

The launch of the collaboration between Jaya One and PWP went off very well with around 10 media personnel and invited guests turning up for the event which started at 3pm on Tuesday. CEO Charles gave a moving speech about how his lovely wife with all her perks  - maids, driver etc still says she’s stressed out, how much more difficult then will it be for single parents who are struggling daily on little to no finances and resources.

He adds that through the recycling centre at Jaya One, PWP should be able to have the exposure it needs to raise greater awareness of the plight of poor single parents and galvanise the public to bring and donate items that can generate the funds to bring about a change in the lifestyle of the poor single parents.

The cycling centre should be functional by April and his team hopes to feature various activities that will result in a heightened understanding of the difficulties that single parents and their children face daily. PWP on its part is delighted to have been chosen as a partner in this CSR programme for this very hip and happening place in the heart of Petaling Jaya. Where in Subang our partners were the low cost flat dwellers, now with Jaya One, we hope to rope in the middle and upper crust folks to collaborate with us to empower more single parents to lead better lives.