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!

donate your old digital cameras pls

Hey, its nice to have friends who are willing to do their bit to help a charity and this time around my old ex-colleague from the Edge, Grace has got together with some friends to do their bit for Parents Without Partners Bhd by launching a donate your camera drive starting on Thursday Nov 8 and ending on December 10 2012.

See PWP wants to organise a day long photography course for single parents kids during the December school holidays because we think its a great opportunity to teach the youngsters a new skill while keeping them occupied with a new and interesting challenge - mastering the art of seeing through the lens. We're thinking of having between 10-20 kids but to do that we need each kid to hold a camera, a digital camera that is - so the kid can see instantly what kind of pic he's taken and do the necessary if he has not done a good job.

Grace has opted to do this while simultaneously conducting another noteworthy deed - helping the Pos Malaysia to discover or re-discover lost places of interest under the theme of Hilang...hmmm that sounds really interesting and I'm rooting for both Hilang and our appeal for the donation of old digital cameras to be successful.. so if you know of anyone with a digital camera lying unused in a drawer at home or in the office, do give them a not so subtle nudge and tell them to contact Grace as per the banner/poster or Mary Anne at 016-2202958... cheers!

Connecting with Welfare officials

The Welfare Ministry is tasked with assisting the poor and the needy in Malaysia but it is a monumental task for just one government body to handle all the social needs and dire emergencies that crop up like bad mushrooms. NGOs therefore play an important role as the on-the-ground facilitators to reach to the innermost core of the poverty stricken areas and denizens of otherwise hidden slums. JS has been working hands on with many poor single parents located in various parts of the Klang Valley region without the Welfare Ministry being the wiser. Not any more. Recently, Parents Without Partners (PWP) and its social entrepreneurship arm JS went to visit some of the more pertinent Welfare Departments – specifically the KL Welfare Department at Jalan Pahang, the Selangor Welfare HQ at Shah Alam, the Subang Jaya Welfare Dept at SS15 and the Woman, Family and Community Ministry at Putrajaya. Volunteer Lillian and co-founder Mary Anne made the rounds to try and connect directly with the pertinent officials themselves. All except the KL Welfare Dept were very friendly and pro-actively happy to assist us in our enquries and complaints pertaining to the aids and grants available for the single parents and the needy. The KL Welfare Dept on the other hand, insisted that we had to wait for an appointment before we could even meet the director’s PA let alone the director or his deputy ..because all were involved in very important meetings! Haniza Tamin assistant to the director of Socio Economic Development and Welfare Aid at Putrajaya was most helpful with her suggestions on how PWP could liase with the various Welfare Depts to tap into the government aid and assistance programmes for the poor and marginalized in society. Encik Mohd Fadhlie Khamis heading the Subang Jaya Welfare Dept has obviously been one of the more diligent officials around. Since he took over the dept in 2011 last year, he has managed to clear more than half of the 2,300 backlog cases left by his predecessor. This explains how one of our single mums finally got the RM200 (RM100 per school going kid) she desperately needed after applying for four different times over the last three years! Kudos to folks like Mohd Fadlie and Haniza because it is dedication and a genuine compassionate desire to really help the poor with govt assistance that can make a vast and visible difference today!

Gifting to poor single parents

Many people think of property developers as a materialistic, capitalist bunch but most generally are not and they show it in different ways too! One such developer, Bukit Kiara Properties which focuses on developing high end property projects showed their compassionate side in a rather nice, understated way. See, lots of companies have reasons of their own to try and win over the hearts and minds of those working in developer firms and Bkt Kiara Prop is well aware of this. As part of their drive to do business with integrity, they made it a rule that gifts received from well meaning “corporate friends or suppliers” must be declared and handed over by the recipients. All such gifts will then be collected and handed over to worthy homes and deserving charitable causes. Well recently, Parents Without Partners was chosen to receive the gift items from none other than NK Tong, the group managing director himself. The gifts were an interesting assortment from a coffeemaker to wine & liquor, from umbrellas to computer bags and files, from decorative items to thumb drives and hampers among others. For PWP these items will come in useful as year end gifts for our annual Back-to-School party, for single parents wanting to use the liquor to bake cakes or even for items that can be sold to raise more funds at Amcorp mall weekend flea market. So to the smart and generous staff of Bkt Kiara Properties, thanks for thinking of the poor single parents even as you continue to build lovely homes for the well-to-do!

Vintage Enjoyment

For many of us, getting into a car for a ride is so common place. For some kids from the orphanages getting a car ride to anywhere is …ah ya nothing to shout about, they act so nonchalant, so unimpressed, downright bored in some instances it makes the poor host wonder what went wrong. Well for Parents Without Partners Bhd kids which also includes those from poor families, a vintage car ride is very definitely an experience to treasure. Take Ani and her four kids for instance. A Sabahan married to an odd job labourer who can barely eke a living, Ani has had very few enjoyable experiences in her life, marred more often by difficulties than joys. So when the opportunity came for them to participate in the annual vintage car ride organized by the Royal Selangor Club Motorsports Ani and her kids were excited beyond measure – they were up and ready by 7am even though the van was supposed to leave only at 8am! Some 25 of us went for the ride in celebration of the 55th Merdeka Day and the cars galore had kids clamouring to take photos with their favourite vintage models or just hopping into any car that would take them for their ride. The open topped cars were the most irresistible while those with fiery colours be it flaming orange, black or red saw just as many kids clambering on board. The convoy zoomed from the Spastics Centre in PJ to the rustic beauty of the Selangor Coast Club of Klang where the hungry youngsters were treated to a plentiful lunch of meaty curried dishes, vegetables, rice and fruits topped with ice cold drinks that one couldn’t get enough off especially since the weather was blistering hot! And oh yes, the clown was around to pass them some cute little balloons while keeping them entertained with his motley magic tricks. It was obvious some of the kids from different homes must have seen the clown performing before because they could accurately predict what his trick would result in which quite detracted from the joy and surprise that the newbies were experiencing. All in all, Ani and her kids had the time of their lives and for PWP, that’s a priceless benefit – to bring joy into otherwise drab lives!