Single Mum Sumathi and sons get donated items

Sumathi V Palanisamy, 45, a single mum of two boys, was forced by tragic circumstances to move into a small flat at Sunway Kayangan, Shah Alam after her hubby died suddenly during a road traffic accident in June 2009. She could not afford to pay the high rent of her old rented premises and this new flat was only RM300 because it was the top floor of a 5 storey walk up flat.

To make ends meet, Sumathi used her little Kancil car to drive other people’s children to tuition centres and after school activities while making do with a bare flat. Recently, Jumble Station was able to send over several bulky furniture – a kitchen cabinet, two beds and mattresses, book shelves, a gas oven, stand fan and a dressing table. When JS sent the items over with a lorry, her two sons were fast asleep so it would have been a very pleasant surprise indeed for the boys to wake up to a partially furnished flat.

A very grateful and breathless Sumathi (carrying furniture up 5 storeys is not a picnic!) said that the arrival of the donated furniture is beautifully timed because her two boys have been bugging her to buy some shelves for them to put their clothes and their books but she was unable to do so due to her lack of money! Now, thanks to some compassionate donors, Sumathi and her two boys will finally be able to sleep on proper beds and their precious items can finally be neatly kept in cupboards and not on the floor!

JS was also able to give her monthly groceries of Nestle products (Nestum, Nespray milk, maggi noodles and milo) a 5kg packet of rice and some tinned stuffs which has helped her to stretch her meager income of RM800 a little bit better. Aside from driving kids around, Sumathi has also been diligently making beaded necklaces, wrist bands etc for sale to her friends, neighbours and contacts to supplement her income.

JS hopes to send her more items that is needed such as a dining table with chairs, a two seater sofa set and some kitchen ware (blender, chopper etc) and beddings. Anyone with stuff to donate including arts and décor, electrical and electronic items, books (novels, motivational, DIY, cooking) and magazines etc, do SMS 0162202958 Mary Anne for follow up action.

Goodies from Sunway Pyramid shoppers for poor single parents

Sunway Pyramid Management’s SOS “Food for thought” Donation drive which was launched by four women stalwarts – Joanne Kam, Liang, Chermaine Poo and Gabriella Robinson and the Sunway Pyramid management team headed by HC Chan, CEO of Sunway Pyramid as well as Dato Ngeow Voon Yean and Kevin Tan drew marvelous response from the many supermarket shoppers during the 2013 Lunar New Year season.

The SOS food drive launched in January and ended in February saw many supermarket shoppers buying and donating groceries into the various SOS boxes placed outside of the supermarts to help feed the less fortunate especially the poor single parents under the care of Jumble Station.

In early March, a total of 25 single parents from Lembah Subang low cost flats and another 25 single parents from Desa Mentari low cost flats were given the grocery bags of tinned foodstuffs, cookies and biscuits as well as cooking oil and a bag of rice each. To the poor families, such food donations are very much needed and timely enabling them to stretch their limited ringgits just a little more than usual.

The recipients were selected on the basis of greatest need, most number of mouths to feed and limited income. The crowd of eager single mums was waiting long before Jumble Station’s van could reach the drop off point and when it came time to verifying the names of the recipients, there were more Mykads handed over than the number of bags to be given out in both locations!

Together with the 25 poor single parents families that had received their goodies in Angsana low cost flats in Subang Mewah USJ1 in February and 10 others in other locations within the Klang Valley the total number of poor single parents that had benefited from the SOS “Food for Thought” programme came up to 85 families!

Our blissfully delighted single mums and their equally happy kids as well as Jumble Station, would like to express a very heartfelt “Thank You” to all the kindhearted Sunway Pyramid shoppers who cared enough in their hearts to share… Folks.. you have made a real difference!

Training the “untrained” for a better future

One of the key problems faced by many of the poor folks is their inability to rise above their straitened circumstance due mainly to their lack of education, lack of knowledge, lack of the desire to improve themselves and lack of will power to move from the rut they are in.

Recently Jumble Station together with DUMC’s Citizens Network for Better Malaysia (CNBM) teamed up to develop a two-day training programme to help some of the poorer folks to improve their lot in life, specifically to help them master themselves and the art of giving their best in any job.

Some 15 people had signed up their intention to improve their lot in life and to find better paying jobs including 11 Sabahans from the angsana flats in USJ1 where JS is located in Subang Jaya. However when it came time to attend the training session which was held on March 2-3 2013, not a single one of them were willing to sacrifice their weekend to attend the training session.

Four of them from Jackson’s company in Shah Alam – Kuna, Kavita, Rajanendran and Siva and three from JS came on Saturday – Suhaibah, Mala and Jasmine. The 7 became the pilot test case for a training session that included lessons on time management, financial budgeting and planning, work ethics, job improvements etc.

On Sunday, the number of attendees dropped – only Kuna, Kavita and Raja were there, Suhaibah claimed she had to move house while Mala was left stranded cos Sue wasn’t around to drive her there and Jasmine had to be at Amcorp to sell items for her income.

Nevertheless for the 3 that stayed on throughout the course, it turned out to be a life changing experience because they learnt how much easier it is to rise within an organization if they gave their best and how they can break out of the poverty mindset if they adopted some smart financial habits and tips.

At the end of the session, they were presented with Certificates of Participation and a goodie bag and more importantly, the feelings of satisfaction. Above all, the trio expressed a desire to attend the next training session which will help propel them towards greater degrees of success. For JS single mums and poor families, it was decided that a one day, full day training session would be more appropriate so May 1 was picked to be the next training session. Hopefully more poor folks can benefit from such life changing training sessions indeed Anyone want to recommend this free training session to a needy person, contact Mary Anne 016-2202958. 

Giving Food for Thought via SOS!

 It is truly heart rending to see young kids and poor single parents suffering from hunger pangs because there just isn’t enough money to buy food. The slow economy makes the situation doubly worse because financial help dries up completely as money becomes more scarce and relatives or friends hold back on the necessary help needed.

One single mother with three young kids was so desperate because there was no money left of her meager salary to buy food in the third week of January, she stood outside a bus stop to beg for coins - any coins - just so she could get some rice for her little ones.

Jumble Station with the help of  the management team from the Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall, came to her rescue and brought tears to her eyes with the timely donation of 10kg of ‘beras’, a big 5litre of cooking oil and bags full of tinned foods and packed beverages.

Sunway Pyramid’s “Some Of  Us” or SOS – “Food For Thought” initiative was launched on January 11 till February 24 2013 in collaboration with Kechara to assist Jumble Station’s poor single parents and their kids. Kechara’s video is a real heartbreaking peep at two contrasting circumstances – the comfortably rich and the pitifully poor in our society.     

“To some a normal, daily beverage – to others an indulgence they seldom enjoy, to others a frequent easy meal (fast food) to others a treat they can only dream of – to some weekly grocery shopping to others necessities they can’t afford – This Festive Season let’s make a difference – Share your love, joy and abundance with those in need – you can make a difference!”   

Wooden SOS crates were placed just outside the Cold Storage and AEON Supermarket in the Sunway Pyramid itself for shoppers to do their bit for charity. Items requested were non perishable items such as rice, instant noodles, instant beverages, oats, milk powder, crackers/biscuits, cooking oil, salt, sugar, pasta and canned food etc.

The response was gratifying indeed indicating that poor economy notwithstanding, Malaysians are still a generous, compassionate and giving lot. Sunway Pyramid’s chief operating officer Kevin Tan and Kechara’s treasurer and project director Chua Siong Woan were on hand to personally hand over some of the groceries to an initial group of 22 poor single parents and their ever hungry kids at Angsana, Subang Mewah, USJ1, Subang Jaya.

Many of the recipients were so tearfully grateful for the food donations, they could not stop shaking hands and thanking the organizers for such unexpected blessings showered on them in this Chinese New Year festive season. For Annie Yap, a single mum of two youngsters, the groceries were a godsend during the Lunar New Year and an auspicious start to the Year of the Snake!

Single mums Anne from Desa Mentari sums it up best when she SMSed her gratitude – “TQ very much for all the things” while ZaZa a single mum with 4 ‘princesses’ from KL texted a “ Thank You. For what you all did, just had to say “TQ and God Bless Your Day!” To all the wonderful and caring participants in this most recent SOS programme, Jumble Station on behalf of the single parents in network “Salute your kindness and generosity! May the Lunar Year of the Snake be as bountiful as the harvest that SOS garnered!”  

Winds of Fortune Smiles on our single parents

About 40 poor single parents and the elderly brought in by Jumble Station were treated to a marvelous show of generosity by the Sunway Pyramid Management team yesterday. The forty comprising all the three major races of Malaysia were the guests of honor for the launch of the Chinese New Year 2013 Winds of Fortune event on the Pyramid’s Concourse.

The dance performances by the Shanghai Tang troupe featured a number of very slick magic tricks against a backdrop of Chinese cultural dances, with many of the sleight of hand tricks so well carried out, one can’t help but be thoroughly awed.

But what was most interesting for the JS single parents is the launch of the SOS “Food for thoughts” Food Donation drive which was launched by four women stalwarts – Joanne Kam, Liang, Chermaine Poo and Gabriella Robinson. The food bank drive which will end at the end of February is aimed at encouraging supermarket shoppers to buy and drop some groceries into the SOS boxes placed outside of the supermarts to help feed the less fortunates. In this case, the beneficiaries will be the poor single parents of Jumble Station.

After that it was angpow and goodie bag time. HC Chan, CEO of Sunway Pyramid and Dato Ngeow Voon Yean as well as Kevin Tan all happily handed over a RM50 angpow to each poor single parent there as well as a goodie bag each thereby generating more smiles from the cash strapped folks.

Topping off the celebration was the Yee Sang dinner at the Paradise Inn with many of the non-Chinese guests tasting this marvelous dish for the first time. By the time they got through the steamed fish, the roast chicken, abalone veggies and other dishes, they were so stuffed and ready for a good night’s rest indeed. One of them made this poignant remark –“wow, tak pernah dapat makanan bagus begini!” and to many of them, this was indeed a ‘wow’ experience and it’s all thanks to the kindness of the Sunway Pyramid management team! 

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!