JS hits 5 years!

Jumble Station’s 5 years old and to celebrate the special milestone we had our annual party which was held on July 1 2012, themed Starry Starry Bright featuring at least two well known stars ..er impersonators – Michael Jackson and P. Ramlee! P Ramlee’s timeless charm came alive through the comedic rendition of Ai Ya Cik Siti which immortalizes the Ali Baba story of a servant girl attempting to procure the services of a cobbler to sew up a dead body. Single dads Adrian Ong and Hasrun Manaf played the role of Siti and Ah Pek so well they had the hugely appreciative crowd in stitches watching the blindfolded couple jump a couple of imaginary steps. And then came the real crowd pleaser! MJ Surin who is a real life Malaysian clone of the real Michael Jackson stunned the 150 plus single parents and kids who turned up for the event, with his mesmerizing moonwalks, fancy footwork and pulsating poses . From the minute he burst on stage and threw his hat down in a defiant act of independence, he had the audience, old and young right in the palm of his hands. They avidly followed his every move, every gesture and when he hopped off stage to grab some hands, many rushed forward to grasp or to snap some quick shots. When he left for a quick costume change, the crowd yelled impatiently for his return and just couldn’t get enough of his slick dancing moves. Prior to that, JS showed a slide presentation of all the highlights of the 5 year journey and smiles could be seen on the faces of those who were caught by the camera over from 2007 to 2012. Topping off the day’s event was a Blessed Draw where some 15 prizes were up for grabs and a sumptuous high tea with ayam berempah, golden nuggets and browned sausages while goodie bags filled with items such as an electric kettle each, Hovid’s vitamins and GDEX’s KFC coupons among other items. The Lioness Club of Subang Jaya were also on hand to make this party a very special one with 5 of their members turning up to assist us in the preparation of the goodie bags for the kids and in the presentation of the blessed draw gifts. Yes, the mood was joyous, the laughter infectious and the fun contagious. All in all, it was a great way to celebrate 5 glorious years of working with the poor single parents and it clearly showed that the passion still burns as bright as ever.

Single fathers for Father's Day

With Father's Day just around the corner, it was pretty smart of China Press to contact us about the possibility of interviewing a few single fathers for its Father's Day article which was published just last Sunday. The reporter Yu Yi eventually gave about four pages to this topic and managed to interview two single fathers - Boon and Adrian Ong (primarily because they were both Chinese single dads!). Although yours truly can't read or speak Chinese, here's the gist of the articles itself: Tan Chee Boon is 58 years old with a six year old son Justin John who was born sickly. The boy's mum a 26 year old woman abandoned them when she could not cope with the year long hospital stay following the birth of Justin but Boon persevered and today Justin is a robust kid attending kindergarten this year. Boon is unemployed because he has to be there for his son but he ekes out a careful living on his EPF funds and grows and sells some herbs and plants at his home in Sungai Buloh. They live in a house rent free thanks to a friend who works abroad and needed the place taken care of in the interim period.Jumble Station learnt of their existence two years ago and has been helping them in various ways including providing them with household items when their existing ones break down. Adrian's case was a rarity because he unofficially became a single dad when his tenant and wife left their eldest baby behind and returned to their kampung with their sickly second child. Adrian took care and bonded with the abandoned baby Farah Nisha until she was taken back to her kampung at the age of 7 when it was time for school. What many readers find remarkable is that a guy would bother to raise someone else child and a child that is of a different race too! Today, Adrian has not one but three "kids" when Nisha and her two younger sisters Natasha and Diyana come over to be with him for the school holidays! Two examples of fathers going beyond the call of responsibilities and doing a great job of it too - Happy Fathers Day to all single dads in Malaysia and around the world!

Learning Station is officially launched today

Adrian Ong, single father and a former high flying fashion designer had with the help of JS opened a small vintage dress boutique at PJ Old Town early last year. There he also boosted his income by offering to teach others the art of sewing so that they can develop a skill to earn more money. The snag was that too many of his potential and existing sewing students found it too taxing to travel from Subang to PJ Old town to attend classes at the Sewing Station due largely to the inevitable traffic jams. PWP recognized this and offered half its storage space to him to set up the “Learning Station” where the poor, the marginalized and those who want to develop new skills can come for lessons ranging in arts & craft making, sewing classes as well mastering conversational English. The Lions and Lioness Clubs of Subang Jaya learnt about the proposed establishment of the Learning Station and agreed to sponsor the renovation works that went into making this new project a reality. Today was the official opening of the Learning Station and saw some 70 people turning up for the event which started at 4.30pm - some 20 or so were from Sysmex, the corporate entity that sponsored RM3,000 for the renovations while the Lion & Lioness Clubs of Subang Jaya had around 10 people and the rest comprised journalists and supporters of JS itself. Many of those present were impressed by the creative use of recycled items for the shop while the Nyonya Wedding gown stole the show because it truly showcased Adrian's ability to design traditional costume while helping to preserve his cultural heritage.

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.