I just recently lost my colleague to a road accident last Friday (27/8/2010). I received the shocking news by sms on Saturday noon and was too late to go to his funeral. This was a real shock to me and I know it will take a while for me get over this especially being in the office where I expect to see his smiling face around.
It seems that my dear friend, Prabu Saminathan was heading home on his motorbike that Friday. He left the office late at 7.30pm and crashed into a car that did not signal before it turned in front of him. He was thrown off his bike onto the other side of the road in front of an oncoming truck that rolled over him. It was just awful and tragic!
Prabu was a lovely gentleman! He was always smiling (his signature smile) and was always a happy soul. He was never upset or angry and and has never been rude or mean to anyone in my few years of working with him. The 15th of this month, September he would have been celebrating his 27th birthday. It really is sad to see someone wonderful taken away before he could experience marriage and children and so much more life has to offer him. I guess God wanted him by his side while we down here miss his presence so. The first day back at work after his passing was so hard for all of us in the office. The ladies were in tears and many of us could not bear to walk pass his table. Even now every once in a while the image of his happy smiling face would crop up in my mind and I would feel sad.
In a way we should reflect at how life fleets by. We do not know when it is our time to go and we should really live life to the fullest. I intend to spend as much time with friends and family as best I can from today onwards and try to grumble less about my shortcomings.
May you rest in peace Prabu Saminathan.
...
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
A Day At The Orphanage
A few of my ex-school mates got together and discussed how they could give back to the community. I was very keen to go for the discussion but time did not permit it. I really wanted to get involved so I volunteered to buy the various basic necessities for the orphanage for my share. I also asked my colleagues if they wanted to donate any money to help purchase these necessities and was overwhelmed with the generosity showed. I managed to collect a good sum which bought the orphanage quite a lot of stuff.
I bought a few bags of laundry detergent, loads of toothpaste, bleach, floor cleaners, toothbrushes, cordial, garbage bags, anti-bactirial multipurpose cleaners and tons of milo. Seems that the youngest kid there is 3 years old and the kids do not drink milk (have not been used to it) so the best alternative option packed with vitamins and minerals was Milo, which I am sure the kids love. See the picture of the stuff I bought in my car boot below.
Then on Sunday the 8th of August 2010 I headed down with a boot full of stuff to meet my friend, Suriani (who spearheaded the whole project). Some of my other ex school mates were already at the orphanage (Fatin, Jazlinawati and Razlin). Suriani and I picked up some fried vermicelli and cake she ordered to treat the kids to tea at her mums house. And off we went to visit the Centre for orphans and the poor of Saidati Khadijah in Gombak.
The children were all waiting for us. They were in similar clothing. Girls dressed in baju kurung and boys in baju melayu which are traditional malay costumes worn by malays. It seems that they had just returned from a wedding they were invited to by a local big shot in the area whose daughter had just gotten married. Since we thought the kids has already feasted at the wedding the tea would be just nice. However the kids really enjoyed the food and were coming back for seconds and thirds that we got a bit worried that the food was not enough. However the children did not complain.
This is the only sign board that shows that there is an orphanage in the vicinity. Below are the chicken nuggets, chocolate cake and fried meehoon (vermicelli) we provided the kids.
After eating the tea. the children arranged themselves into 2 groups which is a norm in the muslim society, where the girls and boys do not sit together. The principal of the centre gave a speech about being thankful for the things that were provided and then requested us to stay on to see the kid perform. 2 boys sang for us whilst the other boys strummed on the guitar and clapped a tambourine. I must say that there was talent showed there and I really liked the song although I have never heard it before. Sad to say I don't really listen to the malay local music at all and hardly know the music nor the singers.
I bought a few bags of laundry detergent, loads of toothpaste, bleach, floor cleaners, toothbrushes, cordial, garbage bags, anti-bactirial multipurpose cleaners and tons of milo. Seems that the youngest kid there is 3 years old and the kids do not drink milk (have not been used to it) so the best alternative option packed with vitamins and minerals was Milo, which I am sure the kids love. See the picture of the stuff I bought in my car boot below.
Then on Sunday the 8th of August 2010 I headed down with a boot full of stuff to meet my friend, Suriani (who spearheaded the whole project). Some of my other ex school mates were already at the orphanage (Fatin, Jazlinawati and Razlin). Suriani and I picked up some fried vermicelli and cake she ordered to treat the kids to tea at her mums house. And off we went to visit the Centre for orphans and the poor of Saidati Khadijah in Gombak.
The children were all waiting for us. They were in similar clothing. Girls dressed in baju kurung and boys in baju melayu which are traditional malay costumes worn by malays. It seems that they had just returned from a wedding they were invited to by a local big shot in the area whose daughter had just gotten married. Since we thought the kids has already feasted at the wedding the tea would be just nice. However the kids really enjoyed the food and were coming back for seconds and thirds that we got a bit worried that the food was not enough. However the children did not complain.
This is the only sign board that shows that there is an orphanage in the vicinity. Below are the chicken nuggets, chocolate cake and fried meehoon (vermicelli) we provided the kids.
After eating the tea. the children arranged themselves into 2 groups which is a norm in the muslim society, where the girls and boys do not sit together. The principal of the centre gave a speech about being thankful for the things that were provided and then requested us to stay on to see the kid perform. 2 boys sang for us whilst the other boys strummed on the guitar and clapped a tambourine. I must say that there was talent showed there and I really liked the song although I have never heard it before. Sad to say I don't really listen to the malay local music at all and hardly know the music nor the singers.
I have no regrets going to the orphanage and I admit I felt emotional towards the end when the kids thanked us for the tea and got party packs. The hugs from the caretakers were so genuine and heartfelt that made me melt. I believe this orphanage is one of the lucky orphanages that is taken care of by the community. I note this because as we were leaving 2 vans dropped by bringing more food for the kids.
This visit has encouraged me to want to give back more. Our next drive will be to provide this orphanage with mattresses to replace the old ones. Also we are trying to get the rest of our ex-schoolmates in our batch to donate clothing, toys and books for the next visit. I do hope we manage to move them to act. There are many centres around Klang Valley that would benefit from us. If this is a success, I hope some of the batchmates that are outside of KL and PJ would spearhead a few other projects for Orphans and Unfortunates in their area.
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