Come meet these beautiful children at Kg Orang Asli Pulau Indah ...
They live in this sleepy little village, which we taught was not inhabited when we first visited. The row of blue box houses were mostly locked and deserted.
Then we noticed a bright and colourful sundry store and
spoke to the owner. He was very helpful and directed us towards the Tok Batin’s
house. Alas, as with all the other men in the village, he was also out at sea.
We knocked on one of the house that appeared to be occupied and the lady showed
us the way to the Tok Batin’s assistant’s, En. Azmi’s house, but he too was not
home. Finally, we managed to track down another of Tok Batin’s assistant, En.
Sunyi who was still at home and was planning to go out to sea later in the day.
We finally met up with Tok Batin when we visited the village
again on the 29th Oct 2012.
This community was established about 12 years ago, when they
relocated to this houses build by the government. There are about 50 families living
in the blue box houses and another 14 families in thatched huts.
There are about 130 adults and 100 children living in this
community. Half of the children go to school regularly but the other half only
go to school if they wake up in time to catch the bus. Some of the parents do
not view education as important enough to get the children ready for school in
the morning.
Most of the men are small-time fisherman, making between RM400-RM600
per month, depending on the weather and their catch for the day. Some of the
men work as landscape workers, and earns about RM700 per month. The mothers are
mostly housewives who do not do much at home except household chores, minding
the children, and watch TV.
Or hanging around catching lies at the river mouth while
waiting for their husbands to return from the sea.
It will be useful for them to learn some crafts that can
supplement their household income.
Fortunately, they do not need to pay rent for their house.
However, their income is barely enough to pay for household expenses, food and
utilities. They do not get regular aids from JHEOA or other government welfare
depts. Westport provide free meal once a year, MCA/BN do visit 1-2 times a year
bringing food and other items, and UiTM students visit 2-3 times a year
bringing food and games.
The Orang Asli are so used to living in the jungle, and even
after being out of the jungle for more than 10 years, they still cannot get
used to the more civilized way of living, particularly in terms of hygiene. Successful
adaptation of the Orang Asli to new circumstances can best be handled by the
Orang Asli if they are encouraged to retain their indigenous customs as this
would enhance maintenance of their ethnic identity and their stability as a productive
unit. This is a huge task and we encourage other NGOs to come forward to help
this community to learn and progress towards a cleaner and healthier life.
Learning can be both ways as we discovered during our visits
to the village. At the river mouth, we saw a man extracting huge wriggly worms
from its cocoons, and sold as baits to anglers passing through the village.
By the way, our worm-extractor guy is multi-talented … he
can also play the guitar and sing.
Although there are only 2 to 3 families who are Christians,
with the remaining being Muslim families and “Mah Meri” worshippers, we chose
to celebrate the year-end festivities in this village of multi-religious
families in the spirit of 1Malaysia, and to bring cheer to this community.
So do come and join us for a fun-filled day with the Orang
Asli in Pulau Indah. You will get the opportunity to learn more about their
culture and way of life, and at the same do your bit in helping the less
fortunate.
Details of event
Day/Date: Sunday, 9th December 2012
Time: 10.00am to 2:30pm
Venue: Kg Orang Asli Pulau Indah, 42920 Pelabuhan Klang,
Selangor
Program
10:00am Gather
at Ti-Ratana Penchala
10:15am Meet
and greet session with volunteers
10:30am Depart
to Kg Orang Asli Pulau Indah
11:30am Arrive
and get organized at Kg Orang Asli Pulau Indah
11:45am Entertainment/Games/Activities
for the Children
and
Demo/Display of Orang Asli customs, talents
12:15pm Group
photograph
12:30pm Presentation
of wish list items
1:00pm Visits
to selected families’ homes (for those who are interested)
1:30pm Event
ends
2:30pm Arrive
at Ti-Ratana Penchala
Wish List
We are planning to give each family a grocery bag of
foodstuff as proposed below. You are welcome to donate any of these items plus toiletries,
household cleaning products and other foodstuff. Pre-loved but good condition
clothes for children and adults will also be useful.
Apart from these, we are also seeking individuals or group
of individuals who have experience in organizing telematch/games/activities for
children. It will be a fun thing to do with the children on the event day.
If you would like to contribute to this event, please let us
know via email at trccpenchala@gmail.com. Although
there are 64 families and 100 children, we are catering to a slightly bigger
number in case more families turn up on the event day.
Items for Grocery Bag for 70 Families
|
Quantity
|
Unit
cost
|
Sub-Total
|
Donors
|
Danish butter cookies
|
70
|
RM3.00
|
RM210.00
|
|
Sweetened creamer (2 cans x 500gm)
|
140
|
RM2.60
|
RM364.00
|
|
Instant noodles (1 pack of 5)
|
70
|
RM3.00
|
RM210.00
|
|
Sugar (1kg)
|
70
|
RM2.50
|
RM175.00
|
|
Cooking oil (1kg)
|
70
|
RM2.50
|
RM175.00
|
|
Items for 120 Children
|
Quantity
|
Unit
cost
|
Sub-Total
|
|
Goodie bags
|
120
|
RM2.00
|
RM240.00
|
|
Lunch for 250 pax
|
Quantity
|
Unit
cost
|
Sub-Total
|
|
Lunch boxes
|
250
|
RM5.00
|
RM1,250.00
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
|
RM2,624.00
|
|
For all items except for lunch, you may sponsor the actual
items in whatever quantities or donate cash (any amount) by banking into our
account.
We would like to serve the same food for lunch to all 250
pax, thus it will be more efficient to source from a single caterer. However,
we welcome sponsorship for lunch in terms of cash (any amount).
Contents of the children’s goodie bags must be the same for
all 120 bags, and may contain biscuits, candies, small toys, etc, the cost of
which should be about RM2.
All items must be delivered to Ti-Ratana Penchala Centre by
5pm, Monday, 3rd December 2012, to give the committee sufficient time
to buy any outstanding items and pack the items.
Kindly email us at trccpenchala@gmail.com for more details.
Volunteers/Participants
For logistic and security reasons, all volunteers who wish
to participate are requested to pre-register your name and contact number with
us by emailing trccpenchala@gmail.com.
Please arrive at the Ti-Ratana Penchala Centre by 10:00am sharp
for a briefing. We shall convoy together to Kg Orang Asli Pulau Indah
thereafter. No transportation will be provided, so kindly ensure you make your
own arrangements if you wish to carpool with other volunteers to get to the event
venue and back to the Centre.
Lets do whatever little we can to help make this event more
festive and memorable for these less fortunate families.
For more information or if you need any clarifications,
please call June at 03-77849002 or email trccpenchala@gmail.com.
