Counting my blessings :)

 While most youngsters were planning what outfit and makeup to put on , on new year's eve, my friends and I decided to spare our time for the needy. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I don't do this very often. The last time I volunteered to help out the least fortunate would be at one Orphanage in USJ before I left for Dublin.  That would easily be 5 years ago. We usually assume just donating cash would suffice, but really, you feel and see a lot more when you are down to your tulang empat kerat (lemak).

 The Feed The Homeless/Needy street party as I'd like to call it, is an event held everyday except Thursdays by an NGO called Reachout. I heard about it through a friend's friend and I was lucky enough to have experienced it . From that short period of time, I gathered that it's similar to Kitchen Soup where a few good hearted people donate their cash and time to help feed the homeless people. For this particular NGO,the food on weekdays is sourced from a renowned Hotel's leftover buffet spread. Now don't go saying you don't get to eat hotel food everyday! 

I'm not too sure who gets the food ready on Saturdays though, but I must say they do a really good job in :

1- Getting the food prepared on time

2-Getting lots of volunteers to help out. Social Media to the rescue!

3- To get them to queue up to get their food, Can you imagine all the other Malaysians if they see free food? Sure berebut tak hingat kan? *hingat is when you want to stress out the word Ingat with your nostrils open widely, *

4- Heck, to organize it every week!

Giving out cakes, while tempted to lick em off my fingers. 

Yup,  that's my sweaty tak hingat face. Hint: Nostrils

It shows how I didn't dare snap pictures in case they get offended.

As there were quite a number of volunteers, we took turns serving the buffet spread. For about 10 minutes, I gave out Ikan Goreng Kicap to the many men and women in the queue. Yes, there was a queue and so shame of you who cut queues in buffets. While most just took whatever was handed to them on the plate, there were a few who wanted 2 pieces of fish . I was caught in a predicament. Could this be their only meal of the day, so I should just give them or should I tell them about the long queue of people waiting to be fed?

I tried to keep a happy face all the while , but seeing how some of them had shabby shattered clothes and holding on to plastic bags of their belongings...I just couldn't really. While most looked away and tried to avoid looking directly at us, there were a few that said their thanks and gave a smile. 

When I was done helping with the buffet , I stood alongside my friends, mostly observing and picking out some of the paper plates and cups left by the street. The least we want is for DBKL to ban us from using the spot. 

There was one particular man that caught my attention. Like really caught my attention.  A malay man in his late 40's perhaps. He looked decent but I remembered him in the queue . He sat down on the curb beside this mentally challenged Indian lady , also in her mid 40's. Her hands and body weren't stable so she almost always got her drinks spilled. But here, is this man, not a relative, just sitting beside her and after he was done eating, helped her with her drink. Even fed her the rice. If that didn't touch me, he then wiped her mouth and nose with his bare hands and I swore my tears almost dropped. I thought it stopped there, but he went to the counter and took 2 cups of teh tarik and cooled it off first, before handing it to her. 

How many of us are willing to do that? I'm admitting it myself, to wipe the nose of a stranger is something that I never thought of. But here is a man, without prejudice, without a second thought and without a home putting another person first before himself. I wanted to give that man a hug but alas, we all have our boundaries. On the other corner of the area, there were other men and women of all races sitting together, talking laughing and eating. I could feel their sense of community and belonging. They are on the streets together, day and night, they have no one but each other to depend on and thus, they look out for each other. Did they care whatever racial issue and disharmony published on the newspapers and on social medias? NO.

And here are some of us, who wouldn't give two hoots about our neighbours. We do have a lot to learn from them. The experience humbled me, if not a lot, a little. But hey, a little goes a long way and here I am typing this on my Macbook in the comfort of an air-conditioned room while it's raining outside. So easy to forget our blessings kan?. And there you are, probably reading this, also from the comfort of your bedroom or living room on your laptop/ipad/iphone or what other gadgets you have. 

So yes, that was how I ended my 2011, to remind me to always, count on my blessings. Fat means I'm well fed la hello! Curly means I have hair. Round face means I will look 30 when I'm in 50's. ;)