i was waiting for my food at a restaurant when i was approached by a haggard looking man trying to sell car fresheners for 10 ringgit. his shirt wasn’t ironed and dirty in some places, his sandals have seen better days and his trousers were a wee bit too short for him.
he asked me once and then moved on to another table when i shook my head.
he was a bit more forceful at the other table, trying to sell his stuff.
it touched my heart to see how he works so hard for a living. he looks foreign to me and my first impression was that he was forced by the syndicate that brought him here to sell things.
it was so difficult to look at. i feel pain in my heart and i prayed to God that none of my families and friends will have to do what he’s doing just to put food on the table. in the end, if he sells 10 of those, take an intelligent guess how much of the profits that goes into his pocket?
we have been approached by many kinds for donations – kids from religious school selling raisins for a hefty price, prayer cards and such, and handicapped men being led by fully-abled women selling tissues from table to table.
the first kind: kids from religious schools.
this has been brought up again and again in the media before yet this activities are still rampant in KL. i once saw a kid being hesitant at the entrance of a restaurant but he had to do it, he had to put on a thick skin, going from table to table selling prayer cards. he must have a ‘sales target’ he needs to meet every night.
this is child labour! where are the parents? why aren’t the parents helping them get out of the situation? how would you feel if your kid has to do the same thing?
what happened? were they from some orphanage hence the reason why there are no parents to stop them? who would do that to the orphans? do you know how Allah looks at orphans? they even have a place in the Al-Quran, being mentioned again and again!
and they blatantly misused their responsibilities to earn a little bit extra every month?
where are the relatives?
if they weren’t orphaned, what kind of parents would allow such things to happen to their kids? did they abandoned the kids there and never once asked about their well-being? why? why would you waste such a beautiful gift from God? Ask! Ask the kids what they did every night. do not takes things for granted!
then, the second kind: blind men selling tissues, being led by fully-abled women.
the men are being used! why did she made him go through such things? you made him begged and sell tissue packets. did you stash the earnings at the end of the day? i was so angry everytime i see this because in my mind, these women are using the poor men’s disability for their own benefit! you are definitely able to work, why are you using them? have you no dignity? have you no pride?
my blood boils everytime i think about this.
where is our PPZ? i paid zakat every month, yet i still see this! i still read about families in poverty. Selangor has the highest collections of zakat! help them poor! help build schools/houses, provide free educations for the needy. we need to uplift their kids so that they can bring the families away from the streets!
provide scholarships to poor children, not just the brainy ones. everyone needs education!
we have a problem with bureaucracy. stupid bureaucracy; paperwork after paperwork, forms after forms. c’mon, wake up!
this has stray away from what i started, but it all boils down to my frustration of not being able to do anything at all to change things. arrrghhh!
