Tzu Chi is collaborating with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to launch the Covid-19 CBI project* to assist refugees in Malaysia. Since the commencement of the CBI project in April this year, Tzu Chi KL & Selangor hotline had successively received numerous reports about refugees who were evicted from their homes because they could no longer pay the rent and also families that were on the verge of running out of food and staples. Considering the fact that the refugees were in urgent need of food assistance, Tzu Chi KL & Selangor set up a Food Care project for refugees in mid-August this year, to hand out cash vouchers to families in need so that they could buy food at designated supermarkets during this period.
Volunteer See Kok Cha took on the role of the distribution team leader of the community’s Covid-19 CBI project. According to the information gathered from volunteers’ phone interviews with refugees and distribution reports, Kok Cha was saddened to learn that the refugees had no money, no job and were on the verge of running out of food amid the pandemic. Therefore, when he was approached to be the team leader of the distribution team for the Food Care project, not only did he feel obliged to do so, but he also readily participated in the distribution in view of the high number of applicants.
◎ I have not bought such a big pack of rice for a long time
August 31, 2021, was Malaysia’s National Day. However, due to the tens of thousands of new daily confirmed Covid-19 cases that sometimes exceeded 20,000 per day, Kok Cha thought he would be quietly celebrating this special occasion under the Movement Control Order (MCO) just like last year. But, when he received the Food Care distribution list and cash vouchers for refugees on the eve of National Day, he immediately contacted another volunteer Ooi Sok Bee. Together, they rushed to distribute them to the refugees on National Day.
Shamjedah, a refugee from Myanmar, received a call from Kok Cha, informing her that she would get RM150 worth of cash vouchers. Although she did not respond promptly, she immediately rushed over and looked for the volunteers when they came to look for her near her house.
When Kok Cha first saw Shamjedah, she looked anxious and haggard. He then explained to her meticulously about the usage of the cash vouchers and that she could go to the designated 99 Speedmart convenience stores to purchase any food and supplies except alcohol and cigarettes. Shamjedah accepted the cash vouchers from the volunteers and said that there was a convenience store about 15 minutes away.
Upon hearing what Shamjedah said, Kok Cha asked her when she would buy the food supplies. Without any hesitation, Shamjedah said, “Now! I am going now!” After that, she started walking towards the convenience store.
Seeing that Shamjedah was in her haste to walk towards the convenience store, Kok Cha and the volunteer were a little concerned, so they decided to follow her. They merely wanted to chat with her as they walked but Shamjedah just kept on walking hurriedly without waiting for the volunteers who urged her to slow down her pace.
When they reached the convenience store, Shamjedah immediately ran to the corner of the store where white rice was placed and picked up a 10-kg white rice pack. Tears were gushing from the corner of her eyes when she said, “I have not bought such a big pack of white rice for a long time.” After that, she picked up another pack of white rice. It turned out that she wanted to buy two.
The volunteers were worried that Shamjedah would not be able to carry the two packs of white rice by herself, so they suggested to her to just buy one pack and save some cash vouchers for future use. Shamjedah shook her head and insisted on buying two packs, and she deliberately selected the cheapest white rice. Besides buying white rice, she also took a large pack of onions, cooking oil and instant noodles. She then expressed that she would only buy these for the time being.
As there was a difference between the total amount payable and the cash vouchers by a few Ringgits, Shamjedah took an extra pack of instant noodles in order not to waste the cash voucher’s remaining value. However, by doing so, the total had exceeded RM1.05. After emptying her pocket and wallet, she could only find one Ringgit. Upon seeing this, the volunteers hurriedly helped her pay the remaining five cents.
◎ Deprived of adequate meals for two months
Shamjedah moved all her purchases to the corridor outside the store and felt a relief. She pointed to the two packs of white rice as if responding to the volunteer’s query just now. She said candidly that these two packs of white rice were extremely important to her as she and her son could finally eat till one’s fill for the next one to two months. She was not exaggerating when she said that she and her son had not had any adequate meals for the past two months.
From what Shamjedah had described, Kok Cha learned that Shamjedah has been living in Malaysia for ten years and she is currently living with her 19-year-old son, Mohammad (alias). Shamjedah’s husband is a car repair technician and he worked in Langkawi. However, since the pandemic outbreak in March last year, he could not travel across the states to return home and they gradually lost contact with each other. Shamjedah had been trying to contact her husband but to no avail. Although she was worried about him, she could not go to Langkawi to find him during the pandemic.
“Until today, I still have no news of my husband, nor did he call back...” Shamjedah said sadly. She used to rely on her husband to provide for the family. Since her husband lost contact, the family has also lost their source of income.
Shamjedah suffers from high blood pressure and heart disease. At the same time, she often experiences pain throughout her body. She would only go to the pharmacy to buy painkillers when she felt excruciating pain. As she is plagued by several illnesses, she is unable to go out to work. She has been relying on her son helping others to spring clean their houses and earning a monthly salary of 700 to 800 Ringgits to pay for the rental, to buy staples as well as to pay for Shamjedah’s medical expenses.
Although life was difficult, they could still feed themselves. However, in June this year, Mohammad lost his job when the MCO was implemented again. Without a job, there was no income. Not only did they owe three months of rental, but they also could not cook and eat every day in order to save money.
“For the past two months, I could only buy a little bit of food to cook, and only cook one meal in every two days. We rely on this one meal and eat a little bit every day just to cure our hunger, but we never feel full.....” Shamjedah’s helplessness and sorrow due to hunger could be heard through her voice as she spoke.
These remarks made the volunteers feel sad and understand why Shamjedah was crying while carrying the white rice. At that instant, Shamjedah indicated that she would need to see whom she could contact to help her carry the food supplies back. Otherwise, she would have to go back and forth on several trips to bring them home. When the volunteers heard that, they offered to help her carry the supplies. They happened to meet Mohammed’s friend on the way back and Shamjedah immediately asked him to take over the food supplies from the volunteers and expressed her deepest gratitude towards the volunteers.
In the evening, Kok Cha was a little worried about Shamjedah, so he decided to give her a call to express his concern, and it was Mohammad who answered the call. Although he had never met Kok Cha, he expressed his gratitude constantly over the phone for Tzu Chi’s assistance. He also explained that his mother has been living in tears for the past two months and immersing in depression and despair all day long.
During the conversation, Mohammad expressed his worries that not only that his mother suffers body ache and illnesses, she also worries about the plight of not having enough food, and it pained him seeing all that. Fortunately, the cash vouchers given by Tzu Chi had enabled his mother to buy white rice as well as eggs, and both mother and son had just had their rice with fried egg just now.
Mohammad also told Kok Cha that he and his mother are fully vaccinated, and his former boss had also informed him that he could start work the following week. Kok Cha was happy for him after hearing that and encouraged him to work hard and not to let his mother worry.
When Shamjedah took over the call, she personally thanked Kok Cha once again. She choked as she said, “Tonight, we were finally able to eat till one’s fill. We haven’t eaten so much rice for a long time. Thank you! Thank you!” Shamjedah’s voice was so full of contentment and gratitude. This made Kok Cha realize that we could bring happiness to people who are suffering with just a bowl of warm rice.
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Kok Cha was glad that he was in time to distribute the cash vouchers to Shamjedah and her son on this day. If they had delayed in distributing the cash vouchers to a few more days, the mother and son would have to endure hunger for a longer time. These food supplies might not mean much to Kok Cha, but to Shamjedah, they were life-saving!
“Master Cheng Yen said, ‘One cannot wait to do good deeds and be filial to parents.’ I am very grateful for the opportunity to give back to society. It has made my National Day celebration more meaningful.” Kok Cha aspires to seize every opportunity to do good and do so promptly so that people who are suffering could have full meals and feel warm.
* Note: For the short-term Cash-based Interventions (CBI) project, UNHCR provides Tzu Chi with the fund and a name list of refugees while Tzu Chi volunteers do the evaluation and distribution. The subsidy is given monthly for three months, and can only be extended to a maximum of nine months. Due to the pandemic, many refugees have turned to Tzu Chi for help. Given their dire situation, Tzu Chi KL & Selangor launched an additional Covid-19 CBI project to assist refugees with a one-off subsidy.
