“If Tzu Chi does not mind my age, I will continue to serve…” – Yap Ka Sam
On November 26, 2023, Tzu Chi KL & Selangor held its final new volunteer training session for the year, with an enthusiastic turnout of 672 participants. One of the highlights of the event was the certification ceremony for the recycling volunteers. As the volunteers walked across the stage to receive their recycling volunteer ID cards, the audience erupted into applause, expressing joy and appreciation for their contributions.
At 77 years old, Yap Ka Sam attended the volunteer training session for the first time and received his recycling volunteer ID card along with 63 other volunteers. For him, encountering Tzu Chi was an unexpected occurrence in his life.
Grandpa Yap, who lives alone, worked as a construction contractor in his younger days. As the years advanced and heavy labour on construction sites became too taxing, he transitioned to driving a taxi in Kedah, mainly transporting passengers to the Thai border. The stable income allowed him to live contentedly in the area for eight years. However, in 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic left him without income for a daunting seven to eight months, plunging him into hardship.
In 2021, Grandpa Yap returned to settle in Kuala Lumpur. At the time, many industries were still reeling from the pandemic’s impact, and job hunting was especially challenging for someone of his age. Fortunately, during his most difficult time, a friend provided him with contact information for Tzu Chi KL & Selangor. When the volunteers visited Grandpa Yap, they found him temporarily staying with a relative who ran a hawker business. As the house was filled with stocks and merchandise, there was only room for a single mattress.
Despite encountering various hardships in his old age, Grandpa Yap harboured no complaints. Instead, he exhibited a serene acceptance of fate. The volunteers, however, felt for him and were determined to provide him with a more conducive living space. After some arrangements, Grandpa Yap moved into a vacant room at the home of a Tzu Chi care recipient and recycling volunteer. As he lay on the new mattress provided by volunteers, Grandpa Yap smiled and said that he had not slept so comfortably in years.
◎Discovering purpose and joy
Although Grandpa Yap had seen Tzu Chi volunteers on Da Ai TV, he never anticipated that they would one day appear before him, not only improving his living conditions, but also assisting him in applying for living assistance from Tzu Chi and the Social Welfare Department, ensuring that he had at least, enough funds for meals. To him, it felt like a dream.
Grandpa Yap was most grateful for the opportunity to tag along his then-housemate to serve at the recycling centre regularly. Now, even though his housemate had passed away and he has relocated to another place, he continues to serve at different recycling centres five days a week. He candidly admitted, “If it weren’t for Tzu Chi, I would be idling my time away, having no fixed place to stay, and living in anxiety. Now, through my recycling work, my life has found its anchor.”
In fact, initially, Grandpa Yap’s foray into recycling activities was merely a way to pass the time. However, as he spent more time at the recycling centre, he found purpose and discovered the joy of giving. Beyond recycling work, he stepped up to assist in other ways, like providing transportation assistance to care recipients and delivering vegetarian lunch boxes in conjunction with the volunteers’ effort to promote vegetarianism. He shared passionately, “It is not enough to only engage in recycling activities. If Tzu Chi does not mind my age, I will continue to serve.” He urged everyone to join him in conserving the Earth while they still have good health.
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Grandpa Yap’s journey, though delayed, blossomed like a late spring. He declared publicly, “I hope to return to Taiwan to meet Master Cheng Yen and become her disciple.”
