Assalamualaikum!
Last Friday, I tagged a long with a group of Muisians to Darul-Takrim after work to visit the home and to break our fast with the residents there. The moment I arrived, it triggered back memories of 2003 when I was Pres of the Singaporean Students’ Club in MARSAH. We did a similar visit during the month of Ramadhan at the exact same place, mingled and interacted with the old folks, listening to their sad and happy stories, though mostly sad. Visits there always reminded us on how crucial it is for us to be of service and care to our parents. Its sad to hear some of them tell us how their own children actually left them at the home. Even worse, the caretaker told us of a case where the children did not even want to claim their late fathers’ body upon his passing. And there are those who suddenly appear to claim their share of the inheritance money, when they never once visited their late parent.
We can only pray that we won’t get trapped into such shameful and selfish behavior. Na’uzubillah min dzalik.
On Saturday, we headed for Pesantren Bina Ummah @ Batam. A group of 16 Singaporeans – aged between 55-6 
– left Harbourfront at 2.20pm on a mission! A mission to make the children at the orphanage cum boarding school cheerful and happy 
We cooked the briyani rice from home, asked them to cook some local dishes there, and upon our arrival, our very own male chefs (Hamzah & Fariz) managed to cook-up one last dish with little time left! Superb! After maghrib, we feasted on all the food with the orphans and their caretakers, before I was requested to lead their tarawih. One caretaker in particular, I beleive she is the overall person in charge, at the age of 74 (can you beleive it?), affectionately known as Ummi at the pesantren, came up to me after the prayers and told me that she cried during the prayer as my voice reminded her so much of her late husband who passed away 5 years ago. From then on, she started calling me anak ummi as though I was her own son. Nice, loving, frail-yet-strong lady ummi was, ala Mother Teresa. We played some games and quizzes with the kids after tarawih, it was chaotic when everybody wanted to answer to win the prizes! hehehe… but before they all left to bed, we took one big photo and gave each and every one of them a goody bag we packed from home. (photos to be uploaded soon)
Someone asked me after the event, “Will this be a yearly affair with Vocal Point?” I sure do hope so.
My latest updated schedule (click to enlarge):
“Ramadhan is a month whose beginning is mercy,whose middle is forgiveness,and whose end is freedom from the fire of hell.” – Hadeeth
Warmest regards & salaam,
Mizi
