Posting emo

I think I have been very good about people having their own opinions, which literally translates to I don’t try to impose my own opinion on you. I also generally respect other people’s opinion, I don’t judge as really, how we think is shaped by our environment and make-up (if you know what I mean), a nature/nurture kind of thing.

Saying that however, I feel that respect shown to the little ones yang minta sedekah  or bantuan, if you like, is something that is expected. Showing respect to others is not subjective, not based on opinion but rather on just being plain nice. The requirement to be nice is also not a mere opinion but something that is demanded by society and all religion. To be shown respect is a right for everybody and anybody. Hak semua.

Some people are of the opinion that we shouldn’t give any money to beggers, whether they are nicely dressed or not. Some say rather than helping these kids, it is better if we help single mothers, or support cancer organisations or whatever. It is fine by me. What is not fine with me is being rude to these kids. To the little boys and girls yang self-consciously approach you and bagi salam with calendar ke, or ubat or madu in their hands.

Kalau tak nak bagi pun, can’t you just smile at them and say no ? Or worse, geleng kepala without the smile ? Must you ignore them while the little one terkulat-kulat tunggu you to acknowledge them before finally leaving ? Or worse if you waved them off rudely which resulted them to turn around immediately with face red with shame ? You like to see people malu macam tu ?

I once dined next to a couple in Shah Alam. In between them there were tom yam, fried calamari, telur dadar, sayur goreng of some sort, nasi of course and rojak buah. Bila adik datang minta bantuan, pakcik berkopiah and makcik tudung labuh buat dek.  Macam budak tu tak ada pun kat situ. Salam pun tak berjawab. The boy left and approached our table. When the couple got up to leave a few minutes later, I noticed makanan semua tak habis. SO it is okay bagi duit for food that is going to the bin but to spare even RM1 for charity pun tak boleh. To even smile politely at the boy and say no pun tak boleh. Maybe in their eyes the boy does not warrant any acknowledgement. Sampah masyarakat agaknya. But what disturbed me the most was budak tu pun dah tak rasa apa-apa. I expected a bit segan ke, marah ke but nada. His face was expressionless, his heart already hardened at a very early age. Sian dia.

I believe that dugaan datang in many shapes and forms. And if not pun, where is your sense of pity and empathy ? Surely that doesn’t have to be taught ? But then again, I could be wrong.

Anyway once, at a time when I was always out on the field, one night while having dinner with my colleagues, a little man came. One colleague ignored him and pretended not to see. Seeing that, I waved the little guy over and gave him cash. Another guy looked sheepishly at me and said, “I do not know if these boys are genuine…..” Fair enough. I told my colleague firstly he doesn’t need to explain. Secondly, I too do not know if they are genuine, but I believe that Allah is watching and judging how I am handling this. And thirdly, I tak sampai hati. Children are too precious to be ignored. Doing this is degrading enough and I do not want them to feel worse by being rejected.

True enough, kelmarin I took the kids to KFC after their class. Twice we were approached by these boys and twice I gave them money. When the second boy approached me, the first boy who I had given money to tried to stop his friend from coming to me, but I told him that it was okay. I gave the second boy some money and Kamil asked if they had eaten. They both politely said yes.

“Makcik nak belanja makan sini, ni. Nak tak ?” I persisted.

“Takpe makcik, kami dah makan….” He said, smiling beautifully. So innocent, so sweet, so young. Kalau dia dekat ngan aku tu, mau aku peluk. I one saw one makcik actually doing that, okay. She pulled the surprised boy to her in a side hug. She asked if he went to school and if he was clever. Sweet, huh ?

Anyway, the other boy, was a bit older. He smiled gratefully at us and then left. Many, many times they walked in front of us and every single time they will smile.  I thought initially that they do actually want to eat tapi segan nak cakap, but lama-lama I realized, they just want to see a friendly face.

Subhanallah. Kesian kan ? I was just thinking berapa banyak kali lah depa kena verbally abuse or ignored today.

Saying that, it doesn’t mean that I condone those people who sent these helpless kids out to get funds, yeah ? I am all for the kids.

So… mana-mana anak-anak yang kena cari rezeki by this way, when things are bad and all you need is a hug, come and find me. Makcik akan dakap erat-erat and peluk kuat-kuat, kay ?