Please HELP a struggling Indian, do not discard

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This is about an Indian from Malaysia.

 

 

Dear Friends,

 

I am posting today on behalf of a gentleman Mr. Sivalingam.

Sivalingam was formerly a petty tradesmen who got cheated by some

unscruplous people and lost all his savings, home, etc. He was

reduced to zero.

 

Mr. Sivalingam's plight came to the notice of Kulasegaran (DAP) who

is an MP for Ipoh Barat.

 

Thereafter via Kulasegaran I managed to get details of Sivalingam and

visited him thereafter.

 

Sivalingam has six children altogether. It is for the sake of his

children he approached Kulasegaran. Kulasegaran was affected by the

grave condition of Sivalingam prompting him to post about the latter

in his blog. The message in his blog itself was forwarded to us by

another good friend.

 

But being weighed down with work and having to travel to KL

frequently he was unable to attend promptly to the matter. It was by

replying to his blog that I managed to get a reply from Kulasegaran.

Kulasegaran thereafter sent his political secretary who thereafter

managed to pass some details about Sivalingam to ourselves enabling

us to get in touch with him.

 

I visited the house which is actually a simple shack. It was heart

wrenching. He has been staying there for three years now. He does all

sorts of odd jobs to support his family. He is illiterate. Though it

is difficult to make ends meet, he is able to feed them nevertheless.

He lives from a day to day basis. What he earns is sufficient for him

to take care of his family without any surplus. He does an additional

job of salvaging used items, bottles and recyclable items which he

sells for a small profit. But he only has a three wheel cycle.

Suffice to say that he lives a hand to mouth existence.

 

I advised him on family planning though. He was receptive. But

thereafter on a slight reflection it dawned on me the reason

ignorance, illiteracy and poverty is associated with higher breeding

rate.

 

Whatever it is, I found Sivalingam to be a resilient man. He was

patient, strong and sturdy. But alas, where can work be found for

him? The towkays get loads of Bangladeshis and Indonesians to work

for half the pay of Malaysians. Being middle aged doesn't help. And

those who are willing to employ only pay on a day to day basis. No

socso, nothing. If one refuses this also, there are others to jump at

this work. Factory operators are mostly women. Many towns in Malaysia

are unlike those situated around Klang Valley or Penang. They do not

have vast industries or factories offering jobs. Hence other work

scopes which spawn from supporting these industries to those

businesses which prosper catering to a well heeled middle class are

found to be lacking in these parts. Hence the rarity of jobs which is

further impounded by a multitude of cheap foreign labor.

 

The middle and upper class Indians have lost touch with the lower

class Indians that we do not know the tribulations they go through.

 

High ranking leaders turn to theft out of greed. Those in poverty

turn to crime to eat.

 

Sivalingam's ignorance and illiteracy made him lose his little

fortune. When trusted ones turn into monsters, what can a man do?

 

The saddest part was that though I got the information from the

political minstrels; none have turned up (till date) to help him

directly. But many turned up in loads to canvass for votes. The next

time there is a rally where Indians come, look around the fringes.

Look at the faces. Look at those dressed shabbily. Yes, these are the

Indians. And truly the bulk of us are poor.

 

The race which proportionately makes up the higher percentage of

jailbirds and petty crime-mongers (as compared to the percentage of

the general population) reflect the social and economic status of the

race. Guess who it is?

 

Sorry for ranting unnecessarily. But the thing is I got really sick

and tired of some people whom I took along to see Sivalingam. These

came under the pretext to help and offered themselves initially, most

talked of the plight of Indians, Hindraff and so on for hours over a

cuppa. Not to mention that these are the execs, managers and high-

fliers. However so arriving at the scene these self same people

became judgmental who basically blamed Sivalingam for his plight in

one way or another. As for any help or advice rendered, you might as

well forget it.

 

It should be understood that poverty is not a sin. A man who is in

dire circumstances is not necessarily an evil person. It is true that

there are people who are lazybones, drunkards and whatnots willfully

wallowing in poverty. But not all are the same. We should use our god-

given intellect and scrutinize. Some quoted Karma, I ask the same to

fly kites...let it be between god and his maker. But if we are to do

something, let us help those in our backyard first.

 

We can't help all, it is true. We can't help fully too. But easing a

person's burden however lightly is the mark of a human being. At some

days Sivalingam's baby daughter had to make do with sugar which

substitutes the milk powder.

 

But there is one beautiful part. It is Devendran, Sivalingam's son.

He is in Form 3 this year. Guess his results in class? The chap is

top brass. He alternates between first to fourth place in class. That

boy is truly brilliant. And he helps his dad too. He told me the sole

reason he studies hard - his dad. His dad encourages him in everyway

though being illiterate. Devendran lacks books. They have approached

a teacher for help due to problems paying PIBG fees etc. But as

usual, all were left on deaf ears without any follow up. We asked

Devendran what he wanted. He named revision books, calculator etc. We

got him all.

 

We got Sivalingam listed in the Jabatan Kebajikan. They said they

will visit and decide within two months. In truth the help of

Kebajikan is paltry. And most of the times, one can't even get the

cash on time. However so, we did this thing as a backup for

Sivalingam. And he qualifies in his present state.

 

We have done our little part in easing Sivalingam's burden. We gave

cash in kind. But rather then giving a fish to a person, it is better

to give him a rod. Sivalingam is no beggar. He wants to stand on his

feet. But he cannot get any loans; he has no valuables, land, no

guarantors, nothing. All relatives and friends have taken flight.

Truly poverty is man's worst enemy.

 

Hence we asked Sivalingam of any trade he is keen in. He named one,

selling recycled items (barangan kitar semula) at which he has

experience. He has sold mee goreng before but his present condition

and lack of water supply to his home doesn't allow that. For his

business he needed some cash as capital. We arranged for a small

amount of capital to get started from our own savings. Thereafter we

also got him the necessary items. We got his business registered and

licensed too. Sivalingam has his contacts. Taking him around getting

the necessary such as scales etc, I would vouch that Sivalingam is

genuine and has acumen. As I took him to further parts (which were

20 – 30 kilometres from his home) I couldn't help notice his

familiarity and asked him about it. He answered that he has cycled

all over, no wonder his physique was good.

 

Now he has even learned the hard lesson to be cautious and to never

sign any documents without getting it double checked.

 

We have got most of the tools for his trade including a phone. Please

bear in mind that it is a small scale venture. But it's enough for a

start to take care of the family's need thoroughly…if he succeeds. At

the time being we managed to get some bigger towkays to get their

products from Sivalingam. The surrounding people also have become

aware and support him. However so it would be better if Sivalingam

has his own vehicle. He will be able to deliver straight to the main

buyers and make a bigger profit. We have eyed a car, let's see where

it gets. However so please bear in mind that this doesn't mean we

have done all. There are still many things more. Funds in all means

are appreciated. That is the purpose of this whole article. The

family lacks main pipe water at the time being. They are drawing

water from a well. Luckily they have electricity. We need to get

piped water. Sivalingam aproached LAP (lembaga air perak) and some

clown from the dept ordered him to go through contract plumbers and

gave some numbers. Hearing this we have requested the kind help of

another friend who is attached to LAP to look into the matter. He has

yet to get back to us.

 

However so the next door neighbor is kind and shares some water (for

a fee). But we could only do to a certain extent. We too are busy and

can't really go round. But we are making time. We met some newly

elected MPs and their secretaries. The MPs are too busy settling into

their job and having a hard time liaising with the government dept.

The secretaries are also busy running around with their MPs. Truly we

don't know whether to curse or to sympathize. But Kula and Sivakumar

has at least been a bit sympathetic and promised help by writing to

the DBI or get the MB to intervene. You see, we have applied for a

plot for Sivakumar at Horley Road where they sell recycled goods. It

is meant to uplift petty tradesmen. However so this is a pet project

of the previous Mayor and as such is under the Dewan Bandaraya Ipoh's

(DBI) jurisdiction. The officers at DBI...well all seem to be MIA.

This is a flea market in Ipoh, it draws huge crowds every Sunday. But

Perak being under opposition now, all work is going pretty slow. Top

Government staff and the supposed State Execs are either

irreconcilable or at loggerheads.

 

All said and done...please note that Sivalingam's family will do

better with some more help. A bit from each person will go a long way

in help settling this family… all the more when considering his two

brilliant children. Ah...I forgot to mention another of his brilliant

child Rajakumari. She is in form one...she came seventh, not bad huh?

I did visit the school to verify their claims and viewed their report

cards, courtesy of a friend who is currently attached to their

school. It suffices to say that the children are brilliant and are

top achievers even with half the average meal per day.

 

Okay. I list hereby the total number of family members, their age

etc. I have uploaded their I/C. You can see it in the photos section

(click the Photos tab at the upper left of this site and thereafter

on the Album `Sivalingam').

 

Note: This message is originally posted in Makal Sevai Group. To view

the original

message kindly visit the site:

 

makal_sevai/

 

It is message number 20. To view the photos one has to join the group.

 

1) Father – Mr. Sivalingam a/l Rajamanikam Age: 40

2) Mother – Mrs. Padmini a/p Armogom Age: 33

3) Eldest Son – Devakumaran Age: 15

4) Second Daughter – Rajakumari Age: 13

5) Third Daughter – Krishnaveni Age: 9

6) Fourth Daughter – Khaminesvari Age: 5

7) Fifth Daughter – Davanesvari Age: 3

8) Sixth Daughter – Rathi Devi Age: 1

 

You can see the photos I have taken of his humble home and some

recycled things when I initially visited him. After rendering help I

had an outstation trip which was for a week so. I just came back

today. I called him, he seems to be okay. I have not gone to visit

the family yet (at the time of writing this). I have uploaded photos

of his family in the Photos section of this site (under the

Sivalingam Album). I have also uploaded his business registration

details. This is to show his seriousness.

 

This is the reason for me writing this post.

I hereby appeal for donation for the sake of Sivalingam. We can't get

loans, there's nothing to pledge on his behalf.

 

Kindly bank in your donation to his wife's bank account. This is his

sole account. It will be used to acquire some further things needed

to help him become independent. Even a small sum will go a long way.

 

The name of his wife is Padmini a/p Armogom. Her I/C number is 750321-

08-6670. She has a Maybank account. The account number is

108011753330.

 

 

I have uploaded this too which can be viewed in the Sivalingam Album.

 

We will again post in a month at this site to announce the amount of

donation received and how it has been used. All details pertaining

this (the amount of donation and how it has been used) will be

accounted.

 

Whatever you give will be well used. Sivalingam has no liquor nor bad

habit, rest assured. He was with us 3 days straight as we arranged

things for him as according to our little capacity. Please show that

we as normal Indians care. We would like to reiterate again that even

a small sum will go a long way. For many like Sivalingam, even a

small sum (that many of us may find paltry) makes a whole load of

difference.

 

We would however be more delighted if any of your good selves wish to

visit this family and render help directly. We are well aware of

unscrupulous persons asking for donations. We understand if some of

you hesitate. But if there's a will, there's a way. That is the

reason why we emphasize on helping directly.

 

Kindly do not hesitate to let us know if you wish to visit this

family. We shall extend our help in guiding anyone to visit them.

Their address is: RT 18, Jalan Kuang, Buntong, 30100, Ipoh, Perak.

 

With this we end our post. One can't help the God. One can show

bhakti towards it only. It is only man who can be helped. Thank you

all for taking time to read this post. It is more meaningful if you

act on it. Please also pass this message to others.

 

Thank you.