May 16, 2010

Kindness..


I was at KFC yesterday to have my first meal of the day which is also a late lunch - because I went to so many hospitals in the morning - when I saw a very simple act of kindness.

There was a Malay man, with a crew-cut haircut, wearing a blue T-shirt, sitting by himself near the glass window, eating his chicken and probably sucking on the bones when a dark young boy wearing a "ketayap" (skull-cap), who does not look any day above 9-years-old and does not look like a Malaysian citizen either came out of nowhere and start going to everyone's table to offer them to buy some religious books or give some "sedekah" (alms) to him. The boy went from one table to another until he stopped at the Malay man with the blue T-shirt's table. 

The man told the boy to sit opposite him. The man looked quite fierce with his crew-cut haircut and he seemed to be asking the boy a lot of questions. The boy answered some of the questions at first before he started to look quite disinterested. He started staring out of the window and start counting the books in his hands. Then, the Malay man with the blue T-shirt gave the boy his cheesy wedges. The boy took the wedges and came to my table to show the books and ask for a little bit of money. He had the books in his right hand and the wedges in his left hand. My brother and I looked at the tattered books in his hand and wondered if he might be a part of those syndicate who kidnaps children, export them to another country and tell them to beg or work.

The boy then went to a vacant table, sat down and start eating the cheesy wedges like there's no tomorrow. Then, I noticed the Malay man with the blue T-shirt was no longer at his seat and not a minute later, I saw him put a medium-sized Pepsi drink on the boy's table before walking out of KFC. 

It was that act, and how the boy gobbled up the wedges and the drink that struck my heart. This boy is so young. So very young. What is he doing here? He doesn't speak fluent Malay and he doesn't look like a Malay or a typical Indian Muslim for that matter. He must not be from Malaysia. My brother guessed he's from Myanmar but it is just sad to see a young boy like that, by himself in the day, going from one person to another asking for money when boys his age are busy attending school, playing hide-and-seek and have parents to bring them to KFC and eat a bucket of fried chicken. Still, that boy seemed to enjoy his life. After finishing the food on his table, he went to other KFC customers whom he hadn't approached and when he went out of the KFC, he started skipping away as if it was just another normal day and lives of young boys like him are supposed to be just like that.

We should be happy of what we have. We should let go or try to forget the things that we think had wronged us. We should be grateful we never had to resort to begging. We should be grateful we still have those who love us no matter how big or small the mistakes we had done in the past. We should strive to keep what we have and work hard to expand and build our own empire of love, happiness and freedom. We should take control of our lives. We should be happy. We should be humble. We should be kind.

10 comments:

nia said...

your entry had touch me. a good start for my monday. ;)

Bluecrystaldude said...

OMG! so sad. I usually trying to ignore all those kids that are asking for sedekah. I will only give them if I want to, not because they're bossing me around with their books or a cup of coins. It always saddened to see kids such like this one, who doesn't seems to have any future ahead.

The thing that touch my heart is when you said he was skipping out from the KFC like this is just a normal day for him. heart breaking. :'( :'( :'(

Razz Momma said...

very nice of the man to do that.. and very nice to read something like this from u hon.. wish u a lot of happiness doll

Bella Enveeus said...

It was kind of him.. And thanks sweetie, glad to have seen something sweet like that at a time where I am already mentally exhausted with things around me.. :(

Thank you honey.. I want a lot of happiness to come my way - hopefully VERY soon! ;)

Bella Enveeus said...

Sometimes it's hard for us to sedekah coz of all the child syndicates and black market groups whatever.. I mean, we sure do not want to support what they're doing right? But on a different point of view, when we see these children on the streets begging for money or having to "work" to get money, it is just SO wrong..

Yeah, what I saw touched my heart too.. And then seeing him skipping away, with a smile on his face, he looked happy.. Wonder what's going on in his mind at the time..

Bella Enveeus said...

Thanks nia.. Glad you liked it ;)

Razz Momma said...

u will get what u want babydoll.. i wish all the best for u.. someone as kind and sweet as u is in the grace of god, for sure

Shemah said...

It makes my heart break to see these kids begging on the streets or anywhere else.. and kesian to think of where the children are actually from. Are there parents some place some where heartbroken not knowing whether their child is dead or alive? Smuggling children and all these begging syndicates are so rampant nowadays..

To see this act of kindness is really inspiring and makes us grateful that there are still people around who care. :( I give when I can give, but sometimes friends and family say I shouldn't. Betul jugak kan, at least bagi budak tu makan, even if you don't feed the syndicate business. No child should go hungry.. 

Children are so resilient.. no matter what they see and endure in life, their thoughts are so simple and the smallest gesture can make them smile. :(

Thanks for sharing this.. it's a great post to share on days when we can forget our blessings and not be grateful!

Bella Enveeus said...

You're welcome.

Sometimes with the hustle and bustle of city life, we forget how lucky we are. Until something like this happen in front of our eyes and it just makes us stop.

Yeah, I pun takut juga with all these syndicates but a few weeks after I wrote this post, I terserempak with the same boy with my aunt. And my aunt being the interrogator, she start asking the kid where he's from and what-not's. Rupa2nya, he's one of those refugees from Myanmar. And his mom works juga at rumah orang but illegally sebab they're refugee kan.. The peruntukan government sediakan tak cukup untuk tanggung hidup harian. But at least they're safe here from their own country.

Luckily it's safe for us to be Muslims in this country compared to them. :(

Bella Enveeus said...

And yeah, kalau tak nak bagi duit, at least bagi la makan. My family does that most of the time. Kadang2 we even have this Buddhist monks makan with us at kedai mamak (when they come and minta duit) but people around will look at us like we're mad or grew tentacles or something.

There's nothing wrong I think, to just pay food for someone who is in need. No matter their religion. Apa la salah kan? Bukannya Allah s.w.t. kata kalau kita tolong orang bukan Muslim kita masuk neraka. Sigh.. Some people's mentality, sedih la.. :'(

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