We give money to the poor, out of pity, for charity, or perhaps just to make ourselves feel good. Either way, it's good to give. The old adage cannot be more true: It is better to give than to receive.
However, in my experience of working with the poor and marginalised communities in different capacities for the past 10 years, I've learnt one thing - people want to feel proud of what they are doing, they want to make money with their own hands, with the abilities that they have (Well, at least some people).
Y is a widowed Chinese lady in her late sixties with no children, she has been doing domestic work for the past 20 years, and recently she picked up a new hobby - collecting rubbish scraps for resale at recycling centres.
Every morning she would wake up by 6.30 am and go ‘hunting’ while it was still dark, the routine would take about 3 hours, and she was back before it got ‘hot’. During the evening there was round two.
Her prized plunderage would usually consist of cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, soft drink and beer canisters, and sorts. She piled them up outside of the house, and the rubbish was foul-smelling. After a few weeks, the front porch became an overflowing rubbish bin, and there was only a small path left in between the ‘recyclables’ to enter the house.
The reek alerted the neighbours, but they were kind-hearted people, instead of reporting her to the authorities, they tried to talk her out of rubbish collecting, mainly for health and hygiene reasons. But she did not stop.
The neighbour’s daughter was worried that the bacterial and parasitic infestation would affect her elderly parents, so in desperation, she came up with an idea and tried to offer Y a deal – pay aunty Y a monthly salary of RM500 to NOT PICK RUBBISH. It should work, right? Right?
She presented the offer to aunty Y in the most gentle of tones, only to be met with silence from Y. And this went on for months.
One evening back from work, the neighbour’s daughter found a litter of rats in the compound of her house and she snapped. “Aunty Y ! Your rubbish got a lot of bacteria! It's attracting rats!”
Aunty Y was not a pushover, she yelled back, “I am saving the world with recycling! I earn my own money! Who is going to feed me?!”
“I offer you RM500 a month to NOT PICK RUBBISH!” hollered the neighbour’s daughter.
“This is MONEY ! THIS IS MY MONEY ! ” roared aunty Y edging closer to the heaps of rubbish.
*silence*
The next day at 6:30 am aunty Y put on her foraged sports shoes, and went on her usual rounds to rummage for ‘treasures’.
G is a 51-year-old plump Indian man that broke both of his legs and paralysed hips down from a major car accident 38 years ago. He now works as a receptionist cum assistant administrator in a toy company. During the weekdays he would be working in the office, and at weekends he would go to popular shopping spots to sell tissues and beg for money.
He always believed that everyone dealt with a different hand of cards in life, some people are luckier and some are less lucky. He was unfortunate but how he continued his life depended on how he played his cards. So his side hustle was begging. With his story and condition, he was able to easily get RM200 - RM400 during a busy weekend with high foot traffic.
Furthermore, the cost of living is beginning to become intolerable. Not to mention the cost of physiotherapy, supplements, wheelchair repairs, etc. It is not cheap to live in the Klang Valley.
His legs are broken, but his resolve is not. Disabled but independent. Paralysed but not helpless.
One day I met him near a mega shopping centre downtown, I gave him RM100 Ang Pao for a packet of tissue. “Happy Chinese New Year uncle G.”
We all want to live with dignity, regardless of our situations in life, and the poor are no different. My simple request is this: When we give to the poor, I hope we can give them dignity, not just money.
Joyce Tan is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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