Time For Charity

With 2006 coming to a close, it would be really wonderful if we could stop for a moment to think of the less fortunate and give of ourselves, because a little goes a long way.

There are so many charitable acts one can do for the less privileged. We often see so many sad cases all around us.

Not far away, at the Phillys Caring Home,19, Jalan 12 / 12, Petaling Jaya, many of the elderly inmates housed there do not ask for much – lonely people, they look forward to someone just to talk to them and share some time with them. Looked after by Phillys (79560799), some of the residents are in their late nineties. Most of the time, they sit in the hall, staring into space.

A Tiaran who visits them now and then, sometimes takes cooked bittergourd for them, a dish they enjoy, since they are able to chew the soft vegetable.

Another case is Uncle Loh, a small-built bespectacled old man who is bent double and homeless. He often makes the rounds outside the Mediviron Clinic or Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in Paramount Garden, gratefully receiving whatever food passers-by may hand him. Since he has no specific area he calls home, one may have to recci the area to find him.

A worthy cause is the celebrated Sylvia Hyams, an elderly,bent-double widow with no income, looking after 3 children, Elizabeth, Peter and Charlene. Sylvia was named Mother of the Year once and featured in newspapers as well as TV. Except for Elizabeth, who is her own daughter, Peter and Charlene were adopted. Although 52, Elizabeth has the mentality of a l0 year old, Peter lies on the mattress 24 hours a day since he can neither sit up, hear, talk nor see. Charlene is mongoloid. But the lady with a heart as large as a football field says that she adopted them "because I have so much love to give the underprivileged."

Taking care of three people throughout the day and night is not taxing for her."I love them all, and they have no one to care for them. Who will look after them if I don’t," she said.

Christmas will be bleak for the Hyams family, since there is hardly any money or food except for what well-wishers sometimes give them. "But I understand that not many people have much these days, since times are bad," she stated matter-of-factlly. Sylvia can be contacted at: 016-3988632. Her land line was disconnected some years ago since she had no money to pay the bill.

For those wishing to brighten the lives of those mentioned above by interacting with them, thank you .