New Year message 2023

Jan 1, 2023 : - As we welcome the dawn of a new year, we cannot help but start looking back at the events of the past year. Two significant ones were the lifting of the movement control order ( MCO ) and the emergence of a new government following the country’s general election.

Some of us, reeling from two years of lock down due to the pandemic, came out of the MCO with a vengeance for travel. Yet, there are others who are still licking their wounds inflicted by two years of economic slowdown.

Most hard hit were the less fortunates residing in various charity homes. Their reliance on the generosity of the public came to an abrupt stop when both cash contributions and material donations diminished to critical levels. As 2023 begins, we are still unclear where we are heading. We seem to be achieving some semblance of normalcy yet deep inside us, we know things will never be the same as before.

Caring Soul, a charity outfit which my wife and I started, is 13 years old this year. We started the new year with visits to two old folks home in Semenyih and a handicapped home in Cheras. My wife and I went on a shopping spree the past few days to buy various grocery items for the three homes. This time round, we have to make purchases at various places to include Chinese new year items for the homes.

After accumulating the necessities, we made deliveries to the homes on the morning of Jan 1, 2023. Special thanks go to Datuk Ho Kay Tat, the Group MD of the Edge Communication, for sponsoring the grocery items to the three homes.

The balance of unsold hair shampoos that were donated by an old time friend, Eric and his wife Ann, for our recent charity bazaar were later distributed to the residents of the homes. A total cash donation of RM 1,500 was also made to the three homes on behalf of two friends, Charles Chee and Aaron Shori, who entrusted us with the assignment.

It took us half a day to complete our mission. Caring Soul will make an attempt to increase its activities to help the less fortunate this year. This is because we continue to see charity homes seeking for help more explicitly than before.

We continue to pray and hope that kind hearted friends will take some moments to remember them from time to time. We hope to help them get out of this difficult times, not with indulgence but with proper care and love.

Lastly, as we put 2022 behind us and look forward to a fresh 2023, let us remember what Mark Twain said :-

“ I cherish the dreams of yesterday and dare not dwell on the err’s of my past whose fate has been long decided, and effect I cannot change. For the dreams of yesterday are the challenges of today, and the hope for tomorrow”

With that, my wife and I wish everyone a great year ahead, filled with joy, happiness and above all abundance of great health.

Happy New Year !

A display of true compassion - some caring moments

Captured here are shots of some caring moments displayed by Caring Soul volunteers in some of their activities. Many residents of charity homes are unable to take care of themselves properly. The photos showed some Caring Soul members rolling up their sleeves to help the residents, from cutting their toe nails, applying medication to their backs and eyes as well as trimming their protruding nostrils' hair. Then there are numerous occasions when Caring Soul members help to feed them or just simply lend a listening ear to them.

Bringing cheers to 42 handicapped children

All it took were some fried chicken and six kind hearted volunteers to bring smiles and cheers to 42 children at a handicapped home in Cheras on the afternoon of 9/7/2022. Caring Soul executed its first activity-related event after lying low during the pandemic period.

From our past activities of offering free hair cut and cooking for the residents of some charity homes, we have resorted to just delivering essentials and groceries to them the past two years. A few weeks ago, a handicapped home caretaker told us that it had been ages since the kids were given a Kentucky Fried Chicken treat.

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Datuk Ho Kay Tat, the Group CEO of The Edge, we were able to fulfill the wish of the children with seven barrels of Kentucky Fried Chicken this afternoon. Six members of Caring Soul joined in the effort to distribute the chicken to the children of Persatuan Insan Istimewa Cheras.

Some of the children required feeding and Caring Soul members were quick to lend a helping hand after shredding the chicken meat to smaller pieces for easier feeding. It was also to ensure that the meat was free from bones to prevent the children from choking. Meanwhile, two Caring Soul members also took the opportunity to distribute ang pows to the children.

All of us took a Covid 19 saliva test, wore mask and sanitized ourselves before taking on the task with the children. In trying times when charity homes are struggling to bring food to the table with dwindling donations, we are mindful about utilising funds to help the homes with essentials rather than a KFC treat.

Until our Caring Soul tagline “Coloring Lives” reminded us to find a balance between the will to live and the way to live.

With that in mind, we decided to embark onto this mission of adding a little spice to this group of under privileged children while always bearing in mind that the scale of balance should be skewed towards helping the homes with the more basic essentials. Our tagline of colouring lives is not only meant for the under privileged but also for our members who volunteer their time to do their bit for a better society.

There are already scores of well known charity organisations that are flushed with funds. Religious groups, companies welfare foundations and famous NGOs are but a few which are already contributing mammoth effort to alleviate the woes of the needy.

Mindful that we are no where compared to these organisations ( and we have no intention to ), Caring Soul was founded on the principle of offering a platform to those who lack the financial resources but filled with compassion to want to contribute to the needy.

Because fund raising is always a sensitive issue, Caring Soul steered clear of this area. With some reserved funds from the founders' retirement money, they funded all the events themselves because ultimately some form of financial donations to the homes are needed to open doors to achieve the goal of providing a platform for Caring Soul's volunteers to contribute their time.

The founding couple recalled the early days when they naively knocked on doors of charity homes to offer free hair cuts only to be met with suspicious looks. Hence, most activity related events by our volunteers at selected homes ended with some cash donation from the founders personally.

Of late, some close friends who are aware of Caring Soul's activities have entrusted the founders to help them donate some cash to these homes as well. With that, the founders are able to stretch the dollars on more occasions to carry out events ( mostly spending time with the residents ) at the homes.

Over the last 12 years, we are pleased to say that Caring Soul had succeeded in having more than 50 volunteers who are willing to contribute their time to charity related events. However, we are far from reaching our ultimate goal of inculcating the culture of helping the needy to the younger generation.

It was our goal to conduct education trips to children to charity homes with the dual objective of inculcating a sense of gratitude in them as well as hoping that they will do likewise when they grow up. The ultimate aim is to encourage more people to make the world a better place to live in.

As it is, most residents of homes have already missed two years of companionship when the pandemic hit. It is worrisome to see the behaviour of children and even old folks change after two years of confinement inside the homes.

In some of our visits when the MCO was temporarily lifted, we can only watched them at a distance, separated by the entrance gate. Some familiar faces waved from afar and we could sensed their desire to communicate but were unable to.

Yes, the pandemic has indeed far reaching consequences than we can imagine. We harbour hope that some psychological experts will volunteer some therapy sessions for children affected by the two years of isolation from the outside world. Therein, lies this hidden problem that may only surface years later, if left unattended.

Lastly, we are quick to acknowledge that Caring Soul is a far cry from other charity and voluntary organisations but we we will do what we can. On that same note we will continue to urge all our friends to do whatever they can for the needy. We are sure their touch in whatever manner is going to add some sparkle to their lives.

Caring Soul's initiative continues

Caring Soul today on 26th March 2022 resumes its initiative to help the less fortunate with a visit to Joy Garden and Rahmat old folks home in Semenyih.

The founders delivered some groceries to these two homes as well as made out cash donations to them on behalf of some friends who have entrusted them with this mission. Several days earlier on March 21, a visit was also made to Persatuan Insan Istimewa Cheras . Some cash donation was made to help them with their handicapped home of 42 children.

Caring Soul had been helping this home for more than 10 years now and was pleased to see its progress. The fact that the home recently succeeded in obtaining a tax free status for donations is a reflection that the home is run genuinely. ( NB : Caring Soul's founders are particularly concerned with dubious charity outfits with ulterior motives to enrich themselves )

Caring Soul had learned tremendously over the 12 years of voluntary and charity work. Helping the less fortunate requires the mental resilience of doing it consistently. It also requires deeper thoughts in how to make cash donations stretch a little more for them.

Many charity homes are not very good at managing their their cash flow well, resulting in spending on some unnecessary items, especially so when they are flushed with cash donations during good times. As such, it is wise to pace out the cash donations to them over a period so as to reduce the chances of them spending on items that can be avoided.

From past experiences, it is also saddening and sometimes shocking to see huge amount of donated items that have gone way passed their expiry dates. Stacks and stacks of rice were left idle until they were infested with rice weevils. Canned foods were way passed their expiry dates and tonnes of other items went to waste.

It was quite a tricky situation at that time - on the one hand good Samaritans heaped the homes with items without consulting them. On the other hand, the homes cannot reject the items for fear that they will lose the good will of the donors.

Therefore, it is always prudent to ask what the home needs so that more value can be derived from the initiative. Incidentally, many homes will also have a list of items updated on their whiteboard from time to time.

Lately, Caring Soul has also been quite active in promoting and circulating charity messages around which is quite a deviation from one of his Caring Philosophy statement of maintaining a low profile in its charity and voluntary work.

This sudden change in stance is because tiring times like this requires more publicity as it is getting more and more difficult for homes to obtain donation. They are truly struggling. A little more publicity will help trigger the kind thoughts of friends who are capable of helping them.

Caring Soul will revert to its low profile regime once the charity homes are back on their feet with more donors. Meantime, thanks so much for your time in reading this. Let’s give some thoughts to the less fortunate and bless them with our prayers.

Take care and stay safe.