The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.114).

2019 • 09 08 Humble beginnings A s night falls in the neighbourhood of Taman Sentosa, Klang, its quiet streets are feebly illuminated by the dim glow of old street lamps, casting shadows on the few lone pedestrians wary of their surroundings. A drunken band of loitering souls are huddled on the five-foot way of a row of abandoned shoplots, causing a rowdy commotion that breaks the silence of the night. The neighbourhood, an enclave for the local Indian community that was once a bustling communal hub, has seen its population gradually decrease over the years due to worrying crime rates, leaving behind clusters of vacant property. It is now notorious for rampant cases of window grilles being stolen for the black market and poor sanitation. Tzu Chi volunteers have been promoting hygienic practices among the shophouses in the vicinity since 2014, with the goal of fostering communal spirit and forging a positive relationship with the locals. The volunteers hoped to encourage the residents to take the initiative to maintain the cleanliness of their neighbourhood, besides helping them to reclaim a sense of belonging to their community. The Tzu Chi Klang office, which had been operating out of its premises in Taman Sentosa before moving to its current location in Wisma Teng Chin, had served the neighbourhood well by reaching out to local residents and connecting prospective volunteers to Tzu Chi, thus laying the groundwork for Tzu Chi’s missions and values to flourish in the area. Most of the residents are of Indian ethnicity, with a majority of them belonging to the working class. Single-parent households are also common. Hence, without a stable family structure in place, parents are deprived of adequate support and struggle to make ends meet at the expense of their children’s education. When more pressing bread-and-butter issues are at stake, efforts to cultivate a nurturing home environment inevitably take a backseat as parents work long hours and are rarely at home. As a consequence, the children of the neighbourhood are left to roam free without parental supervision and neglect their studies. The volunteers were concerned about the children’s plight as the latter would idle their time away with frivolous acts of mischief. Therefore, volunteers Aw Kwai Wan, Hong Quee Wah, Chong Vee Hong, Ng Poh Yee and Lim Sok Hoon formed a team to create a learning environment that is conducive to the children’s personal development. The volunteers’ efforts led to the conception of the after-school tuition programme based at the Taman Sentosa Community Centre, where volunteer tutors would guide the students in tackling schoolwork-related questions and consolidating their grasp of fundamental subjects, as well as impart positive values to build character, with the ultimate aim of restoring the students’ interest in learning. eature