The world of Tzu Chi March-April 2022 (Vol.140)

TZU CHI 140 09 Sivakumar was deeply thankful for the thoughtful gesture. The first thing he did was to buy three bags of rice and some dry food for the family, school uniforms and stationery for his children, leaving the balance for emergency needs. Like their parents, the children were happy with their new school bags, uniforms and school books. Sivakumar’s second daughter said with a tinge of shyness, “It has been a long, long while since I last wore a new school uniform.” The volunteers shared their joy as the children eagerly flipped the pages of their new books. Indeed, a small gesture to add a decent amount of school allowance meant so much to the children who could not wait to go back to school. To Sivakumar, it meant a great relief from the financial burden of preparing for their school supplies. Stretching every dollar to survive Sivakumar came from a big family of 12. As such, he never had the chance to go to school. Instead, since young, he had to take up various odd jobs to help feed his family. Since the age of 24, he has been a part-time worker helping to set up tents at Lee Chooi Kiat Garden. For 20 years, he has been receiving daily wages. The sudden onset of the pandemic was a huge blow to him and disrupted his relatively simple and peaceful life. Last December, Tzu Chi volunteers made their first home visit to Sivakumar and his family, upon the recommendation from his children’s school. The house that they live in is a make-shift from a container, and they have lived in this house for over 20 years. The old paint on the walls has peeled off in patches, while cracks and holes punctuate the walls. There are two tables—a large and a small one, and on them sits an old TV set—the only luxury item in the house. In a corner stands a metal rack with wooden planks, which functions as the altar. On the altar is a Tzu Chi bamboo bank, which his second son received years ago when he was given a subsidy under the Tzu Chi study grant. Each morning, Sivakumar and his wife would carry out their prayers. Though humble, it is their home sweet home. Sivakumar showed the volunteers his wage record for December. Clearly recorded in it was his income of less than RM500, for a total of less than ten working days. Before the onset of the pandemic, he could bring in as much as RM2,000 a month or so. With that drastic difference in income, Sivakumar struggled to provide for his eight children. “2020 was a bad business year for my boss. I do not know how I got through the year. I had no income for some months. If not for the fact that this house is a workers’ quarter, free from rental and utilities bills, I would not know what to do and how to go on…” Sivakumar shared that at one point, he had to take loans from loan sharks, but when the economy re-opened in stages, he made repayments immediately. He was determined not to delay repayments of debts no matter how hard life could be. “I always teach my children that they should study hard, so that they could at least get a job that allows them to work in the Kita1Keluarga 2.0 Relief Programme