Submitted by Najiah on Friday, August 6th, 2010
Friday, August 6th, 2010 13:09:00
DOWN AND OUT: This was how Jeffrey looked like days after a fire killed his son, scalded him and his wife and destroyed his house in 2007
AUGUST will always be special. Fifteen years ago, it brought me a bundle of joy — my only girl, Iman, was born then.
Every year since, August is always greeted with a sense of gratitude, for God had indeed given me a great gift in Iman, whose name, in Arabic, means "faith".
Soon, she will be 15, but this story is not about Iman. This one is about a man called Jeffrey Suah.
You see, just this past Monday, Jeffrey and his wife, Chan Wai Heng, came over to our office in Petaling Jaya. From one end of the editorial floor, I saw a couple waving energetically my way. At first, I could barely recognise them. They looked well and healthy — a far cry from four years ago.
Back then, the batik business operator from Bukit Kelisa in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, had lost almost everything he had when a fire razed his home. Jeffrey's losses included his house, business and a car. Both he and the wife were badly burned in the blaze. Their son, Hin Tin, died of injuries sustained in the tragedy.
Life couldn't mortally be more cripplingly cruel than that moment for them. I vividly remember that it was in August 2007, about two months after the fire, when the paper interviewed the couple.
I was going through the reporter's copy and a line in the story choked me with such intense sadness. Jeffrey, who was commuting to and from the Selayang Hospital to get medical treatment for the bad burns his wife and he had suffered, was a decisively broken man.
"I am this close to losing hope on continuing with life," the line, more or less, read. Nobody deserved to go through what they had to. And nobody should just sit on their behinds and watch their fellow man lose dignity and throw in the towel on life.
Definitely not The Paper That Cares.
First, we contacted the-then Health Minister, Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek, who immediately asked the hospital to waive medical charges for the couple. I vividly remember writing a front-page editorial asking Malaysians to come to the Suahs' aid and make Jeffrey's Merdeka wish come true — he just wanted to get his life back on track.
We wanted to get RM50,000 for him to buy new batik-making equipment to replace the one he lost in the fire and kick-start his life. The kind and generous among us earnestly responded, and within two weeks, we had a cheque ready for him.
FLASHBACK: The Paper That Cares' front-page editorial on Aug 29, 2007 that prompted readers to chip in RM50,000
I remember how Jeffrey, tears welling up, asked me how he could contribute back to The Malay Mail that day in Balai Berita in Kuala Lumpur (we were under the NSTP group then) when he came over to collect the cheque.
I told him he owed everybody who had helped him, albeit, just one thing: to never lose hope of life ever again. I also asked him if he could tell the story of never giving up to as many people he meets whenever he holds his batik-making demonstrations.
Jeffrey, at the recent meeting, says he has not stopped telling his story of hope since. "I have learned that there are people who will not allow other people to lose hope and I want to tell as many people as possible about my experience.
"I did not initially think that anyone would care but I had learned that there are many out there who refuse to allow their brothers or sisters to throw in the towel on life, no matter what life throws their way."
Jeffrey has done well. Fellow Malaysians: We, too, have done good. Merdeka dawns upon us yet again, and just like what we did for the Suahs, we should reconcile as a nation, forget our differences and work together to get through the multitude of challenges facing us.
Enough of politics. Forget the skeptics. Don't listen to the doomsayers. I say we should just focus on making things better for all of us. We can start by being more tolerant, understanding, loving, caring and helpful of each other.
On the same note, The Malay Mail will be launching our Care Fund on Aug 19. Many would remember that The Paper That Cares, which used to run The Malay Mail Charity Fund when we were under the NSTP group, had helped many needy cases. People like the Suahs.
We look forward to resuming working with all of you so that we can deliver more stories of hope. It will not be smooth-sailing all the way, but we just have to have iman.
Just in case you need convincing, just ask the Suahs...
YUSHAIMI YAHAYA is acting editor-in-chief for The Malay Mail. He has been in print journalism for 21 years, and harbours the hope of blogging. For now, banter with him at yushem@mmail.com.my.
The above article is indeed a testament of the kindred spirit that humankind shares - care for the needy. Every human has been endowed with the ability to care. We only need to make a choice to care!
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