Sheer Poverty

Tonight, I follow my auntie to her tenants' flat to collect the rent. The tenant had owe her two month's of the rental, thus she was thinking to stop renting the house. It's a low cost flat unit, the rent was only RM 350+.

After we reach the place, the door gate is closed and the light is off. We thought the tenant might not be at home, anyway we knocked the door to try our luck. A woman answered our call and opened the door. The woman was carrying a baby, we found out that she is his wife. The husband had not yet come back from work. So my wife called his phone to find out when he would be back, he responded should be within 20 minutes.

So, we decided to go in the house and waits for him. Apparently the light was turned off previously to save utility bill. Inside the house, we have a casual chat with his wife, meanwhile scanning around the house. The dining room doesn't have even one single piece of furniture, this is best described by the Chinese proverb - 家徒四壁 (The house with only 4 walls). My auntie and my mother entered their bedroom too, and notice there is no bed, only a sofa, and yes, no mattress too. Only the cradle for the baby.

A short while later, the husband reached home. He gave this month rental to my auntie and ask for more grace period for the remaining debt. He said he just changed job (working as a crane operator), and can't earn more overtime because of the raining season. The couple are bumiputera came from Sabah state. He told us that his grandma is ailing sick, and only "tunggu hari saja" (waiting for the days only). He is now also fretting over how to get the money to buy the air ticket back.

As you can expect, nothing much we can do, and my auntie just urged him try his best to pay punctually next time. Well, it's not as if my auntie is so unsympathetic, but she herself was amputated because of cancer last time, not leading an abundant life too.

It's quite sad to know all this. Our country is really sick after 51 years of independence due to corruption, wastefulness and squandering. While I saw some people are being filthy rich, spending RM100K+ on a watch without blinking an eye, some are worrying their infant's next meal (As my wife told me, she didn't see any milk powder in the tenant's house). This has nothing to do with race, as I myself was once become the tuition teachers to the kids of a wealthy Malay banker. And I also know some Bumiputera Datuk, who are very well-to-do.

I urge the politician be honest to your own conscience, do something right for the people, and not only filling up your own greediness. Really, you can and you should make a difference in the history, and if you are religious, the mighty one will judge you at the other world too.