Passion for the less fortunate
Saidatul Aini Jafri
A FEW months ago, the Welfare Department discovered that a baby boy had been in the care of a blind old woman.
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| HELPING the LESS FORTUNATE: Saidatol Aini Jafri (centre) at an assistance presentation programme early this year. |
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| RITE OF PASSAGE: A group of children at a mass circumcision held by the Batu Pahat Welfare Department last year. |
The woman, in her 60s, lived in a wooden shack. When our officers and I went to look at her case, we were moved by their deplorable condition.
I nearly shed tears as the woman staggered to find her way to the bathroom to bathe the baby. However, our investigations revealed a shocking truth behind the whole episode.
We discovered that the baby boy was in fact left by his father in the old woman’s care. The father had actually “abducted” his own child to spite his wife following a bitter argument between them.
Realising that the child was being used as a pawn to vent his frustration and anger, I immediately alerted the police and brought the case to the court so that the mother would be granted custody of the child.
We also recommended counselling therapy for the couple. Alhamdulillah (Thank God), the husband and wife have since reconciled and are now living a happy life.
That case is just among the many I have encountered since I took over the Batu Pahat Welfare office early last year.
The Welfare office here receives 20 to 30 new cases a day, which usually involves single mothers, chronic illnesses and neglected senior citizens.
Can you imagine the large cases making their way into our offices every month? Every day, my staff and I would work hard to ensure that each case lodged with us would be studied and taken care of.
Every month, there would be hundreds of new cases waiting to be looked into However, the department is facing a shortage of manpower compared with the number cases we have.
In this light, I have to rely on the Briged Kebajikan Perdana (Prime Welfare Brigade), which is the department’s wing of volunteers to locate and sort out the cases.
I am proud to say that the brigade has been a tremendous help. They even went to the ground to help register the disabled and find cases so that none of the needy or less fortunate are left behind.
As the one in charge of the department here, I am also holding several programmes for the public so that they can get to know the department better.
Recently, we held a carnival for the disabled where they could showcase their talent and skills. At the event, we also opened a registration booth for the disabled.
This way, the public can get to know and understand our work better.
I believe that the public should get acquainted with us so we can help any of their relatives who are terminally ill or disabled.
Last year, we held a national-level circumcision programme for children whose families are registered under the Welfare department.
As the cost of such surgery could be expensive elsewhere, we organise them for free. We also receive help, support and donations from the public.
Some provide gift hampers for the children, while a government agency like the Fire and Rescue Department provided the ritual shower for the kids before the circumcision.
Those are just a few of the programmes that we have slotted in for this year. We do this in the name of compassion to help the less fortunate.
• Saidatol Aini Jafri is the Batu Pahat Welfare Officer. She has been a officer with the department for 26 years.
• Interview by Syed Umar Ariff.
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