This year’s Baju Raya Project makes use of social media in a positive way, writes Hanna Sheikh Mokhtar.
A WOMAN on a mission. That’s Aida Suraya Daud who spreads cheer among the underprivileged and unfortunate through her charity work.
Born and bred in Semenyih, Selangor, the plucky young woman has, to date, founded three charity programmes, and organised more than 30 charity events, involving more than a thousand volunteers.
• THE BEGINNING
Her first charity organisation, TwtupKaseh was up and running in 2011 on Twitter. Under this programme, Aida raised RM20,000 in two weeks for a charitable home in Kampung Melayu Subang in Shah Alam.
In 2013, she began the Baju Raya Charity Project. She and her volunteer friends collected 2,000 new and used Raya clothes and distributed them to single mothers, orphans and the less fortunate in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Pahang.
Since then, the Baju Raya Project has grown tremendously in size as more and more people are aware of it.
Last year, Aida had to take a back seat as she went back to her studies but the project was continued by her friends. This year, newly returned from Aberdeen, in the United Kingdom after completing a Master’s degree in Business Administration, Aida has simply picked up where she left off.
• MOTIVATING FACTOR
Ever since she was in school, Aida has had a passion for writing and blogging. Adventurous by nature, she is not afraid to try new things.
Her love of discovering new things led her to set up a blog site where she writes with flair on things that interests her.
Aida is active on Twitter and Facebook as well. After a while, she began to wonder if she could use social media to do good things. “It is well-known that social media has been sorely misused and has a bad reputation for being used as a platform to spread rumours and lies,” said Aida.
“I wanted to dispel that perception by showing that social media can be used to do good things instead.”
So the former mechanical engineer used her Twitter account to blast out her project to collect money for the poor during Ramadan, receiving responses beyond her expectations. This prompted her to try out another project, that of collecting used or new Raya clothes for those who cannot afford to buy them.
• ACHIEVING GOALS
Aida is happy that her initiatives have been well-received and that she has achieved her aim to get users of social media to contribute towards society in a positive way. When she first thought of the project, she wanted to inspire other social media users, especially youngsters, to reach out and become a community that does good things for society.
“I really feel strongly about changing public perception on social media usage. I want my friends and I to be closer in achieving our common cause, and to inspire other social media users to do the same,” she said.
• CURRENT INITIATIVE
Unlike previous years, where the drop-off points for the Raya clothes were at the surau or mosques in the Klang Valley, this year the organisers worked with Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang to utilise the Experimental Theatre as the collection venue.
As many as 200 volunteers were there from 8.30am to receive the donated clothes and begin sorting and packing work. The theatre was abuzz with the sound of the volunteers’ friendly banter as they went about doing their work.
What struck me as amazing was the systematic manner the donated clothes and food were processed. The volunteers, mainly women, were seated in rows and columns throughout the hall. As the clothes were processed, they are sorted according to type of clothes (baju kurung, jubah, baju melayu, tops, etc.) and size. At the end of the conveyor system, the clothes were packed into plastic bags already labelled with its content (type of clothes, size and quantity).
With the sheer amount of clothes, it seemed like an impossible task to sort and pack them by the end of the day, but the tireless volunteers had never failed to make this happen.
Just like in previous years, the clothes in the plastic bags were already packed at four in the afternoon, and were quickly transferred to trucks and cars belonging to the volunteers. Then off they went to send the clothes to the intended recipients.
“My father is an imam (clergyman), so he has quite a bit of knowledge about the unfortunate people and where they are. We also work with Jabatan Agama Islam to identify the recipients,” said Aida.
This year, the Baju Raya Project also included the 5221 initiative and a Kuih Raya donation. In the 5221 initiative, the public is encouraged to donate the following food items: Rice, flour, sugar and tinned milk. The organisers will then pack 5kg of rice, 2kg of flour, 2kg of sugar and one tin of milk (hence the name 5221 initiative) together to be given to one recipient.
• LUCKY RECIPIENTS
Among the recipients of the Baju Raya Project this year are the people around the Semenyih Mosque, Maahad Tahfiz Al Quran (religious school) and Rumah Anak-Anak Yatim Al Sagoff, Rumah Tumpangan (shelter) & Sekolah Anak-Anak Yatim & Miskin Sg. Pinang, Klang, Pertubuhan Kebajikan Baitul Kasih, Keramat, Pertubuhan Kebajikan Raudhatul Baiduri, Dengkil, single mothers under Pertubuhan Kebajikan Al-Firdausi, and the Rohingya refugees under the Mycare organisation.
“It is my hope that all goes well whenever we carry out the Baju Raya Project and that we achieve our targets,” said Aida. “All these cannot be achieved without help from the donors and volunteers, so I am really grateful that we live in a country full of generous people.”
Those interested in donating, please visit Facebook/ Twitter/ Instagram at BajuRayaProject or get in touch with the organisers through bajurayaproject@gmail.com