Friday, September 17, 2010

For Ah Ling, life has just begun

MUAR: An 11-year-old girl who has never been to school due to poverty took a giant step forward on Wednesday.



MCA councillors from the Muar Municipal Council enrolled Toh Bak Tui @ Ah Ling into SJK (C) Pu Nan in Bukit Bakri and gave aid to her family.



Ah Ling has been staying with her mother, Zarah Kechot, 54, who is an Orang Asli of Jakun descent, in a rented wooden hut in Jalan Hashim, here.



Zarah earns RM150 a month selling recyclable materials, which are used to pay for the RM60 rent and to feed the family.



She has been married twice but both husbands have since died.



She has three children from her first marriage to Chua Peng Chee, a lorry driver.



She later married Toh Poh Choi @ To Ba Chik, a taxi driver, and they have a girl.



Zarah is unable to send Ah Ling to school due to poverty while she has lost contact with most of her other children, although her second son, who is currently working in Singapore, sent her RM400 during Chinese New Year last year.



"Ah Ling has a dog and it has been her closest companion for the past six years. She found it when it was a sick puppy and nursed it back to health.



"It is now her best friend," said Zarah.



The plight of the family touched the hearts of the MCA Muar municipal councillors.



Three of them -- Helen Fong Soh Lan, Goh Kim Huat and Lim Siew Chow -- visited the family recently and donated clothes, bed and mattress, foodstuff and other necessities.



The councillors also enrolled Ah Ling, who is mentally disabled, into the school on Wednesday.



Fong said Ah Ling was initially afraid to go to the school but after much persuasion, she put on her school uniform and went to school, where she made friends of her same age.



Fong said she would help Zarah find a job and a new house.



SJK (C) Pu Nan assistant headmaster Ng Peng Seng said Ah Ling adapted well to the new environment and has learned how to draw.



Read more: For Ah Ling, life has just begun http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/10sjkun/Article#ixzz0zmunYvBA

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