When I arrived at the hall where they assigned a Chow Kit kid to each chaperon, my name had already been called. I missed the first child that was assigned to me. It’s fate that I get to meet this other little girl called Roziah.
Roziah was a quiet girl. She’s shy but she would not look or run away when I looked her into her eyes. If I smile with her long enough, her subtleness would follow by a sweet smile that could melt away everyone’s heart. For the whole night, I enjoyed the company of this sweet little friend from Chow Kit.
I bend down to introduce myself to Roziah. She’s petite and was about 120cm tall. I could feel her bony body as I hugged and ushered her throughout the night, when all Sunway volunteers celebrated Raya Cheer with her and her friends of the same neighbourhood.
‘R_o_z_i_a_h” She spelled out her name for me. She also told me that she’s in darjah satu, and she’s 10 year old this year. Someone later told me that she might have been left out in classes. She did not coped well in school.
“Roziah…kalau empat tambah dengan 3, apa nombor yang kita akan dapat?” Roziah didn’t react well to my math challenge. She rolled her eyes and stared into the right in search for an answer or a way out. “Cuba kira dengan jejari awak”. Cheerfully, she raised her ten little fingers that were covered under her oversized shirt with long sleeves. “Lapan!” Roziah proudly shouted out the wrong answer. I responded with a bigger smile and we moved on with our shopping.
Waiting to make payment was taking too long that evening. We sat on the floor to wait for the queue to move. Meanwhile, some other kids were being interviewed by the media crew. Roziah being a reserved girl was not picked on. We sat there watching the other cheerful kids in front of us talking to the camera and microphone. Between her and I, we shared some stories of our own, stretches of silence, more eye contacts and warm smiles. We were both contented.
“Roziah ada puasa tak?” I asked her in my broken Bahasa Malaysia. She noded. “Sebentar lagi, kita berbuka puasa bersama-sama ya?” She smiled. I didn’t really fast for I am not a Muslim, but that day I ate poorly and only drank a can of 100plus, I was starving already by 630pm. This little girl must have been starving too, I assumed but found no sign of it.
We finally heard the Aazan. A Muslim Sunwayian passed us each a Kurma and signaled our kids to eat those dates. Now, we are all seated in the luxurious hotel hall, surrounded by mountains of good food. I being a dietitian and a mom, watched how this little girl eats. She ate half a plate of potato chips, about 5 sticks of satay, a small glass of syrup bandung, and ice kacang that has cincau (only). Her killer smiles rejected all my urges for her to take some corn, vegetables, shrimp etc. She was contented. She crossed her legs and rested on the chair, while all of us were still going back for the third and fourth rounds.
The Raya Cheer event reached the highlight as the children go on stage to get their duit Raya, tikar sembayang and more goodies. The clown with balloons and mascots who wore baju Melayu and baju Kurung brought in even more cheers among the children. Lightened up, even my sweet subtle Roziah was.
The emcee announced the end of the event. It was about 9:45pm. We snapped a picture. I saw Roziah carried her three huge bags of goodies up to the giant bus. She turned swiftly to say “Terima kasih!” to me.
Tears filled my shallow eyes. I will always wonder what's happening to this little girl who lives in Chow Kit.
"Dear girl, please don't stay at where you are, move on ya?! Selamat Hari Raya! Maaf zahir dan batin"
Roziah was a quiet girl. She’s shy but she would not look or run away when I looked her into her eyes. If I smile with her long enough, her subtleness would follow by a sweet smile that could melt away everyone’s heart. For the whole night, I enjoyed the company of this sweet little friend from Chow Kit.
I bend down to introduce myself to Roziah. She’s petite and was about 120cm tall. I could feel her bony body as I hugged and ushered her throughout the night, when all Sunway volunteers celebrated Raya Cheer with her and her friends of the same neighbourhood.
‘R_o_z_i_a_h” She spelled out her name for me. She also told me that she’s in darjah satu, and she’s 10 year old this year. Someone later told me that she might have been left out in classes. She did not coped well in school.
“Roziah…kalau empat tambah dengan 3, apa nombor yang kita akan dapat?” Roziah didn’t react well to my math challenge. She rolled her eyes and stared into the right in search for an answer or a way out. “Cuba kira dengan jejari awak”. Cheerfully, she raised her ten little fingers that were covered under her oversized shirt with long sleeves. “Lapan!” Roziah proudly shouted out the wrong answer. I responded with a bigger smile and we moved on with our shopping.
Waiting to make payment was taking too long that evening. We sat on the floor to wait for the queue to move. Meanwhile, some other kids were being interviewed by the media crew. Roziah being a reserved girl was not picked on. We sat there watching the other cheerful kids in front of us talking to the camera and microphone. Between her and I, we shared some stories of our own, stretches of silence, more eye contacts and warm smiles. We were both contented.
“Roziah ada puasa tak?” I asked her in my broken Bahasa Malaysia. She noded. “Sebentar lagi, kita berbuka puasa bersama-sama ya?” She smiled. I didn’t really fast for I am not a Muslim, but that day I ate poorly and only drank a can of 100plus, I was starving already by 630pm. This little girl must have been starving too, I assumed but found no sign of it.
We finally heard the Aazan. A Muslim Sunwayian passed us each a Kurma and signaled our kids to eat those dates. Now, we are all seated in the luxurious hotel hall, surrounded by mountains of good food. I being a dietitian and a mom, watched how this little girl eats. She ate half a plate of potato chips, about 5 sticks of satay, a small glass of syrup bandung, and ice kacang that has cincau (only). Her killer smiles rejected all my urges for her to take some corn, vegetables, shrimp etc. She was contented. She crossed her legs and rested on the chair, while all of us were still going back for the third and fourth rounds.
The Raya Cheer event reached the highlight as the children go on stage to get their duit Raya, tikar sembayang and more goodies. The clown with balloons and mascots who wore baju Melayu and baju Kurung brought in even more cheers among the children. Lightened up, even my sweet subtle Roziah was.
The emcee announced the end of the event. It was about 9:45pm. We snapped a picture. I saw Roziah carried her three huge bags of goodies up to the giant bus. She turned swiftly to say “Terima kasih!” to me.
Tears filled my shallow eyes. I will always wonder what's happening to this little girl who lives in Chow Kit.
"Dear girl, please don't stay at where you are, move on ya?! Selamat Hari Raya! Maaf zahir dan batin"
This post was first publshed on 19/07/2014
http://www.babycenter.com.my/thread/1016575/the-little-girl-from-chow-kit#ixzz45V1XQ9WV
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