Mother’s plea for Hari Raya help answered
MELAKA: A desperate 37-year-old mother sent out an SOS on her Facebook and her MP came a-knocking with financial aid.
Refina Ismail posted the message on Monday asking for new attire for her five children, unable to afford any preparations with her husband’s meagre salary.
She was surprised when Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong was among the first to respond.
Khoo handed over cash to Refina at their home yesterday and arranged for a buka puasa dinner at Bayou Lagoon Park Resort at Bukit Katil for the whole family.
He said it was heart-rending to see her having to appeal for a happy celebration for her children.
“Welfare Department officers will register Refina for monthly cash aid,” he said.
Refina said she was at her wits’ end and had no choice but to highlight her plight.
She said her husband Osman Albani, 42, is an odd job worker who earns RM800 a month.
Besides school expenses, part of the salary covers their monthly house rental of RM450.
The remaining money was used to cover travelling expenses to Kuala Lumpur for the past few months, as their youngest child, fivemonth-old Natasha, had to undergo check-ups at the National Heart Institute for a hole in the heart.
Refina said their older children, Mohd Ridzwan, 11, Nur Ain Faharah, nine, Mohd Helmi, seven, Mohd Khalid, four, had been persistently asking for festive clothes and shoes since the start of Ramadan.
“They hear stories of their classmates buying Hari Raya items and kept pestering us for new attire.
“But we don’t have the money to buy all of them new sets of clothing,” she said.
Refina said it would be the first time for her family to break fast at a hotel and she thanked the resort’s CEO, Datuk Marco Seow, for making the special arrangement.