KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — What started with sympathy for abandoned senior citizens after their treatment at hospitals has led a former Serdang Hospital nursing sister to spend thousands of ringgit to look after them in the last four years.

Initially Muji Sulaiman, 55, took in several old patients to look after them at her own house in Puchong Perdana before deciding to set up Al-Ikhlas Old Folk Care and Treatment Home (Rumah al-Ikhlas) at Kampung Pulau Meranti, Puchong, Selangor. 

“When I was working at the Serdang Hospital I found many senior citizens abandoned by their families, so I took the initiative to bring them back to my house to take care of them.       

“However after almost four years, the number of abandoned patients increased and my house could no longer accommodate them,” she told Bernama.

This led Muji to look for a bigger premises to place the senior citizens in a more conducive environment.

The prayers of the single mother to look for a better venue was answered when she was offered a mosque that was not used, in Kampung Pulau Meranti to continue caring for the aged patients who have nowhere to go.     

Muji then built the home with her own savings and spent about RM40,000 a month to maintain Rumah Al-Ikhlas.

The amount is used to fund the cost of food, disposable diapers and medicine for about 50 inmates aged between 60 and 90.    

“Most of the senior citizens were brought from hospitals and they have various health problems such as diabetes, senile, stroke and kidney failure,” said Muji who is assisted by 14 workers to run the home. 

Despite being burdened by the high maintenance cost, she is determined to provide care and treatment to the abandoned aged people until their final moments.

In fact, she also took care of the cost of burial when her patients passed away. 

“I will take care of them until I run out of my last sen as there is nothing in comparison to the sacrifice they have given to this world,” said Muji, who truly practices the principle of nursing. 

Asked how she could manage the home after her early retirement as a nurse, Muji said the home is financed by earnings from her restaurant at the Puchong Gateway. 

She hoped her effort to look after abandoned senior citizens would receive support and be emulated by various parties. 

“I hope more such senior citizen homes will be set up as treatment centres and not as a business. There are blessings in looking after these abandoned people,” she said. — Bernama