PETALING JAYA, Dec 16 — The Covid-19 pandemic has taken its toll on Malaysians all around the country.
This is especially so for those who are marginalised and underprivileged communities like those in children’s homes and old folks homes, as donations and aid have decreased this year due to the pandemic.
With Christmas right around the corner, Praise Emmanuel Children’s Home manager Christopher Michael is hoping that the public will come forward to support his home, especially during the festive period.
“It’s been a quieter year for Christmas. We aren’t really allowed to have visitors and people are also a little afraid to visit the kids or to go out,” said Michael in an interview with Malay Mail.
“To be very frank, our income has also dropped very much because of the pandemic and with fewer people coming by. Cash donations are not as much as you would expect.”
The home was established in 2004 and currently houses six children aged nine to 16.
Michael said that he had to dip into reserves since the beginning of the first movement control order, with monthly expenses coming up to around RM14,000, and hopes that conditions will improve during the season of giving.
“People have been helping us by donating groceries but in terms of cash, we’ve not been receiving as much from our donors because everyone has been having a tough time.”
He added that he was extremely grateful for all the aid they have received thus far.
Rumah Hope manager Jacob Mathew echoed Michael’s statement as he said that donations paled in comparison to previous years.
“There hasn’t been as much aid this year. One of the things that hit us the most was the decrease in the number of donations and visitors coming to the home due to the pandemic,” said Mathew
“When people come to the home and see the children, they want to help. But when they can’t come and actually see everything, it’s difficult for them to want to contribute.”
Rumah Hope was established in 1994 and is currently located in Paramount Garden, housing a total of 54 children.
Mathew said, however, that the festive period has been a little merrier compared to the past few months with some caring Malaysians trying to brighten the holiday season for the kids.
“We aren’t allowed to have many visitors, but we had a few who came by with a Santa Claus and sang a few songs. Some even asked the kids to prepare a wishlist of gifts they wanted and they tried to get it for them.
“It was definitely something fun for the kids to enjoy during this tough year, but that’s all so far.”
Mathew added that it has been difficult to continue running the home without the support of the public, as it takes an average RM30,000 to RM35,000 per month to pay the salaries of the 12 full-time employees, and to pay for other bills and expenses.
“Around the month of April we were only getting around RM700 or so a month and that made it really difficult for us to manage but we were lucky that the Selangor Welfare Department stepped in to help us stay afloat during that time,” he said.
He said that the home has been coping by pushing one of its fundraising initiatives called the Rumah Hope Calendar Project, as they sell their in-house calendars at a minimum of RM10.
The Rumah Hope calendars are filled with a compilation of the children’s art and were designed by one of the kids who recently completed a course in graphic design at Sunway University.
Jonathan Foo, the founder of the Amazing Grace Care Home in Kuala Lumpur, said that Christmas has also been a little underwhelming this year.
“We just had a small internal party at home with our staff and the residents. We aren’t really allowed to have any visitors because our residents are in the high-risk category, so we are not able to really do much to celebrate this year,” he said.
Foo set up the home for senior citizens six years ago with his wife in Taman Tan Yew Lai and currently houses 23 residents.
He added that there have also been fewer people coming forward to donate items or spread cheer with Christmas carolling at the home since the pandemic hit.
“Like everyone else, we are also under the radar of the pandemic. It was better in previous years but there just aren’t as many people donating now.”
