In the end, will anyone help you until you help yourself?
Throughout the pandemic, countless Malaysians have lost their jobs which has led to NGOs lending whatever support they can to these Malaysians. While most of them have definitely been suffering from not being able to get a proper job to struggling to find a meal for their families, a few Malaysians have been wondering if a small portion of this group have been taking NGOs for granted.
William Cheah runs a social enterprise founded in 2015 with the core goal of providing aid during disasters. While they were originally focused on flood disasters, they expanded to offering help in other aspects such as B40 aid during this pandemic. He took to his Facebook yesterday (13 June) to share how a Malaysian woman will never receive any more help from their organisation. Just a few minutes after his team dropped a rather comprehensive pack for her, she messaged him again asking when they will send her supplies.
A puzzled William asked for confirmation that she received the pack from his team to which she replied that she did. She then explained that she mistakenly messaged him thinking he was from another organisation.
Woman: Assalamualaikum, how about the help I asked that day ya?
William: I thought you’ve already received it?
Woman: Sorry, I thought it was not you as the package seems different
William: Hello, how many people are you asking for help? This is called being dishonest. There are many other people who need help.
When William confronted her, the woman dismissed him saying that it was her rezeki (blessings). He added that both husband and wife have not even taken any proactive steps to improve their situation despite having five children. The husband hasn’t even attended any of the job interviews William recommended.
This isn’t a unique issue and William said that yesterday itself, his team received three such requests. Some other “tips” these people use is to apply for help from the same address but different phone numbers. “Some I am sure applied to many many other organisations. If they can get two or three out of 10…I guess to them “itu rezeki mereka (it’s their blessings),” he said.
The care packs provided by the organization.
He added that due to people like this, requests take a long time to be processed as most of the time is spent on the vetting process which unfortunately is not viable at all times since they receive thousands of requests during the peak week of MCO.
William clarified that the people who cheat don’t consider the implications they have on another struggling family. In their organisation, if one family cheats, the whole housing area gets blacklisted which can sound unfair but unfortunately, they have no other options.
The basic content in the care pack.
Speaking to WORLD OF BUZZ, William said a piece of advice he would give to those wanting care packs, is to be upfront about their needs and to take into consideration that resources are limited.
“So when one family gets, there will be others who will be rejected. If you have already received, don’t try getting more unnecessarily. This aid is meant to lighten the load, [it’s] not meant to take over the responsibility of survival.”
Have you met any such greedy people before? Share with us your experience in the comments section!
