M'sian City Life #14: This Uncle And His Elderly Mum Collect 'Rubbish' To Make Ends Meet

"I got to know that Uncle Keong and his elderly mother have spent their nights collecting recyclable items around Bandar Baru Kampar area for the last few years, just to earn a living," said Jay Ren.

“Uncle Keong has six children, including a baby who is adopted from his relative. His children are between the age of five to 12 years old,” he added.

Uncle Keong apparently collects recyclable items at odd hours at it allows him to take care of his children and also to avoid facing any 'competition' from other scavengers.

Jay Ren, who is currently studying at UTAR Kampar, was determined to lend a helping hand to Uncle Keong after hearing his story but unfortunately lost contact with him.

This incident happened back in November 2015.

"It was four in the morning when I saw two familiar faces collecting items from a rubbish dump. I went closer and found Uncle Keong and his mother collecting various recyclable items from the dirty and smelly rubbish dump. I bought him a can of Milo which he refused to accept at first, but after much persuasion, he gave in."

"I also offered to treat him and his mother a meal at Ghany Corner (a restaurant in Kampar) but they refused, saying that they are full and thanked me for the offer."

"I stood by while they continued collecting the "rubbish", and spent the next couple of minutes speaking to them. The short conversation with them broke my heart."

"Uncle Keong had an elder brother who used to work as a mechanic and helped out the house living expenses. Unfortunately, in 1992, his brother died in an explosion during work while he was trying to pump gas into a client’s car in Kampar. Following the tragic incident, the company compensated the family with a house," Jay Ren said.

"At that very moment when his brother died, Uncle Keong was so hopeless and wanted to commit suicide but someone offered him a job at an electronic factory. There, he met a lady, who is now his wife, who was willing to share every single part of his life and he is grateful that his parents-in-law never looked down on him."

However, Jay Ren was told that Uncle Keong lost his job a few years ago after the factory shut down. Since then, he has been surviving by collecting recyclable items that he sells for around RM20 to RM30, daily.

Uncle Keong’s mother used to earn a living by helping students clean up their rooms, but in the recent years, many have stopped hiring her due to her age.

“Young man, you are a student. You have a bright future. When you graduate in the future, you will earn a lot of money. You do not have to worry about us.

Now aunty still can walk and move around, so I do not want to be treated like an old patient waiting for someone to spoon feed me. As long as I am able to walk, I will accompany my son to work and earn an honest living," said Uncle Keong's mother to Jay Ren in Cantonese.

"Uncle Keong refused to accept any money that I offered, saying that they have sufficient supply of food to survive the day. They said that the family has received some monetary assistance from the government and kind Samaritans have been providing them with food regularly," added Jay Ren.

However, Uncle Keong explained that the monetary assistance is only enough to cover the expenses of the whole family because of their frugal lifestyle but admitted that he has to work extra hard since the prices of milk powder and baby diapers have been increasing.

Many NGOs and student societies have approached Uncle Keong personally to help him in their own ways, ever since Jay Ren's post went viral on Facebook. Uncle Keong has been receiving calls consistently, with some even raising funds and donating groceries and money.

Wanting to express his gratitude, Uncle Keong called up Jay Ren and said, "Boy, I sincerely thank you for helping me, because I have received numerous calls calling me to pick up recyclable items. I want to be honest to you and share about my life, so that in the future I will have the courage to talk to you because I treasure this friendship with you."

Financial help was also extended to Uncle Keong's family as 'We Love We Care We Share', a non-profit organisation based in Kuala Lumpur, paid a visit to Uncle Keong in Kampar. The kind team, paid all of Uncle Keong's children's school fees for the year and took the hardworking man out for a meal.

Jay Ren's visits to Uncle Keong and his posts on Facebook about it have raised a lot of awareness and help to the family in need. What's interesting is that, Jay Ren spoke about how he wasn't always so passionate about helping out others.

"I used to only do things that will get me money because I am from a middle-class family, whereby both of my parents are forced to work, even at the age of 48 and 60, respectively to take care of the family's expenses."

"I wanted to ease their burdens and I used to think of ways to earn more money during my college days."

"I was diagnosed with having a cavernous malformation in my brain. This is a type of sickness that would cause internal bleeding or hemorrhage to occur on the right part of my brain. The only cure is to surgically remove it."

"Since then, I have told myself that there is no purpose in having so much money without even having the chance to spend it in the future. It was then, that I started to come out with ideas to help people who are in need, especially those who cannot help themselves."

"It was by doing this that I found back the happiness that was missing from my life. I felt an unexplained amount of satisfaction that money can’t possibly buy, when Uncle Keong told me that his burdens have been reduced a lot."

"This is why I want to influence more people, more friends to share my new-found passion of helping others. Don’t just wonder what the society can give us but also think of ways to contribute to the society and country."

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