Universities are considered the final step before entering ‘real life’. It’s where students build dreams of getting a job and stability after they graduate, only to end up being thrifty with money due to added responsibilities of bills, loans and family. But how often do we think of those whose reality is already made up of counting every penny– to the point that they often don’t even have enough to eat?
In 2018, James Ho, founder of Yayasan Kebajikan Suria Permas JB, was informed of a UPM student gobbling down her food as if she had not eaten for days. They found out that she was only consuming one meal per day. James was surprised and upset that hunger was prevalent even at his alma mater. The foundation and UPM Student Affairs Department then conducted a survey and found that 5% of the student population is from the B40 group. This means that their families are already struggling to pay for their own meals at home, making it even more difficult to pay for their child’s meals at the university.
Together with the UPM Alumni Association, Yayasan Kebajikan Suria Permas JB allocated a budget of RM8 per student per day for lunch. The canteen contributes half of the amount out of goodwill. Nobody wants the students’ studies to be affected by hunger.
In addition, the foundation provides monthly financial aid to forty families struggling to make ends meet. James shared a story of how they helped a family by paying off the first month of their three-month overdue rent immediately after finding out about their story, as the family was at risk of being evicted and had nowhere else to go.
“How could I have not helped them?” questioned James, sharing another story of a family that had lived in their house without water and electricity for two years. The children of the family, eight of them, had never attended school as the parents could not afford transportation. After helping the family restore power and water, the foundation worked with NGO JEWEL to provide transportation allowance for six of the school-going children. They sourced a job that could pay the father RM1000 a month to financially place them on a better footing. However, another problem arose: as their children had never attended school, placing them in their age group academically did not go well. They are now thinking of ways to help them keep up with the syllabus, and not feel insignificant for being behind in their studies.
The foundation, established in 2012, does about “everything under the sun for humanity,” said James, who added that they participate in activities like collecting unused (but good) items, counselling, job placements for refugees, donating medical equipment to hospitals, and have also provided spectacles, and Back To School items to those who need it.
“We become successful by what we get, we become happy by what we give. Don’t get the two confused.”
