On the last Friday of August, our Global Ehsan Relief Singapore team had our bimonthly Share A Meal distribution at Toa Payoh, where we distributed a total of 300 Nasi Lemak sets with Bandung. Our team was assisted by the volunteer in-charge, Mr Sulaiman, along with his dedicated volunteer team. It had been a while since we carried out our distribution at Toa Payoh – a town in the central district of Singapore – and the residents were grateful to see our team after quite a while.
“For today’s Share A Meal, the residents were grateful to have received the food, which consisted of a packet of Nasi Lemak and bandung. Today’s distribution is the most that we’ve carried out,” Mr Sulaiman said.
The community spirit over at Toa Payoh is strong, and we’ve personally witnessed it. For Mr Sulaiman, a committed resident who dedicates his time for his estate, he’s no stranger to all the residents.
“Over here in this estate, we have a Whatsapp group chat, so once the food has arrived, we’ll send a message to announce that the food is about to be distributed. Then the residents will slowly come down. If they’re late, they will hear the ‘lion’s voice’ and know that it’s time to come down,” Mr Sulaiman jovially told us.
It’s clear that the residents truly treasured volunteers like Mr Sulaiman.
For kidney patient and fellow Toa Payoh resident Mr Ali (not his real name), Mr Sulaiman is more than just a volunteer for the estate.
“I’m very blessed because I got to know Mr Sulaiman. He’s there to support me.
Ali (not his real name), Toa Payoh resident
“If there’s anything, he will ask me ‘do you want?’ If yes, he sends it to my house. I am a kidney patient and I have dialysis every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, thrice a week. He knows my condition and tells me, ‘you don’t have to come down, if there’s anything we will call you and if you want it, we will deliver it to you.’ This has been the case since COVID time, up till now. So I am very grateful that they are always willing to help the low-income individuals, those who have disabilities. We are thankful,” he expressed.
There are many lessons that we can learn from volunteers with a heart of gold like Mr Sulaiman.
“InsyaAllah, wherever we go, people will remember us and our good deeds. And through that, we can become friends.”
Mr Sulaiman, Volunteer in-charge of Toa Payoh
Mr Sulaiman shared: “For me, I have two principles; responsibility and honesty. Our intentions have to be clean and when we carry out charity work, we should not expect anything in return. That’s important. InsyaAllah, wherever we go, people will remember us and our good deeds. And through that, we can become friends.”
