Visit to PERNIM @ Kampung Cheras Baru (17th August 2007)

Salam..

This semester I am taking Methods of Da'wah under the supervision of Madam Saodah. Madam Saodah happens to be a jet-setting lecturer/theologian I must say; she has travelled to many places all over the globe as a missionary.. among them are the Vatican City in Rome where she met the Pope, Uzbekistan for some Da'wah Conference, Turkey, Egypt etc. So for her students, she wants us to have an outdoor project with any Da'wah theme. My group.. Group 5 (Ok we did not bother to make it sound any more creative) chose "The Role of the REAL Da'ie: To Remove the Social Stigma" as the topic of our project. We want to focus that the real missionary or Da'ie should be able to mingle with people from all walks of life without looking down at their religious backgrounds. Especially those who have made mistakes in the past and struggling to be accepted in life.. instead of ignoring them or neglecting them, we should befriend them in order to guide them back to the right path.

Thus we initiated our research by visiting PERNIM, a shelter home for the HIV patients' children. It is admitted that most members of society have this certain fear of coming near to the children, due to the fear that they might get infected by the deadly virus from mingling with this children. That is the social stigma which needed to be erased. We interviewed the founder of PERNIM,Puan Hajah Norlina or as she preferred to be referred as Mama, to discover how she attained the courage to protect and raise these unfortunate but innocent children.

G5: PERNIM was previously located in Ampang right?

M: Yes, alhamdulillah He has given me a fortune now I have a bigger home for the children.

G5: How many are there living in PERNIM?

M: 40. The eldest is 17. The youngest is Nurul, the newborn baby.

G5: Are all of them HIV patients?

M: (Smiling) Not all but only 4 of them. Most of them are the children of the patients. People always have the misconception that if the parents are infected by HIV then the children would be too. That is wrong. That is why I put up on the signboard that this is a shelter home for the children of the HIV patients, not the shelter home for the patients. Unfortunately most people still do not understand.

G5: Besides being the principle here what else do you do?

M: I convey motivational talks at various places. Or participate in HIV Awareness Campaigns exhibitions. But most of the time I would prefer to spend my time at home (PERNIM) with my children.

G5: What do you expect from visitors?

M: I wish that whenever I am not around just please take care of these children. Tidy up the house, bathe the children, change their diapers. There are many of them here so please cover up the weaknesses of this home. I do not want people to sympathize or just merely feel sorry when they come here. I do not want them to contribute because they sympathize but because they are concern about these children's living, their concern towards the religion as well as their role as members of society. If you help them, insya Allah (God willing) you will be rewarded by Allah.

G5: What are your methods in looking after these children?

M: I am very strict with them. I am very concern about discipline and self cleanliness. That is because I am a mother! (laughing) I want the social status of these children to be elevated even higher than those whom are supposed to be more fortunate than them. I do not like to look at these children in untidy attire.

I admit I hit my children. I would not even mind if the visitors hit them as long as its for the betterment of them. When I am strict I would be very serious. But if the child does something good, I will treat him like a Queen or King. I will give him the best treatment. But if he is a naughty child, a stubborn child, I will punish him. I give you the best treatment in life, so you must be a good child.

When I punish my children I would punish them on the spot, do not delay or else they would forget about their mistake. However when they are older I would be their friend. I would knock on their door whenever I want to enter their room, ask for their permission when I want to use their things. If we want to ber respected, we have to respect them. I want to give these children a chance to see there is light in life by the 'Whitening' process. From a dark past, they will have a bright future. From not educated, they will be educated.

G5: What about their education?


M: I am very concern about their education. They go for Al-Quran recital everyday. Taekwando lessons once in a fortnight. They are also sent to tuition classes, some of them are even sent to KUMON. Just for tuition alone I spend RM5000 monthly. Twice a week around 9am they will have Quran memorization sessions. I do not want them to only know how to recite the Quran but also memorize them. I plan to have these children learn how to play golf. I desire for anything that the elite class society does, these kids are not left out. This is because the status of these children is actually noble and high. It is us who always look down at them. Degrading them. I want to make my dreams to change this perception as a reality. Not only to remain as spoken dreams.


G5: That must cost a lot. How do you manage the expenses?

M: It is undeniable that I have to spend a lot for all these. However I know all of these are for my children so I would not lose anything. My jewellery were sold, house was pawned and car was auctioned. But we never knew that whenever we dare to do something which we think is right, Allah would give us better things in return. In 3 years time, I managed to buy a van and 3 cars. I lost one, but I got another 4. We just have to be courageous. If we are fearful, easily give up, we will be suffering a huge loss. The child came without planned. If we do not grab the opportunity we will lose. It is a huge responsibility but I do not want to lose. I am not pretending in executing what I do, this is my passion and it is my dream to provide these children with a better life.

G5: How can people visit PERNIM?

M: I do not make any rules to restrictanyone from visiting. As in most shelters or orphanages, one must write a letter to inform or even make registrations, but not at PERNIM. PERNIM is open 24 hours a day. You are welcome to visit as long as you like. No restrictions at all. No formalities to be done. Just please do not allow this home to be in a mess. If you come, please help. Like I said above. Do not just sympathize but do not take action.

G5: Do you receive any help or contribution from Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM/Society's Welfare Body) ?

M: Alhamdulillah I always receive help from JKM but not financially but through morale support. Whenever they receive new cases, they would give them to me for me to study. They give me work, in a way I am helping them, but in another way I will better myself in managing cases because only through cases that I could study. I do not care if I have to lose money or property, or to be insulted by the society as long as I could learn. Only by being involved with it we can be stronger. Or else we cannot improve ourselves in solving these problems because all cases are different.

One example is the case of the newborn baby just now, her name is Nurul Syuhada. This is where a couple is trying to cover up her real identity. I am managing her case currently. On her shoulder, there is no BCG injection mark. I assume that she was born in a house, not in a clinic nor hospital. This is the letter from JKM and this is the police report which was made on the 8th of August 2007. The police report stated that on August 5th, the complainant stated that "Around 9am whileI was at home, an Indonesian woman came to her house and gave her baby without any document. Then the woman did not claim her baby back. I sent this baby to my aunt because I could not afford to look after her. I have tried to search for the mother but I was told by her friend that she has returned to Indonesia. I am here to make a police report and to make a birth certificate."

Here is the report of the aunt which stated that she received the baby on August 1st which was 5 days earlier than the day where the baby came to the woman. It shows that this is a scam. And it is illogical for you to accept a baby without any document for you to take care of. I do not believe the story, I assume that this is the baby of the complainant herself. Yesterday her aunt sent this baby to us, I think that she is afraid that the baby might be infected by HIV. But it is still uncertain that the baby is infected yet.

G5: How can we make sure that she in infected or not?

M: She is not even 6 months old yet, so her antibody is still freshly blended with the mother's blood. Only when she is 2 we can determine whether she is infected or not. It would be a loss if we judge a child before even giving him a chance. Just like Ali in that photo (pointing to a portrait), I had him when he was 2 months old. He was detected with HIV twice, but later months he was confirmed to be free from HIV entirely. When the mother knew from the newspaper, she claimed for the child back. No way I would give him back to her, if you can dump your baby before, it's not impossible that you can do it again. Further more, your boyfriend is a drug addict. I would not trust her.

G5: Are all these children brought to you by JKM alone?

M: They are from many sources. Some are from JKM. Some are brought by their relatives. There are those, after a couple of days being sent to PERNIM, the mother commited suicide by hanging herself. There are many stories. For example if this baby is going to be sent to the immigration, thus it would involve the Indonesian Embassy where things would get more complicated.


G5: How did you get involve to be active in the welfare field?

M: It was initiated by my late mother. She was an orphan herself thus she loved to help others. As her child of course I would copy her. It is a norm that you will take example of the things your mother does. As for me, Allah has given me a little extra of fortune, thus I can contribute for these children.


G5: Was not there anyone who was going against your intention?

M: The objection that I had from my family members and society was too strong. But because I am so stubborn I managed to do what I want. The gift I had was this enemy of mine (laughing looking at her husband). He was my enemy because he was the one whom objected the hardest until we did not speak to each other. But because I am his wife, although he did not agree, he still loves me thus he would give up going against me. Finally he became my biggest supporter. Yes in a marriage, you want privacy. We would wish to use our salary for our own children, but by helping others, Allah would reward us with more.


G5: When were you really determine to initiate a welfare shelter home?

M: At first I registered one by one under the Foster Child Certificate. All of them are my foster children and they are protected by that certificate. They are not merely regarded as inhabitants of PERNIM but they are my children and I have more than 30 of them. In PERNIM, there are 40 of us including 7 of my own biological children and nannies. I also recruited my neighbour to be like me, by taking care of her nephews and nieces together with the children here.

G5: How many nannies are there here?
M: Only 2! (laughing) But together with my neighbours, you can say that there are 2 pairs of parents here.

G5: What was your job before you started PERNIM?

M: I was a receptionist at Ampang Puteri Hospital for 2 years. After I quit, I started to do food catering. With the money I saved from catering I initiated PERNIM.

G5: What kind of social stigma do the children from PERNIM have to face?

M: Too many negative reactions to mention. There are those who come and visit but felt scared to drink the drinks that we serve. Some return home wanting to bathe as soon as possible, or when they shake hands with us they just cannot wait to wash their hands. Same goes when I send them for tuition classes the teachers refuse to accept them as students. Profusely I inform that these children are not patients of HIV but sometimes the parents of other students would not budge from their misconception, and same goes with the teachers. The social stigma is too intense that is why I want to upgrade their position in the society so they would be better than those who have insulted them.

G5: Are Malays only live here? What about their nationality?

M: All are Malays from Malaysia and Indonesia. I am not choosy. Just who come by to live here, anyone, I will accept. It is not easy to do what I am doing but the pressure from society forces me to be strong and go on. What hurts my feelings sometimes is when I see that usually the Christians are those who are more willing to take care of these kids from the slums. That is because it is a way for them to add their followers. This is a jihad, a fight. A fight for us to make more people embrace Islam. However if we are careless, if we act like we do not care, more Muslims could become apostates. The best target group is them from HIV, it is because their religious foundation is too weak, added up by their desperate circumstances, they are more likely to let go faith.

There are many sad stories I have encountered. A girl here, she is only 6. Both her parents are patients of HIV Positive. Her mother is only 24 but she is already a mother of 3. The father wanted to have a new wife so he divorced her at the parking lot with triple talaq. After 3 months, the father divorced the new wife and wanted to return to her. As a wife who is always in love with the husband, she accepted him back although they cannot perform the akad nikah yet. So now they live with each other out of wedlock, and now she is pregnant with the fourth baby. It is so depressing to know, that the 3 children are legitimate but the fourth is not.



G5: What is your hope and advice for the youth out there?
M: Firstly I hope for my children to be humble but do not feel low about themselves. I want them to go through their lives with high self-esteem. I hope that they will be successful in education. To all of you I hope that you always do something which is not only for the worldly usage but also for the Hereafter. Because not necessarily when you are successful in education that would mean you would become a successful human as well. Alhamdulillah you all managed to be in the university, but I hope that you would always stay humble. Maybe you might be proud of your Degree, but if you do not have a humane heart, than you would be nothing in the eyes of other humans. If you are humane, then you would be a real successful human.

It would be pointless to be educated but your heart is astray; becoming an apostate, pregnant of an illegitimate baby or being infected by HIV. There was a case where the father was a repected person in a corporate company, but he was a homosexual and he infected the wife and the child with HIV. It would be meaningless. I am sad that many of our children these days have became orphans before the death of their parents. It is either they pamper their children extremely or just neglect them entirely. And for the children that I care and love, I am strict but this is how I love you. Like I always told them, I did not invite you to be here, and I do not chase you out if you wish not to be here.

Puan Hajah Norlina Alwi to discover how she attained the courage to protect and raise these unfortunate but innocent children.