Our Latest Addition

On 1^st June 2008, we welcomed Aidil Afiat bin Yaziz, 4, into the Rumah Aman family. He is the younger brother of Mohamed Ikmal Rashid, 7, who has been with Rumah Aman for the past two years.

We took in Aidil Afiat to fill in one of the five vacancies we had. Since March 2008, five children were taken back by their mothers because the mothers are now financially independent and thus no longer eligible to receive zakat. All five are orphans - fathers have demised - so we hope to replace them with other more deserving orphans.

The five are twins, Zahiruddin and Zahirulhaq bin Amdan both 8 years old and three brothers, Muhamad Jauhari, 6, Ikmal,7 and Muhammad Izaat bin Junaidi, 8 years old.

Zahirudin and Zahirulhaq left Rumah Aman on 10^th of March. Their mother started a chicken farm about a year ago with the assistance of the Deparment of Agriculture Malaysia.

Besides reporting that the chicken farm is doing quite well, she also told us she may re-marry in a few months time, insya-Allah. She thought since her financial status is much better now, she should let other deserving children be placed at Rumah Aman.

The twins have an elder brother, an elder sister and a younger sister, all school going presently.

The mother of the three brothers took them in stages. She stook Jauhari on the 26^th of April and then took Ikmal and Muhammad Izzat on the 8^th of June. She said she is re-marrying and her future husband has requested her to take the children back as he can afford to care for them.

We wish the best to Zahiruddin, Zahirulhaq, Jauhari, Ikmal and Mohamad Izzat. We hope we have touched their lives as they have touched ours.We pray Allah give them good health and success in all of their endeavours.

Do remember us because we shall not forget you and do visit us sometime, we will receive you with open arms.

Magical Moments Cherished

Magic shows are such fun and children love them. Though it boggles the mind and fools the eye, the curiosity of how the tricks are executed never fails to amaze both the young and old.

The magical moments were brought to Rumah Aman by our benefactor, The Truly Loving Company (TLC). TLC hosted the magic show performed by Sam Kwee on May 10, 2008 at Rumah Aman.

The children were also delighted when Sam invited some of them to perform magic tricks with him.

Those invited bravely stepped forward, however, we were unsure what motivated them. Was it because they wanted to be part of the performance, or they wanted to have a personal experience of how the tricks were done or the goodies that was distributed by Sam after each performance?

For us at Rumah Aman, it is a good sign as it shows that most of the children have acquired some self confidence and at the same time, keeping check on their good behaviour.

Also present were the CEO of TLC, Julia CF Chong, its director, Khaw Chay Tee, the TLC’s team members and TLC’s invited guests, Director of CIMB, Raja Noorma Othman, Director of Walden International, Ms. Chok Kwee Bee, Group General Manager of Media Prima, Ms. Shareen Ooi and CEO of Toplites, Mike Plascow.

April, May Birthday Boys

The April and May birthday boys had a pleasant surprise.
Aunty Ros and teacher Ema Syarina who were April birthday girls and founder of Rumah Aman, Abdul Rehman Dakri and Ustaz Radzi who were May birthday boys, joined in the celebrations.

The April birthday boys were Rozaidi,8, Shahrul Nizam, 7, and Nazhim, 6. They May birthday boys were Roslan and Mohd Noramirul Shah, both eight year olds and Hafizuddin,7, were very excited when they saw the birthday cake being brought out from the kitchen.

Our senior teacher, Ustaz Radzi recited a doa for the birthday boys and for all present. The celebration was held in our dining hall during the lunch break. The birthday boys cut the cake and shared it with the others.

A portion of the cake was kept by the house mother for the older children who were in school then. They will have the taste of the cake during their tea time.

Abdul Rehman reminded the birthday boys that they are now a year older, therefore they must strife to change their life, improve on their behaviour for the better, to be more responsible and not forgetting to study harder.

The reminder is also for everyone present.

Rumah Aman Receives First Payout

Rumah Aman received RM10,000.00 from its benefactor The Truly Loving Company (TLC) in the company’s first payout to its five charity partners in a simple ceremony held at TLC’s office in Kuala Lumpur on April 29, 2008.

The other four charity organisations that received the donation of equal amount was the Handicapped and Mentally Disabled Children Association, Johor Bahru, Hospis Malaysia, National Stroke Association of Malaysia (NASAM) and Shelter Homes for Children.

Chief Executive Officer of TLC, Julia CF Chong said in her speech: “Although the company has yet to make any profits, we decided to make the donation to show our sincerity towards our charity partners.”

Prior to that, a video show on all five charity bodies were shown to all present which includes representatives of the five charity organisations, and invited guests.

TLC started with 15 personal care and household products when it entered into the market in March 2007. Presently it has 42 products which can be found in Carrefour, Cold Storage, The Store, Tesco and selected pharmacies.

TLC pledge all its profits to be turned into dividends which will then be distributed among its five charity partners so that it may help them receive a regular, sustainable and long term source of funds.

Thank you TLC for your contribution and to the users of TLC's products for your continous support which have made a dream realised.

High Tea With A Cause

Our boys were guest performers at a high tea to launch a programme to assist widows from the poor to supplement their income with the hope that they will be able to empower themselves with the necessary entrepreneurial skills.

Our boys opened the event by reciting a doa, followed by a rendition of the Asma al-Husna (the 99 names of Allah), and ended their performance with an English song entitled The Wheel on the Bus.

The programme known as W2W an acronym for Women To Women was organised by Sense and Sensibility and was launched by the chairman of the Women Institute of Malaysia (WIM), Tan Sri Napsiah Omar.

The high tea was held at the Matrade building Kuala Lumpur, head office of the Ministry of International Trade on March 30, 2008 and was attended by about 300 guest.

Under the W2W programme, Sense and Sensibility will sponsor one time only, various hygiene and personal care products supplied by their participating partners worth RM1,000.00 to each widow who registers as a participating member of the programme.

The participating members will then sell these products and keep the profits. They will then be able to roll over the RM1,000.00 capital to replenish new stock of goods.

The participating members can also opt to individually request for a sponsored assistance amounting to RM1,000.00 to help them start their own small business near their home.

Members of the public are also welcomed to play their part as donors for the W2W programme as Sense and Sensibility is working closely with various orphanages to reach more needy widows to participate in the programme. For further information please call Zainoriah at +6012 6145 921 or Zainab at +6012 2100 541.

Sense and Sensibility later donated RM20,000.00 to Rumah Aman being proceeds raised through the selling of tables for the high tea.

We thank Sense and Sensibility for the contribution and pray Allah give success to the W2W programme.

Science Filled Fun Day

The boys had a whale of a time at the Petronas Science Centre, popularly known as Petrosains situated at the Petronas Twin Tower, Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC).

The study trip was organised by 14 students from the Faculty of Business Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) on Saturday, March 22, 2008 as part of their course work in social responsibility entitled Sharing the Love, Cherish the Moment.

The children participated in many science games which were mind boggling but educative as well. Through a simulation machine, they also learnt how it felt flying in a helicopter.

The one thing that really caught their eye was a formula one (F1) car that was on display, Petronas being the main sponsor of the BMW Sauber F1 team.

It was a happy day. The children had a break from their daily routine and learned a few tricks to share with their friends at school.

Making Merry With Music

The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) Education and Outreach body - Encounter - visited Rumah Aman on March 2, 2008 to entertain the children and staff with some beautiful music.

Encounter consists of personnel from MPO and Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP). They arrived early to set up buntings, other promotional items and the stage for accomplished double bass player, John Kennedy.

John sang a few English songs and also showcased his skills by performing instrumental pieces on his double bass and guitar playing, topping his performance singing the evergreen Malay folk song Rasa Sayang with the children and those present singing along.

One of the boys also came forward to sing a song to the delight of the audience.

Chick, Encounter's mascot also kept the children amused by its antics.

The visit is part of a community project, a joined effort between Encounter and Exxon Mobil for this year. Prior to visiting Rumah Aman, they visited and entertained 40 children at Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Rumah Pengasih – a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts - and the Down Syndrome Foundation in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Present were the CEO of Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Juniwati Rahmat Hussin who later with John presented goodies to the children.

Thank you Encounter for the music treat and also for the goodies. We hope you will entertain us again.