Monday 28 December 2009

Thank You Puan Nani

After dedicating every Monday afternoons teaching English Language to Rumah Aman’s children for four years, this new year, Puan Nani Rashid Ghows will offer her services as a volunteer at another orphanage and welfare home.

She will teach English Language at Al-Khadeem’s House of Hope in Lorong Rabingan, Seksyen 32 Shah Alam. She will teach the primary and secondary students.

A farewell party was held for her on December 21st 2009 and was attended by the children and the staff. Founder, Abdul Rehman Dakri thanked Puan Nani for her effort and time and commended her for her good work.

“You are the only volunteer who stayed with us for four years. We are grateful and thankful for your support and I believe the children had learned much from you. I wish you well and success in your next endevour and may the children there benefit from you too,’’ said Abdul Rehman in his speech.

Puan Nani in her speech thanked Rumah Aman for giving her the opportunity to teach the children and advised the children to study hard and be focus in their studies.

“I’m sad to leave the children. I see their progress from year to year. I see them grow up in front of me,” holding tears in her eyes but continued to add that she felt it was time for her to move on and depart whatever little knowledge she has to another group of children.

We will miss you much Puan Nani and may your new students benefit from you as our children have. Thank you for everything. Please remember us in your prayers and do come visit us sometime.

Puan Nani (second from right) with some of the children and staff of Rumah Aman.

Friday 23 October 2009

Recipient of DHL Book Drive

Our benefactor, the Truly Loving Company (TLC) participated in a book donation drive organised by their corporate buddy DHL, recently.

TLC included two of their charity partners, namely Rumah Aman and Shelter Home for children as beneficiaries of the drive.

The books in English and Malay were presented to Rumah Aman by TLC’s director Mr. Khaw Chay Tee on October 6th.

The children were delighted to receive the books. It will surely enhance their general knowledge and help them improve their reading and spelling skills.

Pix 1: Mr. Khaw Chay Tee, director of TLC handing over the books to Mr. Khalid Shah, principal of Rumah Aman.

Pix 2: Some of the children browsing through some of the books received from DHL's book donation drive.

Wednesday 9 September 2009

Visit by Young UK Musicians

Six post graduate students from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama United Kingdom visited Rumah Aman on August 20, and made music for the children.

The children had fun singing along with the students and the one that captured their imagination most was making harmonic noises to the rhythm of a beat-box music.

The students, Jonathan Ang (Singapore), Fernando Machado (Brazil), Felipe Souza (Portugal), Aiko (Japan), Letty (United Kingdom) and Preetha (USA) were in Singapore and Malaysia for a leadership programme which forms part of their school curriculum.

While in Malaysia, they were hosted by The Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO).

MPYO Senior Executive, Audrey Huey Lin Ho said, the students had visited the National Arts Culture and Heritage Academy and also attended a music workshop withn their peers at the Music Faculty of MARA University Institute of Technology (UiTM).

She said, the students were here to interact with local musicians in their age group without much assitance of musical instruments to produce a "very organic" kind of music.

Rumah Aman was their last stop before proceeding to Bali for a vacation and then for home.

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Football Clinic for Our Boys

Our benefactor, The Truly Loving Company (TLC) organised a football clinic on August 12 for our boys who were excited to be under the able guidance of Malaysian former international, Mohd Khasim Kasi Abdullah.

Doning their new football jerseys, compliments from TLC, the boys from the age of 7 to 10 years old eagerly displayed their talents to Mohd Khasim who was impressed with their discipline and determination and how quickly they organised themselves.

Mohd Khasim will continue another five sessions of training with the boys where he will teach them the basics of the game and introduce a regime to enhance their football skills.

The football clinic was organised by TLC as part of its programme to support Rumah Aman as a charity partner. At the end of the football clinic that day, TLC made a donation of RM10,000.00 to Rumah Aman.

Thank you TLC. Thank you Mohd Khasim.

Tuesday 21 July 2009

Exposure at Fella Design

Rumah Aman was given a booth, compliments from Fella Design when it held its sales expo at its head office in Persiaran Elektron, Bukit Subang, Selangor from 26th June to 5th July.

Rumah Aman was however unable to participate for the whole duration of the expo due to prior commitments but managed to set up the booth from 26th to 28th June (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). The teachers and administration staff took turns to man the booth.

The response from the public was most heartwarming and we believed through that event Rumah Aman was given much exposure and were able to reach out to a lot more people.

Those who patronised the event was also very generous in giving. Rumah Aman managed to raise RM1,200.00 during the three days we were there.

Thank you Fella Design especially to Kelvin and his staff for being very helpful and attended to our needs during the exposition.

Wednesday 15 July 2009

A Guest From Finland

On 22nd June 2009, Rumah Aman received a guest from Finland, Dr. Parvez Alam who was representing a charity body called Fighting For Lives ( http://www.fightingforlives.com) .

Figthing For Lives is a charity body consisting of martial art exponents who raise funds for children charities by organising martial arts seminars.

Dr. Parvez Alam who is a silat expert himself (silat is a popular martial art form in South East Asia) took time after the science seminar he attended, to visit silat masters in various parts of Malaysia.

He also took the opportunity to visit some orphanages since he was entrusted to distribute food, educational materials, money for building, repairs and re-equipping orphanages with materials besides having fun silat sessions with the children at the orphanages.

Thank you Dr. Parvez Alam for your dedication and contributions. Please do come and visit us again.

To view his trip to Malaysia, please log on to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtvUu5CtIs

Tuesday 7 July 2009

Flood Mitigation Project

The Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) started a flood mitigation project last May in an effort to curb flooding at Seksyen 2, Seksyen 3 and Seksyen 4 where the water will be about a meter deep after an hour of heavy downpour.

The flood mitigation project consists of digging a covered monsoon drain from the the junction of Jalan Mawar 2/5 and Jalan Bunga Tanjung 2/16 along Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Secondary School and part of Jalan Bunga Cempaka 2/11 where Rumah Aman is situated and part of Jalan Bunga Kertas 2/15 before cutting across the main road, Persiaran Dato' Menteri before converging with the 5.85 meters deep monsoon drain located under the Shah Alam Wet World Theme Park car park where water will then flow into the Damansara River about 700 meters away from Rumah Aman.

The newly constructed monsoon drain will be about 400 meters long from the junction of Jalan Bunga Mawar 2/5 and Jalan Bunga Tanjung 2/1 to the Wet World car park.

Presently the contractor have dug up a monsoon drain measuring 4.5 meters deep and 2 meters wide from the junction of Jalan Bunga Mawar 2/5 and Jalan Bunga Tanjung 2/16, part of Jalan Bunga Cempaka 2/11 and part of Jalan Bunga Kertas 2/15.

The project is scheduled to be completed by the first week of August. We hope the flood mitigation project will be a success.

Tuesday 30 June 2009

Our OwnTae Kwan-do Team

Four of Rumah Aman's children competed in a Petaling District School Spot Council Tae Kwan-do competition last June organised jointly bt the Selangor Tae Kwan-do Associtaion, Petaling Perdana District Schools Office and Petaling Utama District Schools Office.

The competition was opened to school children from the age of 9 to 19 years old in various categories. Our children competed in the primary school category which was held at D'Kelana Hall, Kelana Jaya, Selangor on June 17, 2009.

Muhammad Redha Yaasin, 10, as placed second in the 22kg weight category

Muhammad Arif Fauzi, 10, won the first round against a black belt holder but lost the second round to another black belt holder in the heavyweight category.

Raziq Hafizi and Muhammad Firdan Rahmat, both 10 years old, however, lost to their opponents in the first round in the under 30 kg category.

Although they did not get good results overall, the competition was a good exposure for them since taking up tae kwan-do lesson since two years ago.

Keep it up boys and try harder next time.

Tuesday 23 June 2009

Earthwork, Retaining Wall Completed

The earthworks and building of retaining wall all around the site of Rumah Aman 2 has been completed.

The completed retaining wall at the back measures 27 meters long and 4.5 meters high whilst the retaining wall by the side measures 65 meters long and 6 meters high.

The extended retaining wall at the front of the site was completed this week. It measures 37 meters long and 2 meters high.

We hope when Rumah Aman 2 is ready we will be able to care for 60 orphaned and poor boys and help them shape a better future for themselves and their family members, however, we cannot do this by ourselves, we will need continuous assistance from the public to make this dream a success.

Pictures from top :

1. Completed retaining wall at the side of the area viewed from Jalan Seroja 1/1A.

2. Extended retaining wall near the entrance to the site viewed from Jalan Seroja 1/1.

3. The earth that has been leveled.

4. Extended retaining wall viewed from the junction of Jalan Seroja 1/1 and Jalan Seroja 1/1A.

5. The entrance to Rumah Aman 2 building site.

6. Completed retaining wall at the back area.





Friday 29 May 2009

Our New Website

Our new website is up!

We would like to record our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Mr. Amir Sariffuddin for designing the website for us on a volunteer basis.

We hope with the new website, friends of Rumah Aman will be informed about our charity work and the activities of the children.

We also take this opportunity to convey our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to our former administrator Ms Saliyati Suhaimi for designing our very first website.

We would also like to thank Mr. Jamalus Ramli from the bottom of our hearts. He had started this blog for us and through it, we were able to disseminate information on Rumah Aman.

Please do visit our website at http://www.rumahaman.com

Monday 27 April 2009

Welcome Muhammad Azim

Finally, our 30th child, Muhammad Azim bin Mohd Abdullah Sajat, 6, arrived in Rumah Aman on March 31, 2009. Muhammad Azim is an orphaned child who was living with his mother, three sisters and an elder brother at a low cost flat in Port Klang near Shah Alam.

He has adapted well in Rumah Aman and making fast friends with the other boys his age. Before joining Rumah Aman he attended a government sponsored kindergarten at the flats he lives in and he now know all the alphabets.

We hope, by the time he attends school next year, he will be well prepared.

Friday 24 April 2009

Earthworks, Retaining Wall Work in Progress

The earthworks and the building of retaining walls of Rumah Aman 2 have started!


Machines and equipments were brought in on Tuesday March 17, 2009 and work started the next day.


The earthworks will consist of leveling the ground up to the

foundation level and excavation works for the retaining wall.


A generous neighbour has agreed to let us use water from his home until we get our own water supply from the water authority.


The earthworks and building of retaining wall are expected to be completed in four months time.


We welcome anyone who would like to donate or sponsor building

materials for Rumah Aman 2.

Wednesday 22 April 2009

First Rumah Aman 2 Site Visit

The boys, Rumah Aman staff and their families visited Rumah Aman 2 site located at the Sungai Buloh Country Resort in Saujana Utama on March 9, 2009 in anticipation of the building works that will commence soon.


All of us were driving towards the site that morning but halfway, it started to rain heavily so we decided to head to the club house turned Thai restaurant instead. The security person was kind to let us use the premise since it had not yet started operations for the day.


After everybody was gathered and settled, Jamalus Ramli, the husband of our administrator, Rosnah Abdul Mutalib lead the doa and among others asked that Allah bless and protect us and the community around us, give us guidance and to make thing easy for us in this endeavour.


Our founder, Abdul Rehman Dakri then delivered a short speech expressing his thanks to all who had contributed and assisted us in running Rumah Aman, either in kind or cash for the past three years.


He said that work on Rumah Aman 2 will start in about a week from now and we will need continuous assistance from the public in making Rumah Aman 2 a reality. Presently Rumah Aman had collected about RM600,000.00 to build RumahAman 2.


Since the visit also fell on 12 Rabi’ul awal and to glorify the day of Maulid ur-Rasul, the boys recited some verses of the Quran, did Salawat Badriah, Asma Al-Husna and sang Ana Muslim.

Muhammad Redha Yaasin, 10, then recited the doa to end the function before everybody was served refreshments. By the time we finished, the rain had subsided and we went to visit the site.


Once we arrived at the site, the boys were excited seeing so much space around them and started to run around the site, moreover, the area is much bigger than the present Rumah Aman. We stayed there for about half an hour before we left for home.


Monday 23 March 2009

Well Done Arif !

Muhammad Arif Fauzi who is colour blind, made us proud when two of his colourful drawings entitled Rocket Malaysia and Waterfall won 2nd and 3rd prize respectively in an art competition organised by Amway Malaysia last year.

The art competition was held in conjunction with the establishment of a new One By One Art Gallery at Amway's headquarters in Ada, Michigan, USA in celebration of Amway’s 50th Anniversary this year.

Muhammad Arif’s Waterfall made it to the final selection with two other drawings out of the six Malaysian entries sent to Ada. The other two drawings are Village Atmosphere in the Morning by Munir Darussalam from Rumah Nur Salam, Kuala Lumpur and Blueberry by Uthaya Soorian,12, from Rumah Hope, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

In an article in its Amagram Magazine for March 2009, Amway Malaysia said that the three drawings will be displayed at the gallery along with 72 other artworks from other Amway affiliates worldwide.

It said that the gallery that will be open to Amway Distributors, staff and thousands of guest world wide for years to come, will consist of colourful, artistic drawings from children around the world who are part of Amway’s One By One Campaign for Children.

Amway Malaysia had organised a by-invitation only art competition to children homes that have participated in previous One By One – Happy Healthy Minds initiative. The competition was open to children between the ages of six to 12 years old registered at the homes.

A total of 38 colourful entries were received from Agathians Shelter, House of Joy, Precious Homes, Rumah Aman, Rumah Hope, Rumah Nur Salam and Rumah Tunas Harapan.

Ten year old Munir who won first prize in the competition received RM300.00 cash and made good use of his winnings by purchasing a sporty new pair of spectacles.

For his effort, Muhammad Arif, 9, won a monopoly set, a comprehensive art manual and art supplies.

Pictures from top : Muhammad Arif with Amway Senior Public Affairs Executive, Siti Kalsom Kamari (second from right), his gaurdians showing off his artworks and Amway Public Affairs Officer, Joanne Yap (left). Munir Darussalam's Village Atmosphere in the Morning, Muhammad Arif's Waterfall and Uthaya Soorias's Blueberry.

The three homes with the six shortlisted entries, Rumah Aman, Rumah Hope and Rumah Nur Salam were also awarded MPH book vouchers worth RM500.00 each.

Saturday 28 February 2009

Welcome Ikhwan, Ilyas, Ilyasaq

On 1st February 2009, we welcomed Muhammad Ilyas bin Mohd Azmi and his twin brother Ilyasaq both six years old.

Prior to joining Rumah Aman, the twins lived with their mother and an elder sister in their grandmother's house in Batu Kurau, Perak. They have another older sister who is now being cared for by their auntie in Pahang. Their mother dry areca nuts for a living while the grandmother taps rubber.

When we fetched the boys they were very quiet during the four hours drive to Shah Alam but they have now made friends with the other boys in Rumah Aman and adjusting well.

We also welcomed Mohammad Ikhwan Shauqi bin Azwani Syam, six years old. He joined Rumah Aman on 22nd January 2009. Muhammad Ikhwan is an orphaned child who was living with his mother and a younger sister at their grandmother's flat near Putrajaya.

The younger sister who is now five years old has been placed at another orphanage, Rumah Amal Cahaya Tuanku Ampuan Rahimah (RACTAR) in Subang Jaya, Selangor. Their mother is presently unemployed.

We took in Mohammad Ikhwan, Muhammad Ilyas and Ilyasaq to fill in the four vacancies we had since October 2008.

With the enrollment of Muhammad Ikhwan, Muhammad Ilyas and Ilyasaq, there are now 29 boys in Rumah Aman. We hope to find another deserving child soon and fill our quota of 30 boys, insya-Allah.

From top left : Muhammad Ilyas, Ilyasaq and Ikhwan.

Wednesday 25 February 2009

Goodbye Amsyar


We bid farewell to Amirul Amsyar bin Kamarulzaman, 9 years old. He joined Rumah Aman in December 2005 when he was five years old. He left Rumah Aman on November, 2008 during the end year school holidays.

During his stay in Rumah Aman, Amirul Amsyar made good progress in his studies and had achieved very good results in his school examinations.

We are sad, but at the same time we are happy that his mother is now able to care for him, his brothers and sisters. We hope he will carry with him good memories of Rumah Aman and cherish the experience and exposure we had given him.

We are also very glad that Amirul Amsyar has been appointed as the class monitor at his new school. It is our hope that he will keep the discipline and values that we have inculcated in him and may he spread it among his brothers and sisters and also among his new friends in Hulu Langat, Selangor.

We hope he will visit us sometime when he is able and we pray that Allah will protect him and his family and may he be successful in all his endeavours.