BEAUFORT: Like other Muslim children, Dayang Suraya Awang Binting wants to wear a new Baju Kurung for Hari Raya this year, especially when she and her brother are planning to go back to their grandmother’s house for the yearly celebration.
She has not met her grandmother since the last school holidays because she is now staying in an orphanage, the Rumah Anak Yatim Al-Aman Beaufort, near her village at Kampung Bukau, Beaufort.
“I really miss my grandmother. She is very old now. She can’t visit us in this orphanage because we don’t have any transport.
“My grandmother started looking after me and my brother in 2005 after my dad passed away. I never met my mother because she died when I was small,” she said during The Borneo Post’s visit to the orphanage on Saturday.
The 16-year-old girl’s wish finally came true after the Celcom Axiata Berhad Sabah branch visited the orphanage with a little surprise for the children.
About 20 staff of the telecommunication company brought all 52 children of Rumah Anak Yatim Al-Aman Beaufort to Pasaraya Fesyen Seri Intan in town.
However, after Dayang Suraya reached the shopping complex with the other children, she decided not to buy any new Baju Kurung as she was more interested in two shirts and a pink watch. She said her Baju Kurung collections donated by some individuals to the orphans were still in good condition.
“I still have several Baju Kurungs but I don’t really have shirts with long sleeves. Thanks to our temporary mothers and fathers from Celcom who made my day. I can show off to my grandmother when I go back home for Hari Raya,” she said with a smile.
Many individuals or companies came to the orphanage but never brought them shopping.
Dayang Suraya, who is the youngest of five children, said going out shopping with her brother was one of the best moments in her life.
Dayang Suraya and her Form Six brother Mohd Sirin Awang Binting were given RM2,000 in education aid by the Celcom Axiata Berhad Sabah branch as they do not have any family members who could afford to look after their education.
The other three of Dayang Suraya’s brothers are now staying with other relatives while they both are staying in the orphanage because no other relatives are willing to look after them due to economic constraints.
Apart from Dayang Suraya and her brother, Celcom also gave five other children from the orphanage the same amount of cash assistance for their education.
Celcom Axiata Berhad Sabah branch general manager Zurinah Hanafiah said since Celcom Axiata Berhad had been so long in Sabah and making profit every year, shopping with orphans, giving away Raya money, breaking fast together and giving assistance to the needy were their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) to help the society.
Zurinah added that the activities with unprivileged children were being done nationwide by the company.
Rumah Anak Yatim Al-Aman, Beaufort was built in 1998 as a hostel for orphans throughout the state.
It is a home for most of the children who have their own stories.
Deputy hostel chief Nuriani Sabrin, 19, who came from Sandakan, said Rumah Anak Yatim Al-Aman, Beaufort, has been the only home for her and her younger sister.
Her mother who has no proper job after her father passed away many years ago, decided to send the two girls to the orphanage.
Since Sandakan is far, Nuraini and her sister are both trying to save as much donated cash as possible to enable them to go back to their uncle’s house every Hari Raya.
Nuraini said if her mother could come to her uncle’s house in the city, they would have the opportunity to meet but most of the time they would celebrate with their uncle.
She understands she does not have a perfect family but it will not stop her from finishing her Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) examination by the end of this year and enter university next year.
She said orphans like them, even though they had gone through many bad experiences in life at a very young age, should put education as a priority to be successful in life.
Nuraini who wants to be a teacher, said only education could give them the opportunity to feel good about their lives.
“Thanks to the headmaster of this hostel, Puan Habibah Abd Hamid, who had given us the opportunity to be here for the past many years.
“I admire the great treatment given by all the staff in this hostel who always looked after us as their own children. They are the other reason that I must do the best in my studies,” added Nuraini.