Continuing from the previous post, I followed Mala back to her block. She told me a brief about her story, aged 45 and being a grandmother staying with a useless husband, oddly enough, we bumped into her husband on the way up. They didn’t talk much.
Once we reached her flats, it has a shade of gloom. I met Joshua and Bravin Raj, Mala’s two grandson under her care. They are rascals like any other young boys, but cooperative.
The place was empty but having every other utility cramped around the corners. The railings on the balcony had a huge gap between that is a danger to the kids. Bravin started to packed his bag as I walked in, tidying the area with only the setting sunlight. The kitchen and the laundry was in the same place, next to the toilet.
When there is darkness there is light. Young Joshua learning to place a candle firmly as grandma watched and guided him. A light that illuminates many other things.
After that, Mala had the generosity to bring me around to other residence’s homes. The first family we visited was a Malay family. Upon reaching the entrance, the windows were boarded up in place of the glass curtain that was suppose to be there. The matriarch of the house was Lini, and her 6 children, plus one more on the way. During the interview, a few of the kid’s friend came in and just sat around. Though not having much, Lini is thankful for a hardworking husband. Her husband works as a security guard with a month wage of RM900. Lini would stay in the house very often because going down stairs without being able to buy her kids snacks hurts her. But she tries whenever she can, most of the time it is just RM6 to spent on leisure snacks. Right outside the house there was quite a number of Astro satellite installation, Mala refers to them as the rich people. Does make you wonder if there is a social gap even within  poverty flats (?).
The next family that we visited was another Indian family. There was a Chinese resident, however, it is just one aunty staying alone. Entering the Indian family house, the same conditions resonants. Leaking pipes rendered toilets unusable and sundry’s pots and pans placed next to the toilet.
Pieces like these you can’t really find in normal houses. The door has been doodle, from what I understand, with study notes. That is one way to revise. Dadaist would probably fall head over heels for this piece of “artwork”.
The tour ended with a privilege of visiting Mala’s humble corner shop-lot. It was still raining so we had to suffer through the rain. She sells sari that were brought over from Indonesia and flavoured drinks with a bit of snacks. She is currently waiting for a stock of hotdogs for her new sales venture.
The end of it, I was grateful for Mala’s time she was willing to give me. So I offered to buy some treats for the kids from a nearby stall. They left the place with a hand-full of balloons.
This is life. As I left the area, the contradictions of life ring so clear here. In Mala’s house there was a shrine dedicated to one of her sons. Loganathan worked at a car wash and was the responsible one around, but there was an accident and he passed 9 years ago. Mala never knew what happened to her son. This rings true for the reality of “the good dying young”, what a tragedy.
However, hope still blooms in the little ones, a future, and possibly… a change.
ordinarylifethinker 