Visit to the Taman Megah Home

“I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.” -Stephen Grellet


Today, the Kuala Lumpur Bar Young Lawyers Committee visited the Taman Megah Handicapped and Disabled Children Home. We had adopted this Home for our Charity Nite 2006 and we presented the cheque for the sum of nearly RM20,000.00 to the Home.

We arrived at the Home at 10 a.m. and the children were in an excited mood, welcoming us and the other visitors who had dropped by. The children cheerfully opened the gates, and beckoned us in. A little girl immediately took up my hand and walked me into the compound area. I was touched when she tried to offer me a cup of water, and walked me to a nearby water dispenser and pointed to an empty cup for me to fill up. I declined her kind offer but instead, assisted her in supporting her cup and her hand, as she thirstily sipped from her cup of water.

The Home houses 138 children from all over Malaysia, and with a waiting list of more than 360 other children. The children suffer from a variety of disabilities such as Down’s Syndrome, cerebral palsy, and other forms of learning and physical disabilities. The Home is a non-racial, non-religious organization established to look after the needs of such children. When they enter the Home, some of the children have to undergo sanitary training, and are taught how to chew semi-solids and then finally solid foods. A physiotherapist would help stimulate the movement of their muscles, while there are special tutors and professionally trained child minders to teach and look after the children. Some of these children can now attend schools in the Kelana Jaya area, or other special schools such as the Kiwanis Down Syndrome Centre.

The Home however, represented something more than just a shelter or an education centre. We could see that the Home and its staff was family to many of these children. While some of the children still enjoyed visits from their parents on some weekends, a majority of these children increasingly saw less and less of their parents, and some parents had effectively disowned their own children and left the care of their children completely with the Home. The Home itself had gone through a trying period a few months ago when its founder and president, Mr. Manikumar, passed away in a road accident, leaving his grieving widow to run the Home almost single-handedly.

Our visit to the Home truly put the YLC’s Charity Nite 2006 into perspective. The hard work in the organization of the Charity Nite, the inaugural KL Bar Idol Competition, and the overwhelming support from the entire Bar, whether through the purchase of tickets or donations in kind, was ultimately to benefit these children and the funds raised would help improve their lives.

The Home is always open to volunteers and the Home is open daily from 9am to 5.30pm, and volunteers can drop in anytime. The children will definitely be happy to see any new faces. The Home would also welcome any further contributions as it plans to construct a larger 3-storey building, with dormitories to accommodate 400 children with lockers, beds and sanitary facilities.

While the handing over of the funds raised would go some way in helping these children, all of us today were rewarded in a far greater way through the joy we saw on the childrens’ as we interacted with them. I will never forget how exuberant some of the children were in singing ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star’, and how some of the others tried to hum or clap along.