Daily task: Poh arranging the dry rations that are given to families. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: Giving up her cushy corporate job, Poh Heem Heem has chosen to volunteer full-time at a non-profit home to help those in need.
Poh now sits as general manager and director of House of Hope, a non-governmental organisation that helps the less fortunate.
The 47-year-old left the corporate career she was building for 25 years.
Now, her job scope includes going to police stations to help families whose members were convicted of crimes and organising middle-of-the-night search parties for runaway children.
She stations herself at the centre in Ayer Itam six days a week, overseeing daily operations that supply food aid, rations, education programmes, financial assistance, counselling as well as medical aid.
“We cook for around 300 people a day. We have around 1,000 families registered under our care,” she said in an interview.
Poh’s day usually begins at around 9am.
“A typical day begins with checking in on the kitchen and making sure everything is okay.
“I need to make sure there are no operational glitches and all supplies are adequate.
“I then check on the distribution site of dry rations before doing some paperwork, which includes following up on families and donors, and placing orders for new inventories,” Poh added.
After that, she would be back in the kitchen to check on lunch preparation.
“There are only six to eight of us, so we all help out in the kitchen.
“After lunch, its paperwork time again,” she said.
Poh said she initially felt scared when she first left her job.
“The most difficult part for me was taking the first step, putting in my resignation letter, knowing that there will be no more decent pay or lofty positions.
“It meant that for the first time in my working life, I was giving up my financial independence,” she said.
Poh graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Master in Applied Finance and spent her early years building her banking career in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in the areas of foreign exchange and derivatives.
Food aid: Poh overseeing the handing out of tiffin carriers filled with food to families in need who collect them every day at House of Hope in Ayer Itam.
“After I became a mum, we moved back to Penang. I spent the later years of my career writing economic and research papers, and managing talent development.
“I left that job after 13 years to join House of Hope full time.
“It was funny in the beginning because the operating environment was so different.
“It is so much more human, so much more tangible.
“Every achievement is a huge milestone and you feel so much joy while every setback is heartbreaking.
“There is no in-between in this line of work. You just throw your heart and soul into it.
“There are no more promotions or salary perks and benefits but the faint glimmer of hope I see in the eyes of those we help, the hugs that I get from the kids in the community, the gratitude we receive.
“I have come to realise that these are my new forms of ‘promotions’,” she said.
Poh said her family has been nothing but supportive.
Her daughters now join her at the centre whenever they can.
“I try my best to draw a clear line between work and home.
“Detachment is important and I try to leave the cases at work where they belong.
“About 70% of the time, detachment works but sometimes, the really sad cases hang over our heads like a dark cloud and it takes a while to leave it at the door,” she added.
Poh said despite the emotional weight, she feels fulfilled in her work as it reminds her of what it feels like to be human.
She knows those who go to House of Hope for help are near the end of their rope.
“Some want to let go because they have no other solution, no other way out.
“The House of Hope gives them a lifeline.
“We merely assist and it is when we work together that we bond, get to know them better, relate to them and help them out, one step at a time,” she said.
For Poh, the beauty of the job is that it does not feel like work at all.
“My sources of motivation are the children who look forward to seeing us at our centre every day and the families whose lives we have improved.”
