MELAKA: This year’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri will be meaningful for six siblings with disabilities, who can celebrate the festive season together again under one roof after their old home was demolished for safety reasons.
Their new home was completed in less than a month after the house they occupied on inherited family land in Bukit Palah here was demolished.
The eldest sibling, Zaharah Bulat, 64, said the situation had forced four of her brothers to stay in a tent near the site of the ancestral home while waiting for construction to be completed.
The four brothers are Sofian, 57, Suhaimi, 55, Shahrin and Mohd Khairi, 45. Zaharah and her sister, Rape’ah Bulat, 62, meanwhile, stayed temporarily with relatives.
The family has 11 siblings in total.
“I feel very happy to have a new house and no longer have to rely on relatives for a place to stay, while my brothers had to live in a tent.
“We are very close and I feel grateful that we can be reunited and celebrate Hari Raya together in our new home,” she said.
Zaharah said this when met at the key presentation ceremony for the new house in Bukit Palah on Monday (March 9), officiated by Yayasan Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam (DMDI) chairman Datuk Mohd Ridhwan Mohd Ali.
Also present was Melaka women, family and community development committee chairman Datuk Kalsom Noordin.
Mohd Ridhwan said the construction was funded by DMDI with an allocation of RM60,000 and was completed in just 16 days.
He said the project was carried out in collaboration with a contractor that undertook construction works worth about RM90,000, with the remaining RM30,000 covered under the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative.
“The construction of this house is the first project of its kind undertaken by Yayasan DMDI after we saw the hardship faced by the six siblings during Ramadan.
“This case was particularly touching as it involves six family members with disabilities living together,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kalsom expressed hope that village elders would help monitor the siblings’ living conditions to ensure they do not return to their previous habit of collecting excessive second-hand items that could affect the cleanliness of the new house.
“Previously, their old house was filled with many used items and we hope such a situation will not recur,” she added.
