| Hakim Hayat |
OUTGOING Brunei Council on Social Welfare (MKM) President Datin Paduka Hajah Intan binti Haji Mohd Kassim in her report highlighted the impressive work record of MKM dating to 2012 when she first took over the leadership, where many activities and programmes have been held which benefitted the community in Brunei as well as those overseas.
Among these activities are providing breakfast to needy schoolchildren through its Fidyah and charity programme for 13 schools, seven in the Brunei-Muara District and six in the Temburong District on a daily basis, as well as delivering basic necessities to over a dozen families monthly.
MKM also has continuously conducted a weekly Legal and Advisory Clinic with the collaboration of three law firms – Yusof Halim and Partners, Ibrahim Al Haj and Al Wadi – for over six years, whereby the organisation offered advice and assisted in 256 welfare matters, given legal advice in 99 matters and taken 36 cases to court.
All the advice and cases brought to court are done on a ‘pro-bono’ or free basis. MKM also runs a free monthly law lecture series called ‘Conversations About Law’ to help create and disseminate knowledge of laws.
She made these comments at MKM’s Annual General Meeting recently which saw the new president and office-bearers being elected.
The Ramadhan month has been a beehive of activities for MKM. Over the years, it has provided food to break fast to more than 400 needy clients for 10 days every Ramadhan and will also have breaking of fast with around 200 other needy clients in a restaurant. During the month, MKM holds a ‘Used Clothing Drive’ where clothing is distributed to the needy. In the last week of Syawal, MKM distributes ‘Hari Raya’ goodies to another batch of needy recipients under the ‘Sejambak Kasih’ programme.
At the end of every year, MKM is busy with a ‘Back to School’ programme by getting school uniforms, accessories and stationeries delivered to needy schoolchildren.
MKM also holds weekly Al-Quran recitation courses for needy children and conducts Khatam Al-Quran every Ramadhan. In addition, it also gets involved in ‘emergency’ situations where families suddenly find themselves homeless or in dire need of assistance for food. Empowerment courses are also conducted on a regular basis to teach the needy to be self-sufficient and upgrade their skills.
MKM members also attend various conferences and meetings locally, regionally and internationally. They attend them only if funded or meeting the expenses themselves as MKM does not dip into the donations for administrative expenses. MKM does not receive financial assistance to run their charity programme.
Datin Paduka Hajah Intan said, “We are wholly dependent on donations. We are proud to have gained much trust from the work we have undertaken over many years. The fact that we have continuously done this for so many years has instilled much confidence in our organisation. It is because of this trust that we are able to continuously do what we have done.”
Aside from charitable programmes, MKM also has conducted events to raise funds, such as selling the ‘Rasa and Warna, Brunei Darussalam’ cookbook which showcases the many food of Brunei presented by MKM members, members of the public as well as members of the foreign diplomatic missions in Brunei. The cookbook won the ‘Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2012’ for being the best fund-raising book in Asia.
Some MKM members and generous members of the public have volunteered to meet its monthly operating expenses.
MKM has also expanded its charity work overseas, such as being the first organisation to respond and assist fire accident victims in Limbang and assisting orphanages in Miri and Surabaya. Over the last three years, MKM has run a Waqaf programme for local residents in building tubewells for the poor in Bangladesh, where each tubewell provides water to over 100 needy people there. MKM has built more than 400 tubewells for the Bangladeshis.
When the Rohingya refugee crisis started around last August, MKM diverted its tubewell building programme to the refugee camps in Bangladesh. To date, the organisation has built more than 450 tubewells for the refugees, including one solar-powered deep tubewell with submerged pump which provides water to between 3,000 and 4,000 refugees.
MKM also sent two humanitarian missions to the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh last November and again in March this year, where they distributed more than 13,500 foodpacks to the refugees. Each foodpack was able to feed a family of four for one week. They also cooked and distributed 12,000 lunches for refugee children there.
One of MKM’s crowning achievements is the setting up of a school in the refugee camp, the ‘MKM-Gifting Humanity School and Orphanage’, done in collaboration with an international charity. The school currently has around 590 students, with 120 of them being orphans. Eighty-three of the students are in the Tahfiz programme. The male Tahfiz students and the male orphans are housed in the school.
Datin Paduka Hajah Intan, who did not seek re-election, was replaced by Mohd Yusof Halim but will continue being in the new executive committee in an ‘ex-officio’ capacity.
New MKM President Mohd Yusof Halim in his inaugural speech said, “This new committee has big shoes to fill. We will do our best to continue and expand the good work done by the previous executive committee.
“Being in MKM Executive Committee means that you will spend your time and money in a cause that you believe in. The reward that we seek is in the hereafter.”
Hajah Johana binti Haji Mohd Jaya was elected Deputy President 1, Haji Hasbollah Deputy President 2 and Nur Judy binti Abdullah Deputy President 3.
Pengiran Kamal Ghadafi is the Honorary Secretary and he will be assisted by Siti Mariana binti Haji Makhbar, Hajah Khadijah binti Haji Kassim and Muhammad Khairul Anwar bin Haji Abdul Gafor.
Dr Hajah Kamariah binti Haji Abu Salim is the new MKM Treasurer and she will be assisted by Ivy Lim and Haji Mohd Azri bin Pengarah Haji Brahim.
Fifteen ordinary members of the MKM Executive Committee were also elected.
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