Juste Ce Qu'il Faut!

"I deal with refugees everyday." "Isn't that illegal?" ( no its not by the way)

"I have drug addicts shooting up at my stairwells every now and then." "look of horror"

"I work in Masjid India" "eughhh what a dirty place!"

"I don't earn much but i love my job" "she has to be in Denial.... ( in silence)"

" I ride on my colleague's motorbike to go visit the refugees in their hidden communities" "Fuck, that's dangerous"

"I work in an NGO" "Look, i can always get you another job...you just have to ask.. seriously, i know this place..........

I get incredulous looks of confusion and pity everytime i tell someone what i do for a living. And they wonder, doesn't she love going to work in power suits and jimmy choo's with manicured nails? Who wouldn't?? She's barking mad.

I work in an NGO. Our aim is to strive to protect migrant rights and help them help themselves but setting up support groups and teaching them how to cope with the violence they're faced with each day. In short words, I'm a social worker who earns an minimal wage with no prospects for a raise. I have resigned my fate to Vincci, Topshop and Giordano and bid farewell to Manolo, Kate Spade, and Salvatore Ferragamo. Sigh...

Two years ago, i told my boyfriend that i was going to own a power suit from Armani when we walked past an Armani boutique in KLCC. He was like "whatttt??? What's a power suit? Do you even know where you want to work at yet?" "well, a power suit is a suit which is sooo fine, no deals will be left unclosed, but no.. i haven't thought of which path of career i would like to tread" i beamed.

Thinking back, I wanted to be a power career woman in a big kick-ass multinational company. i wanted to sit in a huge 10k worth office and earn big bucks so i could swim in my money. Well, i had that opportunity to rise in a corporate company. Share my playground with the big boys over cognac and wine. But i was deluding myself once again. I wanted what society thought was considered "successful". That dream does not define "success" to me anymore.

I have never been so sure in my life over anything (besides knowing that my present boyfriend is the only soul mate i'll ever have and want in this lifetime). When i said i wanted to do social work, people were flabbergasted! They told me however ( for the sake of patronizing me) that i should try it out and follow my "dreams" to get over this phase. Well, i took it in my stride and here i am, loving my odd hours job and finally, finally finding Passion in what I do.

The Burmese refugees need our help. Our government do NOT recognise the term refugees. To them, you can be 1 month old up til 90 years of age and they will still be considered an Illegal Immigrant. Why are the Burmese refugees considered "refugees?" They are different from our other counterparts who sneak into out country, just to find a better life and escape poverty. Well, if you think the Indonesians, Filipinos and Bangladeshi's fate are heart wrenching, wait till you read up on this.

The Burmese refugees flee their country from the Military which is the ruling party now. They have been discriminated, raped, killed, molested, tortured, and scarred emotionally and physically in their own country who is performing ethnic cleansing. They run to our countries ( Malaysia, Thailand etc) to escape this cruel fate. To fight for the chance and freewill to simply just.. Live..

They have no country to go back to. If we send them back to their motherland, they will be exterminated like insects by their own government. All they can do is wait... for UNHCR to find countries which are willing to provide them resettlement. Here they are constantly haunted by the authorities, their children have no birth certificates not to mention education, and the uneducated ones are hardly getting any resettlement. They are shackled with invisible chains, denying them a simple plea for freedom. They are not allowed to work, all they can either do is wait for money to fall from the sky, or go back to Myanmmar with suicide intentions.

Despite the blatancy of the situation, not much news have been reported to help them. We see Ads on Tv asking us to donate for Dalfur, Tsunami Relief Concerts, and many other pleas for help other disasters, but somehow, this situation is just not enough to catch our conscience. Despite their already grave situation, people inflict violence on them, and burn down their refugee camp with 6000 occupants as they have failed to pay bribes to keep their place "safe". The camp was the only legitimate camp in Malaysia. Approximately 3/4 of the women who made their way to Malaysia has been inflicted with sexual violence, and yet no one addresses that as an important enough issue to relieve their pain and suffering by fighting for their freedom that will enable them to breathe freely in a country.

So, if you are reading this, I plead that you take a moment, and think of the women who are suffering from PTSD ( post -traumatic-stress -disorder), the children who have no future, no education, the men who run barefooted while eluding the cops in efforts to put a grain of rice in their family's mouth. If you have a skill to share, or even the compassion and passion to volunteer your weekend once a month even, Contact me, Contact gbvmalaysia@gmail.com to render your services to help these refugees. Juste Ce Qu'il Faut for me... what bout you???

-Cheers-