REACH OUT MALAYSIA AND ME

Feexa Nicoll with volunteers  during one of the many midnight runs to feed the homeless on the street of Kuala Lumpur

So many questions that people have of me pertaining to Reach Out Malaysia !  If they know me personally, bole tanya la takde masalah….yang tak kenal pulak buat andaian.  Macam-macam cerita la itu ini but it didn’t bother me because people being people – at the end of the day.  people who loved to assume, would end up looking like an idiot (sorry not able to tone this word down, an idiot is an idiot or orang Melayu panggil bodoh sombong tahap dewata …) so there!  Have coffee with me and asked what you want to know. 

First thing first, me and Pete do not do this full time.   We have a  life apart from Reach Out Malaysia . Reach Out is a part of our lives. I am not the emotional kind to write on  FB status with tears in my eyes of the stories that I have heard or experienced with the street people. Nor will I   exaggerate things to have a more  sympathetic vote  to collect more  fund or popularity. I say things as they are. Straight to the point. Needing to get the job done. Detached is the word. I consider myself like a doctor.  Emotion aside and used it only when necessary.  (Sound like a Gestapo pulak) . But I am not in this because I am answering ‘the calling’ kunun but because of the realization that somebody needs to do it and some things need to be done. Rarely do I talked about it to give a sensational stories unless I was being asked personally to give a talk or something (even then I declined many times)  because of a job or a family commitment.

So much so it is not for the public to know and to own. I would make it sensational in my private moments while sharing it with good friends or my students(in my yoga class). Much to your surprise, I am not doing this as a favor to the homeless people but rather as  a favor to myself . To remind me that I have a responsibility to carry, to remind me to count my blessings, to remind me that regardless how  bad or how hard our lives are, there are worse things that have happened to others.  So if  ever wonder  why  I hardly whined nor cried  and errr  emotionless even, it is because I do it privately in a limited time. I did what I could. If I couldn’t, I moved on.  Redha dengan ketetapannya. Bila sudah berusaha , bertawakkal . If tak kesampaian, tak mengapa mungkin masanya belum tiba….

We are just like any other volunteers, me and Pete donating our expertise to contribute to this NGO . My overused method is infecting others with kindness, everybody is encouraged to do what they could. The smallest deeds count too. Very rarely money is involved unless it has been determined for it to be used to buy food or goods for the homeless. Otherwise no one would get paid or claimed on the things they have done. It is a simple concept. One that doesn’t need a business plan nor a long forecast. One that doesn’t need a group of staff to get things done.

The truth is, we are doing Allah’s work. A simple concept of Tawakkal that everything would only materialized with his commands or with his will (dengan kehendaknya dan keizinannya). Rezeki fakir miskin pun telah ditetapkan olehnya, kita hanyalah penyebabnya.  I am just lucky to be the middle person in between his will and his subjects. You really thought  this could be planned, seriously? You really thought we would know where the rezeki (in this context, food and goodies) would come from - day in and day out for 8 years for the thousands of homeless we served ?? There were many times I didn’t know but one thing I knew for sure, he has  made it possible. The food would  be directed to us without fail Insyaallah. And if it so happened, it wasn’t to be,  so be it.  Then ‘Redha’ took place. Simple.

What do you want to see? Me dramatizing things  as the unsung heroin and crying while telling the stories of the unfortunate ones for you to be sympathetic?  No you would  only be disappointed. Pete and me have gone through the ups and downs of life. We have struggled, we have balanced and they were many times, we felt like giving it all up because of the pressure we needed to carry. While it is so easy for people to say or to bitch about things, no one in their  right mind would carry the  unnecessary responsibilities for us . (Because then they will lose the right to point out when things go wrong) . Easier said than done.

So  you may not have the privilege  to hear the complete story on the things the things that  I have done for Reach Out because I do not have to report to anyone. My conscience is to  Allah. After all, I did it for all his mercies  that he has shown to me throughout my imperfect life. I owe it to him for being born to the life I have  now (and then) -  (Not that it is the best one but nevertheless it is still a life that  I should be thankful fo, r rather than wasting my energy  wanting more)

So nope, my husband Pete does not do this full time. He has a job.  We did this after our working hours. Reach Out has got  not much money in our bank account pun.  We have to use most or  all the money to buy food or whatever necessary for the homeless.  Our  Run Leaders are not paid as well. They too raised food in their own circle of friends and people who support the good things they do.

We don’t own Reach Out. It belongs to the homeless people of  the streets of KL and Klang. We are not owned by the Government or Corporations. We are on our own. We just do it. Because we can.

Operating every day, 365, Reach Out volunteers walk the streets of Malaysia seeking out those who need assistance to make it through another day. 

Feexa Nicoll

Co Founder of Reach Out Malaysia

Footnote : REACH OUT MALAYSIA – AN NGO BASED IN MALAYSIA ( We are operated mainly by the words of mouth and from a private FB Group account)

“ASSISTING THOSE IN NEED SINCE 2008”.

“To implement programmes to deliver relief from hunger, pain, or abuse, dealing with not only the symptoms but the causes of such, through physical On Street Programmes, Awareness Campaigns, Educational Programmes, and relationships with other likeminded organizations, to provide nurture and training to the urban and rural poor and those that are in fear or in need, regardless of race, gender, religion, or culture”.