(Part 1/2) ‘I’ve gotten two journalism awards – and it’s my first ever job, but I never had a sense of self-fulfillment, a sense that I knew that I am doing the right thing.
‘That was in September last year 2015 and I really felt like I was going through some quarter-life crisis. So, cliche, I know… and I turned 25 this year so I thought, oh my God it’s coming a bit early!
‘So I quit my job with no backup plan, nothing to fall back on, no savings, nothing! I just quit and decided to do stuff for charity.
‘My mom has been doing charity for 10-15 years and I decided to volunteer for it full-time, and despite them wanting to pay me, I turned it down.
‘I only considered a token sum, which is fine, because I really wanted to do something that’s bigger than myself.
‘When I started doing charity – it’s just about the community that I am impacting. I work with single mothers who need jobs and a team who have come from very different backgrounds. The secondhand goods sold for its profits go toward our causes which you can take a look at www.kedaibless.com, and the charity sells secondhand goods.
‘The warehouse I work at is massive, dirty, dusty, and has so many items that needs to be sifted through, as well as needs cleaning.
‘It takes a lot of humility to clean the warehouse too, especially with just a fan and in our hot weather. We have to wear face masks because of the dust.’
‘And because I’m a little bit more tech savvy, I’ve assisted BLESS make an online presence through the webshop, as well as market the brand and upload the content.
‘It’s been six months here, I am feeling good, I know I can do even better, but above all I just want to know that I am making an impact.’
‘When I joined BLESS, it’s really a blessing, I have blessed others and at the same time I am being blessed’.
– Humans of Kuala Lumpur — with Sarah Voon
Photostory by Mushamir Mustafa
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(This post was first published on June 6th 2016)
