Welcome to MAKNA {A Meaning to Life}

“...her treatment and her future because both are aging and they do not have any stable income....”

Santhiya Subramaniam

One morning during our regular home visit we were walking around a low cost flat area in Damansara Damai, when we saw a young Indian girl aged between 5 to 6 years playing with soap bubbles. From her skinny figure my instinct told me that she is Santhiya, the girl we were looking for. When I asked whether she is Santhiya, she turned her face towards us and replied, "Yes, do you want to play with bubbles?" A child is always a child, looking forward to meeting and playing with friends.

A brain tumour operation had left her face slightly crooked and her eyes shrunken. Immediately it brought tears to my eyes as I felt the loneliness of this little girl. She should have been in school but most of her life has been in a hospital. When I told her we were looking for her, her face lit up and she brought us in to introduce us to her parents.

Santhiya's father, Subramaniam is 53 years old and works as a security guard at a shopping centre nearby. Due to poor health condition, his job is unstable. To make matters worse, he is blind in one eye and had a shoulder injury from an accident. When we came, he was busy looking for some old medical certificates for his SOCSO claim. Santhiya's mother on the other hand used to work in a factory in Klang, but that was before Santhiya fell sick. Since Santhiya had to undergo treatment at Hospital Kuala Lumpur, she had to give up her job and moved to Damansara Damai, and she is now jobless. For this rather elderly couple, Santhiya is their only child.

Now, the couple's worry is Santhiya, her treatment and her future because both are aging and they do not have any stable income. However while talking to her, I found out that she possesses some small business skills having several years experience selling cloth. She has shown interest in doing this again to generate additional income for the family if she can get a small capital to start with. Currently the family receives monthly financial assistance for Santhiya's treatment.

written by Ranjini Balakrishnan, 2006