Tuesday, July 24, 2007

"You got money, or not?!"

This year we celebrate our 50 years of independence, and the celebration comes in many forms, everywhere, and involves a lot of people at every level.

SSP (where the kids go to school) also has a few programmes lined up to mark this significant event. They are organizing a Merdekathon (a running/jogging event covering some distance which-I-have-no-idea-how-far, BUT, I know that I will definitely not be in it! Hahaha!), a Merdekarama (a Carnival) and a Merdeka Night (Charity Dinner) in August. It is going to be an all weekend affair, meaning we will not be able to go anywhere that weekend, nobody can come over to visit us that weekend, we will not have a quiet relaxing weekend, and we will not be doing any shopping that weekend (Oouuchh!!!). In short- that weekend will not be a weekend...

Anyway, as with all the "thons" you're familiar with, the SSP Merdekathon also involves the school children going around requesting for pledges from the public, in their case to fill up the school's PIBG/PTA fund. But, "public" to the kids (well, at least to MY kids) means only "family members" - their grandparents, uncles, aunties, and cousins. It doesn't go beyond that.

So, knowing that the usual crowd of uncles and aunties and cousins would be at my sister's place last Saturday (where we normally have our Potluck Saturday night dinner, with our side of the family and my brother-in-law's side of the family), the kids brought with them their orange Merdekathon card, gearing to collect as much money as possible from Mommy's side of the family (having collected the necessary RM from Ayah's side of the family the week before). And when I said the "usual crowd", I meant around 35-40 people (both little people and big people together) depending on if it's a fullhouse or not...

Ayah and I told the kids that they would have to ask their potential donors themselves, without any help from us, and that they should explain the purpose of the Merdekathon, and they should ask them nicely. It was a simple thing to do. If they didn't do it themselves, they would not get the pledges.

The results -

Hanna got the least collection for that night because initially she was busy chatting on the internet with her cousin K.Aliaa, and later that night she was feeling unwell. Only when we were about to leave that she started asking for the pledges.

Hasya managed to collect quite a sum, even though she was very shy to go around asking for money from everyone in the house at first. Only when she saw Hilman bagging some serious amount of buckaroos that she began her collecting mission. Not bad, considering she did it all within half an hour!

And the winner was Hilman.

You all should see him going from one person to another that night.

When Ayah and I taught him on how to ask for donations, i.e., "Excuse me, I am collecting donations for my school Merdekathon to fill up our PIBG fund which will be used to improve the school amenities and facilities. Would you like to donate, please? Thank you", he just looked at us and said - "Oh nooooo.....That's just too long! I don't know how to say it!".

And he started going around asking everybody -

"Excuse me, you got money, or not?", "You have money?", "Can you give me money?", "Have YOU given me money?", How much money do you have in your wallet?", "I want money, please...", "Can you give me X Ringgit, please?". "Have you put your name in my Merdekathon card, or not?", etc.

And he did that even while his "victims" were having their dinner (that was BEFORE he got the "if-looks-could-kill" stare from Mommy that is!). And his victims' ages range from 1 1/2 to 69 years old! Yeap, even his 1 1/2 year old cousin Aariz was not spared!!! At the end of every round, he would check his card to make sure that EVERYBODY has donated. Thank God he did not ask my sister to donate on behalf of the Cat a.k.a Abu a.k.a Lembu (long story....)

Well, I guess the best and most confident (and may I add - muka paling tak malu?! Hahaha!) man (in this case - boy) won.

But, I cringe to think if he ever goes around asking for donations from the REAL public....

Eherks...

16 comments:

Dad of 4+1 said...

Oy ya..when my nephew and niece were at SSP, it was a yearly affair for them....

Your Hilman reminds me of my second one, Yusof!

kudo said...

things haven't changes at SSP since my days! derma memanjang...

wanshana said...

Dad of Four,

Yes, it is a yearly affair for them...and both Ayah and I will have to endure this for another 5 years, until Hilman goes to secondary school. Aihhh...

Hmmm...Hilman and Yusof should meet up, don't you think?! ;D

wanshana said...

Mahariz,

Nope - things have not changed...

But, I have to say that the school has a pretty solid PIBG (which I have to admit Ayah and I are not active in!) We do contribute in our own little ways every now and then, though.

P/S : Like all ex-SSPians, I'm sure you still remember and sing the school song in your heart every now and then?! Hahaha!

MAMAMIA said...

My hubby's name will always be the one & only name in the kids' donation forms. Parents are supposed to collect on their behalf. My hubby, tak kuasa nak collect, so, he'll give whatever sum appropriate. That's it!!!

Anonymous said...

Hehehe...

I was almost rolling on the floor laughing after reading the part when Man was asking people for money!

Well, I have a charity event to support myself, so like son like father-lah! I will probably go around and bawak my songkok. Alternatively, I'll get Man to do it for me! See...that's what I call working smart! Hahaha...

Ayah

P.S. Eh, Kudo aka Mahariz...you still around in KL? My batch nak buat SSP reunion-lah, believe it or not!

D.N.A.S said...

Kak Shana,
this is off topic. I did the charity tag, finally! It's at my Friendster blog:
http://dayangzone.blogs.friendster.com/
my_danger_zone/2007/07/i_was_tagged_fo.html

IBU said...

Wahhh... earlier posting, Hanna was the taiko (don't kacau my siblings, ok?!). This one, featuring Hilman la pulak. Hahaha....

I shudder thinking Tuan Doktor using Hilman's tactic for UMMC's health walk. NAYA !!!!

p/s Haizal - haven't seen the letter yet. Was it sent out at all?

wanshana said...

Mamamia,

Both Ayah and I would normally be the last to put our names and donations in (to round the collection to the nearest 00 figure).

The kids only collect from family members, that's why we let them do it themselves. We don't think we would ever let them collect from the public, not even from the neighbours. If Ayah and I were to collect on their behalf, we would do the same as your hubby does - derma sendiri... ;D.

Take care!

wanshana said...

Ayah,

Yeah right...I can just imagine you and Hilman carrying your songkoks around trying to collect RM500k...Hahaha!

GOOD LUCK WITH THE "LARIAN KARDIO" !!!

By the looks of things, and with you spear-heading it, I'm more than confident that it'll be a highly successful charity event, insya Allah...

wanshana said...

d.n.a.s,

Thanks for being such a sport! I've read your tag entry - COOL...

Take care!

wanshana said...

Ibu,

Hahaha...Funny!! Ha'ah...my kids semuanya taiko...(ikut siapa lah agaknya tu kan?!)

Errr...I pray hard that Haizal will not use the same 'modus operandi' in his quest to raise money for UMMC's heart patients fund!! Memang NAYA!!!!

Take care, dear...

Anonymous said...

Hahaha... u joinlah sekali. I ada songkok spare! :)

Dear 'Ibu'

I am the most extreme procrastinator. Ok ok...I will definitely send the letter out by Mon.

In the meantime, please visit www.lariankardio.blogspot.com

Btw, it's a charity RUN, bukan walk ya, so make sure u n hubby start training now!

Ayah

kudo said...

haizal, my batch did our 22-yr reunion at hotel armada 3 yrs ago. it was fantastic, 1/3 of the yr turned up. regardless where we are now in our careers, lawyer ke taxi driver ke, we sat together reminiscing the good ol' days!

saw your tv thingy on the larian kardio site. wah. your bm is very the good. hahaha. :D

Helena said...

Kelakarnya yr son. hehe/

SSP tu sekolah mana? The only SSP i know is Sekolah Seri Puteri in Cyberjaya.

wanshana said...

Dear Helena,

Thank you for visiting! I've just visited your cool blog. Your kids are gorgeous and so adorable!

Hilman memang funny because the things he does are all out of his innocence - no offence meant and no harm intended...

I know - a lot of people only know SSP as Sekolah Seri Puteri. My kids' SSP is Sekolah Sri Petaling in Section 12 PJ.

Do visit again!

P/S:- Do you mind if I create a link to your blog from mine, please? Thanks.