SHAH ALAM, 28 May: Being given an opportunity to see and experience the hardships in life of people who are less fortunate is a useful lesson to the public.
This experienced was felt by Shamsul Nizam Omar, 38, who participated in the Corporate and Media joint Selangor Zakat Board (LZS) Asnaf Visitation programme when visiting a veteran actress, Maimun Talib at her house at Section 17, Shah Alam recently.
He said that he personally experienced Maimun and her family’s hardships when they lost their source of income and faced difficulties in raising five of her children.
“The reason that I participated in the programme today is to know to what extent the zakat distribution reaches those in need.
“Sometimes I feel that I face difficulties, but when I participated in programmes such as this, I know that there are people who face more hardships than I do,” said the former tourist bus driver.
The veteran actress is a recipient of the LZS zakat assistance since a year ago as she has breast cancer and is unable to bear the high medical costs.
In fact, her daughter who is now 17 has been confirmed to be suffering from kidney problems and needs immediate medical treatment.
Another participant, Juwita Ezli, 35, said that programmes such as this needs to be continued in future so that more people would come forward to contribute zakat to LZS so that distribution can be done virtuously.
“I brought my children along to show them that there are people who are less fortunate than us, and I feel that programmes such as this should be continued and that it is good for all,” she said.
Meanwhile, LZS Public Relations Unit Head, Hamizul Ahmad Hamid said that LZS feels called to hold the programme due to questions regarding the distribution of the zakat collection and how it is benefitted in the interest of all asnafs.
In the meantime, the one-day programme visited several premises of asnaf business owners who had received the LZS capital assistance and managed to leave the group after being successful in their respective businesses.
