The Malaysian Insight is featuring ordinary Malaysians who make the country a better place. Zurianty Sudin is our second profile.

IT is no easy feat juggling career, family and volunteer work, but for mother-of-four Zurianty Sudin, the many hats she wears are also the source of her pride and joy.

Thus, she always finds a way to “steal time” to visit the backlanes of Chow Kit in the heart of the capital city Kuala Lumpur to feed the homeless, or to help flood victims and natives living in remote areas, or simply give out free petrol to bikers.

“I have a fulltime job, children and other interests, but doing charity work is meaningful to me,” the 35-year-old from the corporate sector told The Malaysian Insight.

“It completes my soul. I sleep very well at night and I feel fulfilled.”

Zurianty grew up an orphan and was no stranger to life’s hardships. Always a ready participant in volunteer and charity work, she only became “hooked” when Kelantan was hit by massive floods in December 2014.

The floods that hit the east coast state were the worst in Malaysia’s history, causing thousands to lose everything as their homes were inundated with water.

Zurianty said she felt a strong call to help the flood victims, and she and her husband went into the remote Kampung Serian to offer assistance.

“We decided to go there since other places had received aid from other organisations. We had limited resources then, but we persisted.

“First, we focused on food aid. Then, we helped the victims rebuild their homes from scratch. After that, we built toilets.

“I was so grateful that the company, where I was working at the time, also helped. It funded the cost to build the toilets,” she said, adding that a total of 10 families benefited.

Extending help elsewhere

After Kelantan, Zurianty found herself becoming more involved in other volunteer work, especially those involving the Orang Asal native community.

Through her group Jejak Rimba, Zurianty has been organising community activities for villages, providing basic physical and educational needs.

“They don’t even have access to the basics, like clean water and education,” she said.

Zurianty said her group is also launching a project to set up a library at the village this year.

“The people are illiterate, so students from Universiti Putra Malaysia are going there to teach them how to read. We hope they will come to enjoy the books,” she said.

Making sacrifices

With everything she was doing to help make lives better for people in need, Zurianty said her family had decided to give up some luxuries to sustain their charity programmes.

About 20% to 30% of her monthly pay goes to her charity work, and her husband, friends and her charity also chip in.

“Financially, it has hurt a bit. We used to holiday abroad annually. We don’t anymore.

“As for quality family time, we have no problems because we are on the ground together. Everyone in the family is involved,” she said.

Brickbats and naysayers

Zurianty has had her fair share of praise as well as criticisms for her volunteer work. Most brickbats take aim at how much social media buzz surrounds Zurianty’s work.

She said some people commented that charity should be done quietly, rather than being promoted, implying that Zurianty was courting attention for her work.

“I don’t pay attention to that.

“I want people to know so that they will be encouraged to do charity too.”

She said she chose to focus on the people she was helping, rather than the criticisms.

“We don’t need to find excuses to do good deeds anytime. We can just start with what is around us.

“Ask your child if he or she has classmates who are from difficult backgrounds. Offer some help. You don’t need to organise programmes for that,” she said.

Find every opportunity to help

When Malaysians were facing the rise in petrol prices, Zurianty spent RM5,000 of her own money giving free petrol to motorcyclists around the Klang Valley.

Her #FreeFuelForTheNeedy (Freevo) project made sure that every biker they encountered – whether on a low-capacity “kapchai” or a super bike – was given RM5 worth of free fuel.

Zurianty said there was ample opportunity for people to give to charity, whether money or their time and energy.

She said when Kelantan was hit by the floods, many people on social media posted their condolences, prayers, and commented on how sorry they felt for the victims.

“But is that the most they could do? If they were the victims, wouldn’t they hope people could offer more than prayers?” she said.

She said many people blamed the government solely for their hardships, but the problem actually lies with public apathy.

“If we all help those in need, I think soon there won’t be people struggling with hardship,” she said.

“While we are still breathing, we should do what we can to help and share with others.

“When we are gone, at least we know we had done something for the world.” – April 8, 2017.