My name is Tony Siew and i have been the proprietor of Waikiki Bar Pj, for the past 19 years. Being the head honcho and founder of TTK, all our past events would’ve been nothing short of chaotic, if not for the amazing coordination skills of sister at arms and ex-hotelier, Miss Judy Pow. Thankfully, all our past events have also been blessed with kind volunteers in offering their time & talents at no charge. As Waikiki bar is very small in space, activities are limited, hence our call for new volunteers are far and few and few.. Without the kindness from the musicians, we would never have gotten very far and it's specially Miss Joy Victor, who's been in with us twice in the shave, alongside with Miss Elvira Arul, that we are truly blessed.These ladies has long been super supportive and we just love em to bits ! All this too, wouldn't have gone very well without 2 friends, who were always there for us with their sound and lighting equipment. A special thank you to the late brother Roy Mukiah and brother Ivan Zuzartee. This year, we also welcome back 2 dear friends who has graciously volunteered in assisting us as master of ceremony during the event.. A big THANK YOU to Sashi Loco and Miss Elvira Arul. With having organized charity events for most of the last decade, the set up and arrangements had become all too familiar to us and the tasks came with less burdens. With time, TTK proved itself with it's transparency and efforts and in 2009, realizing that we needed a separate identity from the bar, 'Tribute To Kindness' was conceptualized and formed. To date, ‘Tribute To Kindness’ has organized 10 successful events, with raising slightly over $450,000 in total. All monies collected has been disbursed to either the individuals, homes or families, that it was initially intended for,,,,
Aside from our maiden charity event ( under Waikikibar ) for the benefit of Baby Callum ( son of former national Hockey goalkeeper, Paul Lopez), we had also assisted the Taman Megah Handicap home and the Kirtash home. It was our works to aid the 'poor families with children battling cancer', that got people to sit up and take notice of us. We not only set a benchmark in terms of donations collected but it also reaffirmed that Waikiki bar had the most generous patrons ever seen !!.. Our first event shocked us with a collection of slightly over $110,000, as no one expected it. Our second event tore apart the earlier bench mark, with a whooping $170+ thousand collected in total !!. Kindly note that 100% OF DONATIONS ARE FORWARDED TO THE FUND! NEITHER the organizers nor volunteers are paid, with NO subsidies given ( petrol,parking,phone calls, etc ) Basically, you donate $10, we'll pass along the full $10.. With all types of causes around the world, we NEVER chose or told ourselves which cause that we should focus on. You see, We NEVER chose this cause…. This all initially started in May 2012, through my motorcycle club ( BMWMCM) when an idea by Dato Nik, was mooted to fulfill the last wishes of a little girl called, Nurin.. Nurin, who was then already in palliative care having battled the dreaded disease to it's final stages, had a last wish to fly in an airplane. As Nurin was medically unfit to travel commercial due to its cabin pressure, the biker boyz were equally determined not to allow corporate to have the last say, by chartering a private plane for her !. In this prestigious group with several thousand members, there were already half a dozen pilots in the club who were willing to captain the 12 seater aircraft.. The plan was to organise a luxury MPV to ferry Nurin and her family members from home and a VIP escort by a BMW bike convoy, right up to the plane’s steps on the runway !… A refreshment tent was also arranged for the benefit of Nurin’s family as well as for us. To most of these hardened iron butt men, no longer was this just another charity ride but a ride of compassion, as most were parents themselves. The determination shown by some of the more influential members, had loads of red tape removed and VIP status accorded to little Nurin. To top it off, the then club President’s wife, had also picked up a gift alongside a pink frock and matching watch for Nurin and with everything paid and logistics ironed out, there was nothing left to do but to wait for the big day in anticipation of her joyous reaction !!.. Think that was also the day when 8 Singaporean brothers arrived, riding a couple of days earlier, to chill and catch up…
I still remember that day, walking in a building when a customary FB check on my phone revealed the shocking news !! The torrent of heart breaking messages on the club's wall was self explanatory… Nurin had passed on… just 2 days before her flight !! No doubt most of us had never even met her, that didn't change anything and the sadness felt by all had left the clubs wall void of the usual friendly banter and chit chats.. One could sense the state of shock and disbelief, as this was not how twas suppose to be. If ever there was a need to silence a crowd of several thousand boisterous bikers, this is it !! You' d probably hear a pin drop ! Eventually as time proceeded, memories fade, all forgotten and life carried on for all……………..ALL BUT ME !! The analogy of 'so near, yet so far' did not lay well with me and the frustrating memory of a girls dream dashed by only 48 hours had me vowed to do something for the other 'Nurin's' in the country.. With that thought in mind, our next charity event 'Power of a Wish' was held, the beneficiaries being 63 children from Wad KK3, Pediatric Oncology, KLGH. .. We were provided with a list from 63 children of items wanting.. Items listed ranged from the simple toy robot, a classic green bicycle, to the more expensive items like the iPhone, iPad, PSP Portables, Lap top and portable DVD players…
With the assistance from some amazing friends and over 70 kind hearted musicians, a charity event was then held in June and donations received were used to purchase the items. ’… Sadly, we lost 2 children during that period, as a horrible reminder to us that what we were doing was very real and that time was now a luxury that we no longer had.. Sometime later in June, the team and i arrived at the hospital bearing gifts for the children… The much longer than 3 hours, that we had anticipated for the presentation left me somewhat numb. Like most of you, kids play a special part in our lives.. With removing my ‘rose tinted' glasses' and truly seeing up close for the first time what cancer does to our children, it became a life changing moment for me. Little was i to know, that in a little less than 2 months, my own baby son, then 8 months of age, would become a latest addition to a horrible pile of statistics and this whole presentation was to become just…….. a warm up, for me !! Needless to say, 2 months later my son was diagnosed with AML Leukaemia. One of the then deadliest and most ‘hardest to contain’ strain in the cancer group. Children under the age of 12 months were deemed to be worse off and basically ‘H’ had everything that was negative, going for him. I won’t bore you with the details, as that itself is at least 2 novels long but only to say that my son Heston, has just turned 3 and we now have only a remaining 3 years left without relapsing, to deem ‘H’ as medically CURED !!.. It was during the 5-6 month stay at U.H, that opened my eyes to the additional suffering that are borne by our fellow Malaysians.. When dealing with these families directly in the past, each individual plight was recorded and posted and the worse of all these families, was one that lived in Cheras.. Family of 4 kids who lived in a house with NO ELECTRICITY FOR A YEAR !!.. Then there was the seamstress mum, who’s forced to hire a taxi for $600 from Malacca to UH and back, as her young daughter has had her leg amputated, hence they can’t travel by BUS, like how MOST of the outstation patients do !!.. This doesn’t involve medication, food and expenses.. You see, there are only 2 gov hospitals that has specialised doctors that treats CHILDREN in Malaysia ! One is KLGH and the other is U.H… Procedures and medication are completely different between an adult and a child, even though it may be the same form of cancer. They have loads of doctors for adults cancer but sadly, highly inadequate for children’s cancer.. With UH providing 20+ beds and KLGH another 20+/30 beds, we’ve got tops 60-65 beds, to treat the whole country. If you think that’s adequate, i’ve personally seen the wards bursting at the seems, as emergency cases pops out and patients having to wait for hours on the sofa ( if they’re lucky).. As all these young patients are equally ill, the doctors try their very best to get the child as well enough to go home, as God knows they need the bed for the next sick one. I then realised that whatever thoughts of ‘i was having it bad’, failed in comparison with these other families. A decision was then made to assist Heston’s ‘friends’, as i believe that was exactly what i was meant to do in the first place.. After our last ‘Bald & Beautiful’ event, A fund was set up at the hospital that allows any Malaysian child irrespective of Gender, Race or Religion who’s family are financially strained, to use by seeking the services of the hospital’s social welfare services. This fund, with whatever limited funds in it, is under the direct supervision of Paediatric Oncology, UMMC, Social Welfare, Senior Ward Doctor and reps from TTK.. With treatment being horribly expensive and with an average of 300 children diagnosed yearly, this looks it may be a project of a lifetime !!
