Trials and tribulations of homeless family of 10

Nabilah Haris
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

A FAMILY of 10 is currently homeless and temporarily residing at the Mukim Kilanas Community Hall after spending a night behind a restaurant in Kg Bengkurong.

The family that consists of an aunt, with five children and her niece, who has two children, has been boarding with different relatives at different homes since 2010, finally hit a low point when they had no where to go starting Friday after taking up an offer to live at a friend's house for a night and eventually having to leave following an alleged physical altercation between her friend and his parents.

In an interview with The Brunei Times, the aunt, 32-year-old Siti Noraidah said prior to their current situation, she had been living at her brother-in-law's family home when the situation started becoming unpleasant and she decided to take her children away with her.

"I decided to leave with my children following some misunderstanding that arose from living there," said Noraidah, who had to live in his brother-in-law's living room

"My children are quite naughty, my brother-in-law and his children could not tolerate their behaviour any more."

"I have moved many times as people cannot stand my children's behaviour anymore, who they said were noisy and too difficult to handle. I have to keep moving for the good of my children and myself," she added.

According to Siti Noraidah she had been boarding at different houses since July 1, 2010 ever since her husband was put in prison.

"My closest relative is my niece but she does not own a home either so she joins us in boarding as well. She is an only child so she has no siblings to go to," she added.

She shared that she receives Baitulmal assistance but it is not enough to take care of her family.

"I even used my Baitulmal assistance to pay for my stay at the various houses, I was not freeloading. I just got a job as a cleaner but it has only been a week. Times are difficult. Our children have not been attending school since the school term re-opened especially since we have become homeless."

The youngest child in the displaced family is three years old while the eldest is 13 years old.

She then explained that she moved in with her niece, 30-year-old Radiahtul Nur Adnina, who was at the time residing at the step father's home in the same village.

"There were also misunderstandings between my niece and her stepfather. They did not care so much for us at their home, it felt insincere and it made living there uncomfortable."

Noraidah said that despite having 16 siblings, she is unable to live with them either citing reasons such as insufficient space at their government-provided housing while others lived with their in-laws.

Radiahtul explained that she was currently going through a divorce from her absent husband who had not been providing for the family for the past years.

She said that they left her stepfather's home and decided to spend a night behind a restaurant where the family met a friend of Radiahtul who offered them a place to spend the night.

"Unfortunately, the next day he was chased out by his family for having us over for one night. His parents were against it. We felt bad for him as it felt like it was our fault so we brought him along with us. He was just trying to help us."

She alleged that her friend was physically assaulted for bringing them home to spend a night.

"We went back to the restaurant where our friend's friend called up the village head as he did not want to see our children sleep behind the restaurant. We explained our situation to him (village head)," said Radiahtul who said that the village head of Kg Bengkurong, Sinarubai and Burong Lepas, Hj Talib Hj Abu Bakar and the Penghulu Mukim Kilanas, Hj Abdullah Hj Alus took swift action and immediately placed them at the Mukim Kilanas Community Hall for temporary shelter.

Upon hearing the news of the homeless family, the village head insisted they moved into the Community Hall the same night where a representative of the Brunei Islamic Religious Council (MUIB) visited the same night and also the following morning. A representative for the Brunei-Muara District Officer also paid the family a visit.

Hj Talib Hj Abu Bakar urged members of the public to provide assistance for the family who are in need of basic necessities such as food and drinks, especially baby formula for the youngest child.

Those interested in providing assistance can leave donations at the Mukim Kilanas Community Hall, where the family is temporarily residing or present the donations to the Penghulu Mukim Kilanas or the Ketua Kampong (village head) of Kg Bengkurong, Sinarubai and Burong Lepas.

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times