Kumar

For the first time in nearly 30 years, Kumarakuru Arunasalam felt truly free of drugs. He had been clean before but this time it felt different.

Proud of himself, and armed with gifts and even a little money, Kumar returned home to his mother. He had not seen his family for five years. Now, he was ready to show them the changed man he had become.

When he got to his family home, he discovered that his mother had sold the flat and left no forwarding address.
But when he got to his family home, he discovered that his mother had sold the flat and left no forwarding address. That was in 2013.

“They left me alone. I had no home to live in anymore,” said Kumar, now aged 52.

He did not know where his mother had gone and had lost touch with his siblings – an older and a younger sister. He would have been all alone in the world had it not been for The Helping Hand.

“I lived at THH. The staff, they really love me, encouraged me. During holidays, my boss and my colleagues would take me out, invite me home to eat with their own families.

“They treated me like family and changed my life.”

Kumar grew up a much-loved only son, doted on especially by his father.

“I was his favourite,” said Kumar.

His father worked at PSA Singapore and would often come home at midnight after his shift with chicken wings for Kumar’s supper.

“He would wake me up and wait for me to wake up to eat it. My father always took care of me.

“He would take me out, buy me lots of things. If he bought things for us, I would always get the first choice.”

“My mum would advise me, but I never went to school.”
Because both his parents worked – his mother was a gardener at Sentosa – Kumar and his sisters were left largely to their own devices.

Read more on Kumar in Salt & Light article.
Kumar Testimony in Salt and Light