BeeBop Circus Gives Back To Little Ones

BeeBop Circus located at The School, Jaya One is a very fun movement learning centre for little ones aged 12 months to 7 years. What sets it apart from other indoor playgrounds is BeeBop Circus’ award-winning playgym sessions! Kids get to pick up some fun gymnastic skills here and all sessions are guided and monitored by a team of dedicated teachers.

Well, another thing that really sets them apart is the fact the BeeBop Circus is partnering with Yayasan Salam to reach out to the kids in Chow Kit area. They had been volunteering monthly by organizing thematic activities for the underprivileged and at-risk children in the Chow Kit Area by bringing some props all the way to Baitul Amal Children Centres. These are stories that really touched my heart. In case you didn’t know, Baitul Amal consists of 2 centers, Taska Baitul Amal and Baitul Amal Care Center launched since 2010, and these are not your regular taska and tadika, these are Social Welfare Ceners with about 70 children aged 2 months to 6 years coming from broken homes and troubled homes. Most of these children cannot afford to go to school, that’s where Yayasan Salam stepped in to save them from a world without education to provide them a full program in a conducive teaching and learning environment so the children can also grow up as intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, physically balanced individuals that are capable of contributing positively to their family, community and environment.

The playgym

Walk the plank

Ballpit

Zipline

Swing and jump

As you can see above, BeeBop Circus has great facilities in their playgym and my kids really had a blast learning movements in a safe environment with soft padded floorings and equipments. They can’t do this at home or in those outdoor playgrounds, neither can the kids at Baitul Amal Centers. That was why BeeBop Circus organised the Garden Party that Sat morning in conjunction with their 2nd anniversary, but mainly to raise funds in order to bring the 70 over children to this place at The School for a day of great fun. The funds raised will be utilized to cover the cost of transport, food, clown, and presents for a memorable excursion for the children from Chow Kit.

“When we learned that the children’s only excursion in 2015 was taking a free bus to a public park because of financial constraints, we knew we had to do something to make an excursion to BeeBop Circus possible,” says Shireen Yeoh, Business Development Manager of BeeBop Circus. “Young children learn best through play. Our programme provides a framework which leverages on this, allowing children to easily grasp scientific and mathematical concepts through guided play activities. The opportunity to benefit from this kind of experience should not be a novelty that is available only to the privileged,” she added emphatically.

“We do not even have sufficient funds to meet the basic overhead costs of maintaining the center, such as rental and utilities,” says Encik Md Ghani Ibrahim, Chief Operating Officer of Yayasan Salam Malaysia. The centers were previously sponsored by Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia but it seems that now, sponsorship is no longer available.

There was no admission fee to join the Garden Party, but a donate-as-you-wish campaign proved that Malaysians are indeed a generous lot, raising RM2,773 in just five hours. Lots of activities were held that morning, from Costume Runway sessions and story-telling with puppets, to a magic show, cupcake decorating and a range of crafts.

Josiah successfully made some clay art deco for me too. BeeBop Circus now offers new art and craft classes designed to integrate with their thematic curriculum to get the creative juices flowing.

It was a really meaningful event in my opinion, and made me aware that there are so many under-privileged children out there and they all deserve the same opportunities, education and fun like all our children too. It is quite a daunting task for the urban poor to find a good child care and taska in the vicinity of Chow Kit which is why most of their children ended up going to work with them, sleeping under their stall carts, maybe some even becoming beggars. Hopefully, this event will help create more awareness about the plight of the children in Chow Kit. We all know that Malaysians are generous people, and sometimes, all they need is a trustworthy cause they can easily contribute to. For this, I am absolutely thankful to BeeBop Circus and Yayasan Salam for the voluntary work that they do to help these beautiful children.

You too can be a part of this cause. If you wish to contribute, you may transfer donations to:
Developmental Play Sdn Bhd, CIMB account number: 8003420938 before 31 March 2016.
BeeBop Circus has pledged to offer a complimentary Art & Craft class (value RM35) for every donation of RM40 so your kids can come and have some educational fun too.

Please e-mail play@beebopcircus.com with your confirmation of payment for redemption.