From homeless to adopted in fairy tale ending for former soldier

Life has changed in the blink of an eye for a former soldier who went from living on the streets of Kuala Lumpur to the welcoming embrace of a family in Klang, Selangor.

Not too long ago, Ruslan (not his real name) was awakened each morning by the sound of workers pulling up the shutters of whichever shop he had fallen asleep in front of the night before. Now, he wakes up to the sound of birds chirping outside his window and his adoptive mother making breakfast in the kitchen.

Still the soldier despite his years on the streets, Ruslan begins each day of his new life by washing up and tidying his room. Only after everything is in its place does he head to the dining area to have breakfast with his family.

Ruslan was once a member of the army’s military reserve force, stationed in Taiping, Perak. He was discharged after developing third stage pneumonia, and spent the next four years wandering through the streets of the capital city, trying to scrape together enough to see him through the next day.

While he received a disability pension of RM450 a month, this was not enough to keep a roof over his head.

But everything changed with a woman who introduced herself as Lily. She and her parents had read about Ruslan’s plight and wanted to make him part of their family.

Now, Ruslan lives in a quiet neighbourhood in Klang with his new parents, Pak Cik Subari and Mak Cik Zainab.

Although they had never met before, he and Lily hit it off immediately, chatting and laughing like old friends. As for his parents, they welcomed him with open arms as though he had always been their son.

“You are my child now, you don’t have to go anywhere anymore,” Pak Cik Subari told him.

Lily’s son, meanwhile, took it upon himself to show Ruslan around, and explained how the household runs to ease any initial awkwardness he might have in settling in.

“He is Ruslan’s friend now,” Lily told MalaysiaNow.

Ruslan himself feels as though he has started life afresh after years of scrounging for food and sleeping on the pavement.

He also earns some money on the side as a companion to his adoptive parents, and his treatment for pneumonia has been shifted from the Tanglin health clinic to Hospital Tunku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang.

“My hope is to fully recover and to spend the rest of my life with my adoptive family,” he said, thanking all those who had expressed concern about his well-being.

According to Lily, Ruslan’s arrival has brought about a change for the better already.

Her parents no longer feel lonely, and her father is more chatty and animated than he has been in years.

“As a family, we will take care of Ruslan to the best of our ability,” she said.

“His past is not an issue, only the present. And right now, he is one of us.”