Highlights

We are continuing to appeal to our readers and visitors to donate to our work of running two centres. The annual budget is RM120,000 (USD38,000) for 2014 and 2015 and will grow higher as we recruit more staff and take in additional trainees.

Please make payment to 'Persatuan Berdikari Seremban Negeri Sembilan' with your name and address on a cover slip so we can mail you our official receipt. All donations from April 1 2011 will be exempted from taxation by the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia. Please send the payment to:

The Treasurer, Persatuan Berdikari Seremban Negeri Sembilan, 381, Jalan Kenanga 1, Taman Bukit Chedang, 70300 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.

Thank you for your support.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Filming Date Fixed

RTM2 crew will film our work and conduct an interview on November 25.

RTM2 Wants to Cover Our Work Too !

It cannot be coincidence at work here. I believe God is behind the publicity He wants to provide PBSNS for greater work. Today RTM2 contacted us by email asking for permission to publicise our work in their majalah kesihatan OKU (health magazine for the disabled people) called Kugapai Harapan. We are excited and will arrange a suitable date for their crew to visit us and film our activities. I will update on this subject as we get further details.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

FITRAH KASIH

We have been told that we will be featured in this programme of RTM1 on November 7 between 9.00 - 9.30pm. Please remember to tune in.

A Really Fun and Exciting Day!

It was a momentous occasion for us. We never anticipate it but true to the agreement, a team of RTM1 crew arrived at the centre at 10am to record our works for broadcast in their FITRAH KASIH programme. Below is the 'behind the scene' pictures of what really happened this morning. Thanks to Betsi and David for getting everything ready.

PBSNS chairman, Peter Yew, getting ready for the interview.
RTM crew filming card making process.
Teaching session being filmed.
Cup cakes with welcoming messages to RTM friends.
Filming baking session (1)
Filming baking session (2)
Birthday celebration for 5 trainees.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Going on National Television - It's ON

We have been officially notified by RTM1 that they want to cover our work under their FITRAH KASIH programme which is broadcasted every Friday from 9.00 - 9.30pm. The filming crew will record the various activites on October 29. Actual airing date to be advised later.

New Signage Up



Our identity is finally taking shape, the transformation from Pusat Berdikari Seremban to Persatuan Berdikari Seremban is showing through the new signboard outside the centre. Signages inside the centre and posters will also be replaced. This in line with our application of registering the centre as a Care Centre. God willing we should be in full compliance with the law soon.

Thanks to David for expediting the new signage. Appreciated!

Monday, October 20, 2008

We May be on National Television!

We were approached by RTM1 recently. They wanted to find out more about our work. They came to know about us through the newspaper reports in the Star, NST and Utusan Melayu and were curious. They came on 16th October to conduct a preliminary study if we are 'good enough' to go on national television to share our work. I think we did qualify to go on their Friday night's show called FITRAH KASIH because they asked us to prepare some answers, get the centre ready with activities to videoshoot, and have trainees for interview. They even set a tentative date for the programme to be aired. This seems like a done deal! I don't watch RTM1 much but I know this segment will be on community work that should interest the generally caring Malaysian public. I don't know if we deserve it but surely the timing could not have been better!

RTM gave us just 2 weeks or so to prepare. Fortunately our new signages are coming in anytime. Our PBSNS tee shirts are already in use, and we have several trainees already in public employment that RTM wants to interview some of them. It is exciting, and a little unnerving! Getting on national television? It must be a nice dream and I hope that it is true, that we will do well, and that we will create so much awareness that we will have people remember us to support when we make our next appeals.

If this go through I will post the airing date and time here. Stay tuned!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Updates

Although it has been generally quiet, things are happening in PBSNS that require me to write this update.

The committee met for the second time on 27th September since it was elected in June. We dealt with many issues, including the decision to invest in a building of our own so that we can have our very own administrative base. We thought that the present building we are renting will make a good base and we will approach the church to consider if they are willing to sell. This decision, if agreed, will mean a new round of fund raising exercises. The purchase if it materialise will only take place in 3-4 years time.

We were visited by a Social Welfare officer who served us a notice to register as a Care Centre under the Care Centres Act 1993. It is no coincident that the visit came several months after we were registered and had celebrated our anniversary (actually that of Pusat Berdikari Seremban, our predecessor). We believe God was working in our midst. The registration as a Care Centre should not give us any undue problems from the impression we received from the officer since we are well organized.

And we are going to replace all existing Pusat's signboards to that of Persatuan's to reflect our new status as a society. We have already produced new letterheads, invoices, receipt books, payment vouchers, etc under the society's name. And we have already activated our Persatuan's banking account over a month ago. We will soon be producing our new brochure hopefully before end of the year, in 3 languages. By end of the year the transition to Persatuan will be complete.

The trainees at Giant and Guardian are already into their 3rd month of employment. Most are adapting well to the 'harsh' and 'real' working environment that they were not exposed to at the centre for the years they were with us. Perhaps we had been a little overly protective. We learn from this experience and feedback. We will give existing trainees reality checks once in a while to ensure they are better prepared for the workplace should they get chosen one day to work outside. We also learn not to leave these working trainees unchecked or assume that they will be able to adjust on their own, which in reality they cannot since they had not been in this new environment before. We will be following up on them more frequently, interact with their parents and supervisors, and talking with these working trainees. Lastly we are thinking of reviving the Social Club to give these working trainees opportunities to re-establish their bonds with friends still at the centre.

The work at PBSNS requires much alertness on the part of management, staff and volunteers to keep our clients in safe hands. Because we believe that even as normal adults need to be checked in now and then to see how they are doing, learning disabled people should require even more attention.