Persatuan Berdikari Seremban Weblog

Passing of a Champion of the Disabled

2011-12-20T19:05:00.008+08:00

It is with deep regrets that we learn of the passing of a Christian leader who is a passionate supporter of the disabled people. The late Mr. Edward Lee died from colon cancer as reported HERE. His contact with us was in July 2008 when he attended the thanksgiving dinner of the 10th anniversary of Pusat Berdikari Seremban on the invitation of Mr. Tony Wong, a personal friend. The picture below was taken during that function (Edward was seated left).

THIS is Edward's blog and extracted from his profile is the following information.

COMMUNITY SERVICE
Lee was involved in the following achievements, done without financial funding from any political party, corporations or individuals but through cooperation and consultation with the public and working together with the municipality.

1) Malaysian Care
Lee started out voluntary work with Malaysian Care in 1985 driving children with learning disabilities to camps and outdoor activities. He was also their teacher and friend.

Through introductions by churches and friends, he later also helped people with mental illnesses, eg schizophrenia, suicidal cases and depression, by being their friend and carer.

Our condolence goes to his family on his untimely death.

Visit to Art Expo Malaysia 2011

2011-11-02T11:26:00.007+08:00

REPORT: TRIP TO THE ART EXPO MALAYSIA 2011 AT MATRADE EXHIBITION CENTRE DATE: 31 OCT 2011

TIME

8.45am : Left PBS with trainees Daniel, Shiraz, Edwin and Chu Yi to the railway station.

Bought tickets fort them at half price with their identification cards. Each at RM6 for return trip.

11.30am: Alighted the commuter to catch the free shuttle bus service to Matrade ExhibitionCentre in Jalan KhidmatUsaha, Off Jalan Duta. KL

12noon: Arrived at Matrade, registered at entrance.. Free admission.

The art Expo was officiated by YB Dato Sri Dr.Ng Yen Yen, minister of Tourism Malaysia on Friday 28^th Oct .

There were 61 Art Galleries from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Iran, Sweden, Vietnam, India, Japan, China, HK, Taiwan, Hungary and Spain.

There are also 13 booths under Events Arcadia.

“ Rainbow In My Heart” an art competition organized by Rotary club of Bandar Utama on the 23th Oct, has a booth which exhibit the top 20 winning art pieces for sales.

Daniel and Shiraz were so happy to see their paintings on the wall. I feel happy too. It’s an achievement and encouragement too. It helps them to develop and recognize their potential imagination and creativity in art.

We took 2hours going round admiring other well-known artists.

2.00pm Took the shuttle back to KL Sentral and catch the soonest train back to Seremban. The train as crowded we had to stand till Nilai. Everyone was tired but happy.

4.00pm Arrived PBS , on time for their parents to pick them up.

Kate Siew

New Training Centre Officially Opened

2011-09-17T22:16:00.024+08:00

The big day finally arrived, September 13, when all the preparations and hard work culminated in the successful opening of 381, Jalan Kenanga 1, Taman Bukit Chedang, 70300 Seremban, the address of our new training centre cum administrative office. The weather was great and from 10.30am invited guests started streaming in. At 10.50am our guest of honour, Yang Berhormat Dato Hajah Zainab bt Haji Nasir arrived slightly ahead of schedule. We spent some time chatting inside the air-conditioned Chedang Cafe until 11.15am when the ceremony officially began with Rev. Paul Christie welcoming the guests to be seated. Chairman Peter Yew delivered his welcoming address in which he acknowledged the great contributions from the Yamtuan and Tengku Ampuan Besar to the Menteri Besar for the support rendered to making this event a great success. He also stressed the need for both private and public sectors to play supportive roles to provide employment opportunities to the learning disabled after their training at PBSNS. He added that this opening ceremony is a fitting event to spur us forward to help the learning disabled to become self reliant or berdikari and become competent members of society.

The guest of honor gave her speech recognizing the important service provided by PBSNS for the disabled people in Seremban and urging greater support to be given. Following the speech she cut the ribbon at the entrance to the new centre and then proceeded to unveil the plaque laid prominently on the wall of the centre. She pledged a grant from the state government and agreed to have several group pictures taken before she began her tour of the centre which ended with a simple lunch at the Chedang Cafe, a training cafe for some of our trainees.

Below are a selection of pictures captured of this very significant milestone event of our society.

Four More Days ...

2011-09-09T13:24:00.006+08:00

The countdown has started to the official opening of our new training centre on September 13. My staff and I with the vice chairman just ended a very detailed walk through on what need to be done on the event proper, from setting up the canopies, backdrop and other equipment on September 12 itself and 13 morning, to briefing the volunteers on their specific roles from ushering to traffic control, security and food management. Besides the guest of honor we expect president and directors of a few agencies to come for this event which we have invited the press to cover. Almost a year from its dedication we will now have its official opening. We pray for a good turnout and good weather as we commit our work to help the learning disabled. If you are unable to join us please remember our work in your prayers. Thank you.

Independence and Dignity

2011-08-29T13:49:00.005+08:00

Please read this interesting article about how a learning disabled person, Johari Jamali, of United Voice, managed to climb the slope of slow learning and negative public perception to head the first self advocacy group to prove a point: that it is not impossible to cross into the realm of normal living if there is both a will and an opportunity.

The will comes from the disabled person, his family and his trainers. The opportunity comes from society and prospective employers. On the eve of our 54th Merdeka Day celebration let us be mindful that even the disabled people in our midst long for independence as well, and to have it with dignity, not sympathy. At PBSNS we aim to provide both and hopefully to also set up a similar advocacy group for our clients to spur them forward.

PBSNS Sunday

2011-08-21T15:58:00.005+08:00

My home church, Wesley Methodist Church Seremban, recognized our work by designating today as PBSNS Sunday. Mr. Wong Young Soon, executive director of Malaysian Care was our guest preacher. I did an update on the work of the association since the previous sharing. Staff and volunteers sell products made by the trainees as well as assist in becoming ushers and greeters during the service. In all we had a wonderful morning.

Upcoming Event of the Year

2011-07-25T13:53:00.005+08:00

Most of you who followed our blog are aware that our new centre was dedicated and open for service in September 2010. We are glad to announce that we will have a simple opening ceremony on September 13, 2011. More updates will be announced as they become available.

All Donations Now Tax Exempted!

2011-07-19T13:46:00.005+08:00

Today we received the happy news that all donations towards our work from April 1, 2011 will be allowed as tax exempt expenses. What this means is that you may deduct your donations from your taxable income declared to arrive at a lower tax due to the Inland Revenue Board. This entitlement is available to those with Malaysian tax file.

We hope that this will encourage more donors to respond to our appeal, especially corporate donors. All donations, large and small, will be acknowledged with an official receipt bearing our tax exemption file number that you must retain and file for any tax audit later.

The U.S. Navy Came A-Calling

2011-03-11T22:28:00.012+08:00

On 8th March, under the arrangement by the Pantai Valley chapter of the Rotary Club, a group of U.S sailors and marines led by their chaplain came by PBSNS for a courtesy call as well as to do some community work. These young Americans were smartly dressed in dark blue uniform and marine fatigue ready for menial work.

Arriving in a chartered coach these uniformed personnel quickly made their way to the meeting room where a briefing was given to explain our work before they were shown around the centre, after which they proceeded to clean up the drains and prune the branches of the trees outside.

After taking lunch they brought they left for their ship docked in Port Kelang. We really appreciated the help given by these young Americans. We hope that they have taken with them some memory of the kind of community work we do here to share with families and friends. Here are some pictures for the record.

The Year of PBSNS

2010-12-14T19:13:00.030+08:00

At the risk of sounding pompous, I believe in all honesty that we have not done as much in our 12 years history as we did over the past 12 months. Allow me to summarize the events.

December 2009 - we signed the sales and purchase agreement to buy our own building which is by no coincidence next door to the existing centre.

May 2010 - a charity golf tournament was organised to raise funds for repairing and renovating the building bought. We raised over RM86,000.

September 2010 - the new centre was completed and dedicated.

November 2010 - the Inner Wheel Club of Kuala Lumpur sponsored the purchase of bakery and cafe equipment and furniture costing over RM23,000. On 22nd November a bus load of ladies paid us a visit. Here are some pictures celebrating the moment.

A week later, on 29th November, representatives from Samsung Electronics Display in Tuanku Jaafar Industrial Park, Seremban, donated 2 plasma television sets of 42" and 50" sizes as part of their Care and Share Community Project. Here are some pictures of the event.

December 2010 - Finally, the event the fund raising taskforce worked hard to cap the year - the Fund Raising Dinner at the newly opened Silver Dragon Restaurant in Seremban 2. Held on 12th December, we succeeded in attracting 58 tables and several donors who were unable to come. Our guest of honour was Dato' Siow Chen Pin, State Exco member and on hand to entertain us was veteran Elvis Presley impersonator, HT Long. The event succeeded in raising over RM50,000 which included a contribution of RM5,000 from Dato' Siow and several guests who donated cash or made pledges at the dinner itself. It was a testimony that the dinner has indeed been a 'life changing experience' for many of those present.

Here are a sample of pictures taken at this auspicious event.

Chedang Cafe

2010-11-02T08:35:00.008+08:00

It was a truly exciting moment yesterday when we unofficially 'launched' our latest pet project, the Chedang Cafe. The Chedang Cafe is no ordinary cafe. While it may resemble any other cafe that serves food and drinks, the difference is that the service providers are learning disabled trainees who are given the opportunity to learn and apply the knowledge of serving, greeting and collecting cash. Volunteers will help them gain experience and confidence as well as develop a routine comfortable to each trainee.

The Chedang Cafe has materialised because we have available space to develop it. This came about when the straw packing and card making projects moved over to the new centre next door thus giving the entire space in the first centre to the bakery and cafe project.

We hope that you will be our customers if you are in the vicinity. The trainees will surely love to serve you. Here are some pictures for your viewing.

Early Intervention Help Restore Self Esteem

2010-09-27T15:05:00.006+08:00

Below I've captured some encouraging advice for parents of children with learning disabilities. You can read the whole article HERE.

“Learning disability is confirmed if a child scores high on the IQ test but does badly in the achievement test,” says Dr Ting. It is well documented that some of the high-achieving personalities such as Albert Einstein and Sir Richard Branson have suffered from some form of learning disability such as dyslexia.

“Parents must understand that most children with learning disabilities have the cognitive ability to learn,” explains Dr Ting. Given the right remedial programme, she said children with learning disabilities stand the chance of being on-par with the rest of their classmates.

“As the reading skill is a pre-requisite for students to learn many subjects in school , it is imperative that an early intervention programme is administered on those who are found to have dyslexia,” she reiterates.

She also recommends that children with learning disability undergo psychotherapy as some of them may suffer from damaged self-esteem.

Dedicated to Serve

2010-09-26T18:08:00.010+08:00

Today is an auspicious day for us, a sort of double celebration. Today will be remembered as the day members of Wesley Methodist Church Seremban celebrates their church's 95th anniversary. And to many who are connected with our work, including her sponsors as well as the many who pray that our good work will continue to restore lives and help bring positives changes to those we care for, they together with us celebrate the dedication of the new building that has become our new training centre. As of September 21 when we moved the straw packing and card making works over we have been busy making it presentable for today's big moment.

To honour us with the prayer of dedicating the building to the work of providing job skills training to the learning disabled is the President of the Trinity Annual Conference, The Methodist Church in Malaysia, Rev. Dr. Ong Hwai Teik. Present to witness this historic event at 10.30am today were some 54 church members, staff, volunteers and well-wishers of PBSNS. The meeting room was used for the very first time and was 'warmed' by 42 guests. Another 12 had to sit outside to listen to the message by the President who at the end electronically unveiled the plaque which will be made later and installed prominently on one of the walls. A group photo was taken outside both buildings where we now operate to commemorate the occasion.

For those who miss it here are a collection of memorable pictures for you to see.

Fund Raising Dinner

2010-09-19T13:26:00.006+08:00

A fund raising dinner has been planned on December 12, 2010 (Sunday) at the newly opened Silver Dragon Restaurant, in S2 City Centre, a stone throw away from the City Park. The objective of this fund raiser is to boost our Building Fund to help pay for the cost of building our new training centre. We haved booked its grand banquet hall that has a 75 tables seating capacity as well as a huge stage and professional sound and lighting system.

We are in the process of identifying and inviting a guest of honor as well as looking for a singer to entertain the guests throughout the dinner.

A souvenir magazine will be published to raise funds. We hope to receive warm support to help us raise no less than RM20,000 in this endeavor.

Ticket sales will start very soon and will be priced at RM60 or RM70 each (Update: this is subject to revision after the cost of food is finalised). For a 5 star restaurant (you have to see to believe what I write, but I was there last night for a dinner so this is a first hand account) this is certainly reasonable. If you are interested to get tickets or insert an advertisement please contact Betsi at 06-7632005 for details.

Common Signs of Learning Disabilities

2010-09-18T23:45:00.002+08:00

I wish draw your attention to THIS article that appeared in today's newsreel. I believe it is relevant and important to connect to this report to help us better understand what LD is and is not. LD has NOTHING to do with intelligence. To suggest that people with LD are 'stupid' is uncaring and even rude. Children with LD tend to have the following traits:

1. Slow to speak
2. Poor eye and hand coordination
3. Poor hearing and understanding skills
4. Slow to understand mathematical concepts
5. Slow readers
6. Tires easily
7. Difficulty in recognising space

Early intervention will help the child with LD overcome his difficulties earlier.

Building Project Update 7

2010-09-17T18:05:00.005+08:00

We are all set to move over Monday. Today a cleaning contractor came with chemical floor cleaning solution to take away the dust and residual cement as well as clean the glass doors and partitions. On Monday the straw packing and card making equipment as well as various desks, chairs and cabinets will be moved over. The LCD projector will be installed and tested. Other furnitures will be moved in to prepare for the dedication service on September 26. For the first time ther trainees are allowed into the new centre and they were very excited with their new 'home'. Here are some pix. Look how spacious the ground floor is, soon it will be occupied and will not look the same.

Building Project Update 6

2010-09-14T16:00:00.007+08:00

As of today the project is nearly completed with only the touch up works to be carried out. There was some delays due to the sourcing of the right homogeneous floor tiles. After the building is washed and cleaned we will progressively move the straw packing and card making equipment and furnitures over so that the existing centre can be partitioned to become a bakery cum cafeteria. The renovation work created some inconvenience to the centre as dust seeped across and we had to close our centre for a few days when things got quite bad. Thankfully the worst is over. The coming weeks will challenge us to arrange the furnitures and equipment for the most efficient operation.

Building Project Update 5

2010-08-29T11:10:00.016+08:00

This update shows the plaster ceilings are up (notice that we have installed an LCD projector ceiling bracket to help facilitate presentations), a light well is constructed to illuminate the rest area to save on electricity and air-conditioning water condensates are ducted out via concealed PVC piping appropriately sloped. The completion is on time and we expect to receive the 'key' from the contractor by mid September. The next job will be laying of floor tiles, wall painting and installation of air conditioners, ceiling fans, ceiling down lights/fluorescent lights and doors/windows.

On plan is the dedication of the new centre on September 26 by the president of TRAC, Rev. Dr Ong Hwai Teik who is the guest preacher at Wesley Seremban's 95th anniversary service. We welcome you to come and witness this happy and historic occasion.

Building Project Update 4

2010-08-20T21:28:00.008+08:00

We are pleased to update you on the progress of the renovation of our new centre with some pictures below. Like a foetus taking shape and appearance it is undergoing a transformation that by the next update you will see something akin to a pupa coming out of its cocoon. We hope we are not over-boasting but we are quite excited and pleased with the quality of work carried out. According to the building contractor he should be able to complete the work in 2 weeks. Upon handing over our next step will be to move the office, straw packing and card making projects over, then carry out some modification to the existing centre to prepare it to become a bakery cum cafeteria.

Picture before Renovation

Picture on August 20, 2010

Malaysians are Charitable

2010-08-20T16:42:00.003+08:00

According to THIS report Malaysian women are more likely to donate to charities than men in the coming 6 months but more than half of the respondents said they would make a donation. It said that this trend is evident in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. This is certainly good news to bodies such as ours that depend on public donations to sustain our work.

This morning the bakery taskforce had a meeting to discuss how the new centre will be set up. Although we will be into challenging times we believe that we will be getting both financial and supervisory supports when the time comes. We are placing our faith on the generous Malaysian people and its business communities.

PBSNS Sunday 2010

2010-08-16T20:52:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, August 15, was designated OUR day by the church that founded us, Wesley Methodist Church Seremban. This is the 2nd time we have it since we became 'independent' and the church have most graciously allow us space and time to update the congregation of what took place in the past year. Well, all the major events we blogged here we presented in a short powerpoint to the congregation. The icing of the day was the general offerings were channelled to us for our development work, i.e. the building fund. Our thanks to pastor and the church leadership for their generosity. Much appreciated.

We did say that we hope to set up a small cafetaria in our bakery project. It will be for training our trainees to have a hands-on experience on how to serve and how to handle cash. Eventually we hope to build this into a small business that some of the trainees can be proud co-owners. It's a little early in the day but just talking about it is making many of our staff and volunteers excited.

An 'Accidental' Visit to Daybreak Centre

2010-08-10T17:06:00.009+08:00

On a private visit home last weekend to celebrate my mother's 85th birthday I stopped by Ipoh to overnight and was invited by my sister-in-law who works as a volunteer at the New Horizon Society branch based at the Persatuan Daybreak in Pengkalan, Ipoh. NHS is an early intervention centre to help infants and children with delayed mental development and learning difficulties. It was started in 1994 by Malaysian CARE with support of the Ipoh Pastor's Fellowship and churches in Ipoh.

As I was in Daybreak I took the opportunity to look around and was privileged to have Ruth Yates, manager of the vocational training department to explain the work and show me around.

Trainees were doing various kinds of work to learn skills as well as earn an allowance. For example, I saw them inverting gloves, packing party sets, forming socks, knitting embroidery and picking up computing skills. Some trainees were pruning the overhanging creepers on the building. 2 trainees were being evaluated by a fulltime occupational therapist.

Here are some picture I took of their activities.

With Ruth Yates and Cikgu Ab Shukur bin Ab Manan from SMK Seri Ampang, Ipoh, who oversee special students in learning computing skills.

Building Project Update 3

2010-08-06T18:15:00.014+08:00

Today we made the first progress payment to the contractor. We were happy with the progress and when we asked him when will the entire work be done he smilingly said in a month's time. I told him to finish it between the two national days: Aug 31 and Sep 16. Judging from the progress he made, finishing half the work in 3 weeks, I am confident he can deliver on his promise. Next week his workers will start plastering all the walls and floors and then move on to painting and laying the tiles. Today the last wall (I called it the 'berlin' wall) that has to be knocked down is finally opened. It is the common wall between the 2 centres to facilitate traffic movement. Below are some pictures.

The office has to be temporarily moved to the training room to allow the common wall to be opened.

A worker setting up a wooden partition to minimise concrete debris when the wall is drilled open.

Brick wall for the frontage of the building constructed. There will be 2 windows and an air-conditioner between them and at the back of the enlarged meeting room which can seat 30 participants.

The party wall with the church office closed. It was previously a metal grille with rusty zinc sheets. See previous update pix.

LD Tell Tale Signs

2010-07-29T15:26:00.007+08:00

In THIS news report the writer revealed signs in young children who may be learning disabled soon. Early detection will allow parents and caregivers timely intervention to help these children overcome their disabilities sooner than later. Here are some signs.

In young children

Red flags in preschool-age children:

• Pronunciation problems.
• Slow vocabulary growth.
• Trouble finding the right word.
• Trouble learning numbers, the alphabet or the days of the week.
• Extreme restlessness, a very short attention span and a poor ability to follow directions or routines.

As they get older

Red flags in elementary school-age children and older:

• Reversals of letters and words when learning to read.
• Failure to pay attention to details or making careless mistakes in schoolwork.
• Difficulty sustaining attention.
• Difficulty following through on instructions and failure to finish schoolwork.
• Seems very disorganized and/or often loses important things.
• Has trouble reading charts and maps.
• Has difficulty mastering number knowledge (e.g. recognition of quantities without counting).
• Has difficulty with learning and memorizing basic addition and subtraction facts.
• Has difficulty learning strategic counting principles (e.g. by 2, 5, 10, 100).
• Poorly aligns numbers, resulting in computation errors.

If you know of a family member, a neighbor's child, or a child of a church member or working colleague with any of these signs, you can point them to the possibility of LD.

Building Project Update 2

2010-07-29T15:14:00.008+08:00

It was 2 weeks ago that we gave you the first update. To show you the progress made here are some pictures of what took place since then.

PBSNS Welcomes Malaysian Care

2010-07-29T15:06:00.006+08:00

On 27th July we were blessed to welcome visitors from Malaysian Care led by the Executive Chairman, Mr Lee Chee Loi and his deputy Mr. Wong Young Soon. They were able to see for themselves the expansion work we are presently undertaking to help more learning disabled people here in and around Seremban.

It's a Colorful World

2010-07-29T14:54:00.011+08:00

And the PBSNS trainees led the way with their tropical green tee shirts that livens the park and the flowers!

A fortnight ago a group of trainees with staff and volunteers took time out of their routine work to enjoy the flowers and fresh air in Putrajaya at its Floral Fest which was declared opened on 10th July 2010 by the Prime Minister himself. Thanks to sponsors who paid for the traveling expenses. Here are some pictures to show what a great time they had.

Building Project Update 1

2010-07-14T21:00:00.019+08:00

We are pleased to inform you that the work of building our new centre has finally taken off. The job was awarded to Tan Ong Construction & Engineering Sdn Bhd of Seremban. Below are some pictures of the work-in-progress. Weeks earlier the building was fumigated and treated against termite infestations.

In the coming weeks we will post more pictures as the new centre takes shape.

Work mobilised on 12 July 2010

Partition wall demolished to create a larger meeting room

New water pipe laid

New 300 gallon stainless steel water storage tank installed

Scaffolding and safety nettings fitted

A Brief Update

2010-06-30T12:41:00.009+08:00

The past month has been pretty slow. What was eventful was that our 2nd AGM was held on 19th June and almost all the existing committee members were re-elected to serve another 2 years until June 2012. I want to thank them for co-working with me.

Officially we raised a total of RM86,695.65 from the golf tournament, sale of auction items as well as donation from the Yayasan Munarah. We also obtained quotations for our renovation work and have awarded the main contract costing RM65,500 and supplementary contracts on electrical installations and plumbing works costing about RM15,000. Application for electricity and water supplies have been made and work is expected to start next month. Hopefully they will be completed within 2 months. In the meantime we are working on raising funds to buy equipment and fittings.

Yesterday we received visitors from the Inner Wheel KL chapter who indicated their desire to help with some equipment. It is my belief that we will be able to get the new centre ready by end of the year.

How Large is Our Building Fund?

2010-05-27T13:52:00.010+08:00

Ooops! I was told I did not specify anywhere in this blog how much we really needed. Perhaps it was because we have not obtained the actual cost of doing up the new centre but I think I should post here an educated estimate.

Estimated Cost of All Repairs, Renovations and Equipment Required - RM150,000
Repayment of Private Loans - RM40,000
Total - RM190,000 (= Building Fund Size, subject to refinement)

Estimated Proceeds from Recent Golf Tournament - RM80,000
Amount to be Raised - RM110,000

You can help by paying into:

Name of Account: PBSNS Building Fund
Account No. 3159848617
Name of Bank: Public Bank, Jalan Rasah Branch
Routing Code: PBBEMYKL

and then drop us an email to pbssbn@gmail.com or call us at 06-7632005 to inform us so we can track your donation.

If you prefer the regular method of payment by cheque please send it to the address above. Thank you.

We will post periodic updates on this building fund to keep you informed.

Teamwork Par Excellence

2010-05-25T17:01:00.012+08:00

I have not seen better teamwork and zeal than the golf organizing committee I served in the past few months. Julia was the lightning rod that galvanized us on besides getting many participants and sponsors, including hole-in-one and hole sponsors through her contacts; Susan was on the go getting sponsors and donors of prizes; Linda was faultless as the MC; Peter McGovern (advisor) provided insights we easily missed; Betsi showed her mettle in secretarial work and book-keeping; Eugene maintains the full accounts for the event; Nisha helped out during the main luncheon event itself besides securing an oil painting for auction; and David who coming in late in the team, provided muscles to have all the mineral water, goodies and prizes loaded into the van, deliver to Nilai Springs and helped the ladies pack and sort them on the eve of the tournament. Puan Faridah Khalid, our chairman, was a pillar of strength and support in guiding us into and around the way we should address the royals and how to behave ourselves. Her favorite advice: Sembah the Tuankus when you stand up, or when you return to your seat. IF YOU REMEMBER, she kept saying. She sounded reassuringly confident that if we forget the Tuankus will not exile us. She really made us feel at ease on the big day. Everyone recruit players to join and put his and her other resources to work. We are hence better called the golf tournament working committee rather than the organizing committee.

There were moments of stress but everyone was focussed on the goal - raise as much as possible for PBSNS. There were frustrations too when we chased after our targets but through it all we learned a valuable lesson in humility and perseverance.

Years later we all shall look upon May 22, 2010 with fond memories. Having our beloved Yam Tuan and Tunku Ampuan Besar grace the event really gave us all the driving force to excel. And we learn palace protocol. We learn that goodness is on tap in people we know. What we need is to know how to draw them out and it will just flow.

Our next fund raiser while smaller is nonetheless as important, because we are still short of our target amount. How fast the new centre can be built depends on how quickly we raise the money. Around October we plan a fund raising dinner. Hopefully we will have another teamwork par excellence.

Golf Pix to Remember

2010-05-25T16:09:00.014+08:00

I got back a photo CD of memorable golfing event of the past weekend. Just while I was thinking how to read my speech now it has become history. 2 hours ago I gave my press writeup and several pictures to the Seremban Star office. I hope they will publish the event soon. You are luckier because here I am showing you a few of the best pictures I selected from the pile.

How Did the Golf Tournament Go?

2010-05-23T13:35:00.004+08:00

Surely some of you are asking this now that it has ended. I will write a longer post here after I got some pictures to accompany it. For now please visit my personal blog at this post to read of my reflections. It has been an extremely satisfying moment and the money raised will help speed up our work. However the amount raised is insufficient to cover our total requirements so more fund raisers are in the pipelines.

Excitement Building Up

2010-05-13T15:16:00.003+08:00

The past 2 months has been hectic to the organizing committee in gearing up to the big day next Saturday. Most of the time they chased after golfers, sponsors and donors, at times even persuading them to do something good for charity. It is pretty hard to lower one's dignity sometimes but this I must say about the committee, some of them are really GREAT fund raisers. At the recent meetings they just bring in cheques from Mr. So and So or Datin So and So.

Besides that a couple of them went after prize sponsors, especially Hole-in-One sponsors, and they got THREE! This is a marvelous achievement and something to be proud of. As of now, the tournament registration is closed and we have 2 Hole sponsors, many winner and lucky draw prizes. We achieved our target of at least 30 flights. We got 32 flights.

Oh, we went on publicity campaign too. We got our event publicized on an English local and 3 Chinese local editions. We got it announced on air. And a promotion writeup from a major Hole-in-One sponsor is expected to be released soon to the press.

The messages have all been written. The souvenir magazine is taking shape. The banner and buntings are coming along. What do we lack? Yes, a great weather for May 22. Would you help us pray for that? Thank you.

Start Imagining ...

2010-03-28T11:52:00.020+08:00

Things get clearer when we approach our goal. In this blog I am pleased to reveal how our new centre will look like as shown in the perspective drawings here. The 4th picture show the real building we bought and how we are assigning our project spaces. At the moment everything are crammed into the ground floor of the existing centre. When the new centre is done up, hopefully before the end of the year (if funding permits) we will assign the spaces as follows:

Existing Centre - Ground Floor Only
Bakery Project
Project Office/Teaching Room

New Centre - Ground Floor
Straw Packing Project
Card Making Project
Project Office

New Centre - First Floor
Admin Office
Conference Room
Teaching/Counseling Rooms (2)

A connecting door will be opened between the 2 centres to facilitate movement. Once the new centre is ready we will recruit additional staff and more volunteers. Then we will start accepting more learning disabled candidates into our centres to be trained in any or more of the 3 projects. Eventually we will have space for 45 trainees. But what we look forward to is that there will be some turnover of these trainees into the open job markets. Although we have sent 6 of them out 2 years ago we wish to see more employers in Seremban creating jobs for our trained trainees.

Every year some kids will be diagnosed to have some learning disabilities. These kids will need to undergo special education. Then when they reach the age of 18 and they have basic survival skills then we are ready to take them in to job train them. Not all learning disabled people can find jobs outside, their disabilities may be too severe to warrant any caring employer to employ them. We will try to provide in-house jobs and help them earn an income.

What we are getting at is that growing demands additional financing. In this connection our first major fund raiser this year is the PBSNS Charity Golf Tournament which I posted awhile back. There are many areas you can help in this endeavour. Here is a partial list:

1. Play golf at the tournament. Part of your fee (RM500) will go toward the PBSNS Building Fund to repair/renovate and equip the new centre.

2. Advertise in the souvenir programme for the golf tournament. RM300 gets you a full colored page publicity.

3. Free donation of any sum towards our Partnership Fund which is to cover our operating expenses. With 2 centres we estimate our annual budget to rise to RM100,000.

4. You can also donate equipment to the new centre. Details below.

We need 10 units of air-conditioners of various horsepowers. Price per unit range from RM1000 to RM1600.

We also need 20 units of ceiling fans, an overhead LCD projector, a notebook/laptop, a DVD player, a 32" LCD TV (for teaching/training), PA system, laser printer, photo copier, refrigerator, microwave oven, office desks, safe, filing cabinets, lounge settee, white boards, time recorder, etc, etc.

The total cost of buying all of these equipment will be beyond our head but individual donations, either by taking up the actual bill or giving a fixed amount to defray their purchase costs, will help a long way.

5. If you are a reader from overseas we encourage you to donate via our PayPal account link in this blog. Otherwise you can pay direct to our account below:

Account No. 3149145906
Account Name: Persatuan Berdikari Seremban Negeri Sembilan
Bank: Public Bank, Jalan Rasah Branch
Routing Code: PBBEMYKL

6. For greater peace of mind we are looking for corporate sponsors to commit their annual support towards our cause. If you can help please let us know.

Contact us for any of the above enquiries with email to:

pbssbn@gmail.com and state 'PBSNS Building Fund' in the subject line.

Thank you.

PBSNS Charity Golf Tournament

2010-03-04T17:41:00.009+08:00

It's on.

An organizing committee was formed this Tuesday to start preparing for this special event to raise funds to repair and renovate the new centre we bought last year. The patrons are the Royal Highnesses Yang DiPertuan Besar and Tunku Ampuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan who graciously consented to support this event with their presence at the tournament to be held at the Nilai Springs Golf & Country Club on 22nd May 2010 (Saturday). Tee-off will be at 7.45am (shotgun) using system 36 Stableford (modified) as the mode of play.

We are in the process of appealing to golfers to please support this worthy cause by participating. Entrance fee is RM500 per player (which includes buggy, insurance, breakfast, lunch and goodies. Caddy fees excluded). We are also in the process of getting sponsors to donate prizes for the lucky draws.

Those who cannot play or cannot make it because of prior engagements, but wish to support please help any way you can by donating prizes or cash (of any amount). Please contact:

To register to play in the tournament:
The Tournament Director - 012 6311832

To donate prizes/cash:
Vice chairman - 012 6011338

Closing date: 10 May 2010

Face to Face with their Royal Highnesses

2010-02-22T22:14:00.005+08:00

Today a group of five representatives from PBSNS was granted a rare audience with the Yang Di Pertuan Besar and the Tunku Ampuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan who wish to know more of the work of the association. I count this a unique privilege because their royal highnesses made time to come to the Istana Hinggap and spent nearly 90 minutes with us, hearing us, asking questions, examining works by the trainees and having afternoon tea with us.

The objective of the audience was also to seek their royal consent to be patrons of a charity golf tournament to raise funds for our building fund project. It was initiated by a God-sent volunteer who believed in our work and is prepared to use her experience, network and fund raising skills to support us. It appear that her coming into our team of volunteers was meant to further encourage our work and we believe the coming years will be exciting and productive.

I dare not anticipate how much money will be raised but certainly having both the Yam tuan and her royal highness at the forefront lending their support we expect a very good response from the golfing enthusiasts in Negeri Sembilan and the Klang Valley. An organising committee is being formed and soon invitations will be sent out.

381 Legally Ours!

2010-01-25T16:35:00.005+08:00

The shop building at 381, Jalan Kenanga 1 in Taman Bukit Chedang, Seremban is legally ours. We have made full payment and a few days ago received the title and key from our lawyer. We are in the process of cleaning up the building, accessing the damages and repairs required. In the recent management committee meeting a taskforce was formed to looked into setting up the new centre. A fund raising taskforce was also formed to organise events to raise funds for this new project. On her initiative a volunteer plans to start a golf tournament to help raise funds for us. I am truly grateful to people like her who cares for the work of helping the learning disabled under training with us. Thank you.

You can help in your own way by donating to our cause. Details are given above.

New Year Greetings

2010-01-01T15:45:00.006+08:00

As we celebrate the New Year of 2010 and welcome new opportunities to share and give from our abundance to the needy, we wish you a very Happy New Year. May you be blessed with more wisdom, much happiness and good health.

New Year means newness and to us it means revising our website to update the information therein. We invite you to check out our new 2010 Website.

God bless all your endeavours.

Year End Christmas Party

2009-12-17T15:32:00.011+08:00

As has been the practice for the past 10 years, trainees celebrated the completion of one year with a Christmas Party at the centre involving singing, games, food and receiving of gifts. There were broad smiles on their faces as well as on the faces of the parents who came. On hand to help were 4 students from the D'nous Academy, a gathering of young Christians, who led in singing and games. Here are some pictures of the fun event. The centre will close for the coming weeks and reopen on January 4, 2010.

Anxieties of Pending Disabilities

2009-12-04T16:11:00.011+08:00

I happened to read this post and would like to share it with you. I believe this is a concern some middle age parents understand and with more people choosing to delay marriage and setting up their families the risk of conceiving a child with disabilities grow. Some would want to get rid of the 'inconvenience' or 'burden' but this particular writer has come to term with the reality. Let me quote from his blog:

And we thought about the possibility of how a disabled sibling burdening the three children now. We reasoned that disabled or not, each sibling should be treated equally and that in itself is the meaning of life.

We could no longer think about the risks. It now became clear of what to do next: forget about amniocentesis. We would keep the pregnancy, whatever it comes to us. There is no longer the need to evaluate the risks. It feels so liberating to us suddenly.

Those of us who do not have any disabled family members may not fully understand the turmoil and anxieties associated with having disabled family members. At best we empathise, at worse we think they can use money to overcome whatever inconvenience they suffer.

In PBSNS we stand in the gap. We see how different families of our trainees deal with them and we see how different trainees respond to the work they are given to do. At the one extreme, we can see how some families love their disabled children; at the other, they silently hope that they will cease to trouble them. It is really sad that some disabled people are written off so easily. They did not ask to be disabled nor did they cause disabilities to be upon them.

Acceptance. This is the key word that families with disabled children ought to consider if they have not. Not to view disability as a curse, a bad omen, troublesome or time consuming, but to see the life within that disabled person and how to involve him or her within the family circle as a living person. Like the example set by the newly installed Yang DiPertuan of Negeri Sembilan (or Yamtuan), Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir whose youngest son Tunku Alif Hussein Saifuddin is a special child. You can read about the royal family HERE.

Many of us spend our lives being anxious of many issues. Like the blogger above, stopping to think about the risks give him and his wife the opportunity to be free to live a fuller life.

Remember to watch the 2 videoclips. They are powerful and an encouragement to everyone.

Promotion at 34th Session TRAC

2009-11-27T14:31:00.011+08:00

Last Sunday, November 22, I was at the 34th session of the Trinity Annual Conference or TRAC at Everly Resort Hotel in Melaka to promote the work of the association to the churches represented. I distributed 200 sets of flyers and notes to the delegates and observers while David and Dorothy set up stall outside the conference hall to sell handmade cards and bookmarks.

The promotion is timely as we are preparing to launch a bigger fund raising to finance our building purchase as well as a larger operating budget. We are planning to organize a fund raising dinner next year. Assistance in all forms will be appreciated.

A Learning Disabled Susan Boyle Shows the World

2009-11-23T15:09:00.020+08:00

How many of us do not know Susan Boyle? The 47 year old unemployed single lady with a learning disability who sang her way into 2nd place at the Britain's Got Talent 2009 Season 3 shows how we tend to write off people with LD as incapable or untalented. You can read more of Susan HERE and HERE. In her own words, Susan said,

"I had a slight disability, but rather than let that rule my life I had to find my abilities and make the most of them instead," she said. "This feels like a good way of making up for that – a very, very enjoyable way of making up for it as well."

Susan also said she was tormented by classmates and beaten by teachers because of her learning disabilities. "I'm just a wee bit slower at picking things up than other people," she said. "So you get left behind in a system that just wants to rush on, you know? That was what I felt was happening to me."

"There was discipline for the sake of discipline back then," Boyle continued. "But it's all very different now. I think teachers are taught to understand children with learning disabilities a lot better."

I just hope that Malaysians will stand up for people in our midst like Susan and help find the hidden talents in them. If you like to listen to the extraordinary rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream' by Susan please click the link below.

Visit by Asia Community Service

2009-11-05T11:36:00.008+08:00

A team of 22 staff and members (trainees) from the Stepping Stone Support Centre for Community Living of ACS in Penang visited us yesterday. In the morning they were taken to the ostrich farm in Seremban where they enjoyed riding the birds. Trainees from our centre went along too. We hosted lunch for everybody at the centre after the farm visit followed by a batik art teaching session by Jeffrey Suah of Noble Creations in Seremban for all the trainees while the staff were given a presentation of our work.

ACS also trains learning disabled people like we do but on a different model. Presently they produce art design, batik work and other products for sale and their members are paid salaries. Some of their works are exported. To learn more of their work you can surf to their website.

Updates

2009-09-08T12:19:00.010+08:00

Here are 2 pictures taken of our booth at the recent Malaysian Care exhibition at DUMC.

Update 2:
We have finally received our certificate of registration under the Care Centres Act 1993.

Update 3:
The Wesley Methodist Church Seremban gave us space to update the congregation on our work at the PBSNS Sunday on August 16, 2009. The church also set aside the general offerings received that day to our work. We want to record our appreciation to the church and the worshippers for their generosity.

Malaysian Care’s 30th Anniversary Celebration

2009-08-11T20:05:00.005+08:00

In conjunction with the above, we are setting up a booth at the venue, Damansara Utama Methodist Church in Section 13, Petaling Jaya. Click HERE for more details and location map. The exhibition will be from the evening of August 14 until lunchtime August 16.

We welcome you to our booth no. 12. It is situated outside the main auditorium's side entrance and opposite the security office.

See you there.

Dealing with A H1N1 Virus

2009-08-05T15:13:00.007+08:00

3 months after the dreaded A H1N1 virus surfaced in Mexico and begun infecting humans, the sourge has made almost 200,000 people worldwide ill and killing over 1,300 of its victims. Although it is pandemic it is not a killer but we have not paid sufficient and serious attention to stop its multiplication. In Malaysia we have recorded almost 1,500 cases of imported and locally transmitted infections, over half of which are now locally transmitted. Of these we have already read of 11 deaths, 3 of which are within the past 24 hours. It is a worrisome trend. Any gathering of people in close proximity can give rise to cross infection and must be grounds for preventive actions. PBSNS has 25 trainees and up to 4 adult trainers and volunteers at any one time. Until today we have had little concern as none of our members have reported sick. Today we have a trainer who was ill, not seriously but he has been advised to self-quarantine and seek medical treatment if he does not recover in a day or two. Some trainees are coughing and the instruction given out is that parents with trainees who are unwell (cough, sneeze, fever) must not send them to the centre. If they do come they will be sent home to minimize exposing the other trainees. Trainers and volunteers who are unwell should inform the centre and be excused. In the worse case scenario, if a large number of the trainees and caregivers are unwell, be it from normal flu or H1N1 virus, the centre will have to be closed temporarily to mitigate the situation. We will watch for further developments and act accordingly.

We pray for the Malaysian Care 30th Anniversary Exhibition next weekend in Petaling Jaya in which we plan to participate, that our staff will be well to attend, that the various participants in the various events will not be afflicted with flu of any sort.

Talk on Nutritional Issues of Special People

2009-07-18T13:47:00.011+08:00

We were privileged to be given a talk this morning by Ms Mary Easaw, Senior Manager of the Dietetic and Food Services of the Institut Jantung Negara. On hand to listen are 33 people comprising staff, committee, volunteers, parents, caregivers and trainees. Ms Easaw explained the various problems parents and caregivers face in feeding and providing adequate nutrition to different groups of special people such as those with cerebral palsy, autism, down syndrome and those with cleft lips. She emphasised the need for these people to be given balanced diet supplemented with vitamins. Advices were given on how to deal with people not taking their food well because of emotional, allergy, stresses or associated health problems. She recommended that a food record be kept on the type and amount of food taken each day to enable a dietician to determine causes of imbalance or poor appetite. She spoke bilingually in English and Bahasa Malaysia for the benefit of some parents who are not conversant in English.

At the close of the 2 hours talk and Q&A session we gave Ms Easaw a love gift and a card specially made by the trainees.

Ministry Fair at Wesley Church

2009-07-05T13:29:00.009+08:00

As part of her 40 Days of Purpose Campaign, the Wesley Methodist Church of Seremban organized a Ministry Fair this morning at its Youth Centre to help members and guests familiarise with the various church works and to consider joining one or more of them as service to the church and community. As PBSNS is an affiliation to the church we were given the opportunity to set up a booth to publicise our work. It was well attended by members who came not just for the free bookmarks but also take away our partnership brochures.

1st AGM Successfully Concluded

2009-06-20T17:32:00.006+08:00

To say that I was not nervous in chairing my first AGM would be untruthful. It was my first experience and I have to be sure I followed the constitutions of the Persatuan. The very first thing I was to ensure is the quorum. The constitution requires no less than 10 out of 19 members to be in attendance and we had 14 so the AGM proceeded as planned at 11am today soon after the committee meeting ended.

Being our first AGM the agenda was simple: adopt the minutes of the inaugural AGM, presenting the chairman's and treasurer's reports and dealing with matters for which sufficient notice was given. The members present discussed the issues at hand. They were updated on the latest development on the acquisition of the building adjacent to the centre, and proposed plans for its future development.

The meeting ended at 12.30pm on a high note. The coming years will see significant expansion of the work of PBSNS and lots of work to be done. Somehow I felt God's partnership in this work very positively and believe that the building fund that we will be launching will meet with good support.

The AGM Approaches

2009-06-06T21:20:00.005+08:00

On June 20 the Persatuan will hold its first AGM since its inception on April 5, 2008. The Persatuan began operation in August 2008 and took over the full work from Pusat Berdikari Seremban or PBS from January 2009. The audited accounts for the period July - December 2008 has been finalized and my annual report as chairman of the Persatuan is in its finishing stage.

In order that the AGM will be meaningful I hope that most if not all the members will turn up for the meeting at 11.00am at the Wesley Church office (above the centre). If you are a member of the Persatuan please consider this a gentle reminder to attend.

Beautiful Gate Foundation Dedication Service

2009-06-06T20:54:00.005+08:00

This afternoon I attended the dedication service of the Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled (Seremban) new building in Mambau, Seremban by the Rev. Boh Che Suan, President of the Chinese Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Malaysia. The BGF is a community project of CAC for those who are wheelchair bound and trains them in useful trades. They have 6 centres throughout the country.

2009-06-04T18:27:00.004+08:00

An important date has been etched in the history of the Persatuan today when we received a group of 11 Rotarians from the Seremban Rotary Club and the District Governor, Dr Rajindar Singh and his wife Surendra (also a Rotarian) who were here on a gift bearing mission. They came to present us cheques for the purchase of a sealing machine and an electric oven which will be used in the straw packing and bakery projects respectively. The value of their donations is RM4100 and we wish to record our deepest appreciation for their charity towards our work.

We also wish to record our thanks to Dr CS Paul who is a member of the Seremban chapter of the Rotary Club and initiated this donation.

We believe that a new chapter has opened in the cooperation between ourselves and the Rotary Club Seremban. The Rotary District regularly receives funds from foundations to disburse to worthy causes. We hope that we can be counted as one of their beneficiaries in future when we need to equip our new centre.

A Multi-National Visit

2009-06-02T18:01:00.013+08:00

We had a surprise visit from a very interesting group today. 9 members from the All Souls (Anglican) Church, London, dropped by for a visit to understand our work. They were in Malaysia as part of their mission work to help a local church carry out some local mission and local church works. They helped build a house for a Sengoi pastor, led in worship and taught English to the Vietnamese community here in Seremban. Coming to PBSNS is a 'bonus' as it was not part of their itinerary. We gave our visitors a briefing and showing them how the trainees carry out their work.

In case you are curious, the multi-national group comprise members from England, Northern Ireland, Germany, United States, Brazil, S. Korea, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Securing Our Base

2009-05-20T16:54:00.009+08:00

Eversince we became a registered body in April last year we have toyed with the idea of securing our own building. Presently we are renting the ground floor of the Wesley Seremban church office shoplot. The adjacent shoplot was vacant for over a year after the tenant moved out and the owner was keen to sell or rent it out. Unfortunately the location was not suitable for retail businesses and there were no enquiries, so the shop stayed vacant. The For Sale/Rent sign came up early this year and we decided this is a good time to check out as property market in this recession year is weak. After some negotiations we are pleased to announce that the owner have agreed to sell us the shoplot at a good price. Today we paid the 2% downpayment. In the coming months we hope that the process of securing the title will proceed smoothly. Once we have secured the property we will start work to repair, renovate and equip the building so that we can expand the work of training the learning disabled.

Although we have almost enough finance to meet the cost of purchase, we need additional funds to pay for the repairs, renovation and equipping of the new centre. We continue to appeal to churches and wellwishers to support our PBSNS Partnership Appeal. To encourage public donations we plan to apply for tax exemption for our building fund for this purchase.

Government Asked to Help Learning Disabled

2009-05-08T09:32:00.012+08:00

The Star in its today's edition under 'Friday Reflections' by B.K. Sidhu (Page B2, StarBiz News) appealed to the government to pay more attention to the learning disabled by providing a bigger budget to help them acquire specialised education to overcome, or at least reduce their disabilities that they may develop useful careers. She asked the education minister to 'not miss an important chapter which involves children with learning disabilities and special children.'

She said that 'a child with learning disabilities who is nurtured in the right environment can be a winner'. She gave the examples of Bill Gates and Richard Branson who were diagnosed with dyslexia but they are successful businessmen. Similarly Tom Cruise and Whoppi Goldberg have also done very well in their acting careers.

Sidhu explains that often children with mild dyslexia and Down syndrome are lumped together under learning disabilities, which should be segregated. According to Dr Aili Hanim Hashim, consultant psychiatrist from Universiti Malaya, children with mild learning disabilities can be in normal classrooms.

Sidhu felt that kids with learning disabilities, such as those with mild dyslexia, slow learners, hyperactive and mild intellectual impairment, should be in normal schools but, even if they are there, are often marginalised simply because of the lack of awareness in handling them. As such the government should revamp the education system to make learning disability a priority.

The private sector can also help as part of its corporate responsibility work.

B.K. Sidhu is a deputy news editor of Star.

A Visit by Malaysian Care

2009-05-06T17:11:00.007+08:00

A team of 10 staff from MCare led by the executive director Mr. Lee Chee Loi paid a courtesy call to our centre today. The purpose is to learn more of our work, especially for those who have not visited us before.

After being shown round the centre to see the work by the trainees a briefing was given to them followed by a Q&A session during which several interesting ideas were shared.

This visit enables MCare to further understand our direction and needs. MCare is one of our advisors.

The Meaning of Money

2009-05-05T12:51:00.006+08:00

It has been over a month since I last blogged here. April was a busy month for my family which is why I could not write a post then. Today I found an interesting article in the April issue of the Reader's Digest (US Edition) that I'd like to share here. For more details check HERE.

When asked why he continue to give to charities in tough times, Frank replied that giving is part of our humanity, a manifestation of what is best within us, a capacity to love and sacrifice for others. I think Frank encapsulated his thoughts in the simple but not too obvious fact that our desire to give has been built into our nature but it is the environment and our desire to preserve our selves that often content against that desire. I believe that NOT giving often hurt us more than giving hurt our pockets.

This post is not a solicitation for PBSNS but a request to consider our general and overall management of our wealth.

Passing of a PBSNS Partner

2009-03-30T10:41:00.005+08:00

It is with deep regret that I blog the passing away of one of our staunch partners, Mr. Tan Kwan Poh, who departed last night when he succumbed to stomach cancer. Mr. Tan had supported our work since we first launched the partnership programme last year. As a regular churchgoer he sat in the pew infront of mine and would always cheerfully greet me and my wife when we arrive, for he would come to church quite early. His late wife Susan passed away last year ago so it will be a sort of reunion for them. We will miss Kwan Poh, his smile and friendliness. May God bless his soul as he enters eternal rest.

Wake services will be held at 8.30pm on March 30 and 31 at the Jalan Templar Funeral Parlour and funeral service at Wesley Church Seremban at 10am. Do come to uphold the family in their hour of bereavement.

China Press Report

2009-03-23T20:17:00.000+08:00

It was a long wait, over a month or 33 days to be exact but it was worth it. Today we received the good news that China Press has published the article written about us in the N. Sembilan section of the local news. If you can read Mandarin but missed out buying the paper, please click on the picture to enlarge and download it.

Pix 1
Pix 2
Pix 3
Pix 4

Wheel Power by Anthony Thanasayan

2009-03-20T14:32:00.007+08:00

This article by Anthony in yesterday's StarTwo makes interesting read. He wrote:

... On the subject of the basic right to education for PLDs, I am shocked to learn of the existence of learning centres that claim to teach children with special needs but in actual fact provide little or no proper facilities for them. In some centres, there is no specific curriculum to cater to these kids.

At a recent official meeting, I heard someone discredit the role of special education teachers. What a shame! The individual concerned should have sung praises for such teachers who play a crucial role in the lives of every learning-disabled child. The person seemed to think that parents of PLDs were “better authorities and professionals” than the teachers themselves.

Such ignorance is hardly helpful if our goal is to improve the quality of life of disabled persons in Malaysia.

To read the entire article, go HERE.

In PBSNS we don't focus on special education but on skills training. Teaching them to read and write as well as identifying objects and associating them are more towards helping them survive in open society should they be left on their own.

The MSF Awareness Talk

2009-03-13T10:07:00.007+08:00

Yesterday I was privileged to be invited by the TRAC Methodist Seniors Fellowship to give a talk to them at their annual camp at the Bayu Beach Resort, Port Dickson. I shared how we grew from just a centre under the church into a registered society and the many issues we face in making our work more interesting, productive and in line with our aspirations to make it a centre of excellence.

The talk drew much interest and many questions were fielded to me. The MSF director, Rev. Hwa Jen , who coincidentally was involved in the setting up of this work more than 10 years ago, encouraged the delegates to participate in our work by becoming a PBSNS partner (just RM120 a year) and buying the greeting cards on sale outside the conference hall.

This awareness talk helped generate publicity for us beyond Seremban as the MSF delegates come from various parts of Malaysia as well as from Singapore. Yesterday we gave out our new brochure for the first time.

Aarons and Joshuas

2009-03-11T14:37:00.011+08:00

The books of Exodus and Deuteronomy in the Old Testament wrote of the appointments of Aaron as Moses's helper and Joshua as his successor. Throughout human history we read of leaders wrestling with issues of competent helpers and advisers and choice of good successors. In PBSNS the same concerns will arise.

PBSNS, like any organisation, is set up for a purpose. Life is given to it by the people entrusted to run it, build it and deliver it to another team. No leader can claim full credit because he alone cannot perform every work required. Even Moses confessed his weakness and need for helpers to be a good leader so Aaron his brother was chosen by God for him. Even until his old age Aaron stood by his side, although he was not without fault but he was faithful.

Moses recognized that he need to groom a successor to take the Israelites into the Promise Land. Old age caught up with him and he knew that he could not see the fruit of his work in his lifetime, which is to step on the soil that God promised His people. Moses chose Joshua to lead the Israelites into the next phase of its history.

I take great comfort in the above narrations that we are never alone in our work, be they for ourselves or for God. If we confess our shortcomings before God, He will raise up suitable helpers to prop us up to do His work. And when our time comes, when our eyes have dimmed, our hearing short and our brain feeble, God will require us to pass on the baton to a new leader with the same vision to carry on His work.

PBSNS is at its first year. Come June we will hold our first Annual General Meeting. In June next year a new team will be elected to lead the association forward. Leadership comes from within the membership. Membership comes from invitation to those whom the committee believe to have the potential to serve. So this can be considered our growing pains. We want to build ourselves to be different, to be differentiated. It is a tall order but one that can be reached with and by dedicated leaders and servants.

I think if there is anything I love to see PBSNS become, is to see it become a quality service organization, maybe to be ISO certified one day. That will be a first I think! But for now I pray for more Aarons and wisdom to see some Joshuas to stand in line as the new leaders of the association one day.

Sex Relationship Education

2009-03-09T17:21:00.010+08:00

Although today is a public holiday, 20 staff, committee members and volunteers gathered at the church office above PBSNS to listen to a talk by Dr Ng Wai Sheng, a clinical psychologist/senior lecturer from HELP University College in Kuala Lumpur on the above subject which is gathering importance in our centre as we are seeing some trainees becoming sexually active, aware of their sexuality as well as showing interest in each other. We want to understanding this subject further so that we may be able to deal with such issues as they arise as well as equip all the trainees with a better understanding of their sexuality and behaviour.

The almost 3 hours talk was scintillating as Wai Sheng engaged us interactively using group discussion and sharing to exemplify some important issues we expect to face. What she did was point us towards how to take this subject further with parents of the trainees, develop a curriculum and formulate a teaching structure. It will be an awareness and survival skill for the trainees as well as empowering them to understand their bodies, their needs and dealing with moral issues of what are right and wrong. The challenge before us is both engaging and exciting. After this educational talk we will begin exploring how best to make this a real tool to help our trainees become more wholesome people. Some day some of them may fall in love and want to marry. We have to be ready to guide and help them, as well as their parents.

The meeting ended with a lunch at Restoran Min Kok.

Charting Our Future

2009-03-08T11:32:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, the management committee with its advisors held the first of four meetings scheduled for this year. We were pleased with the smooth transition from PBS to PBSNS and the enlarged partnership support base. Although all financial supports are not yet in, we are not worried as it is still early in the year and by faith we believe our pleas will be heard, notwithstanding the current dampened economic climate.

We are like a learner driver being released from a country road into a highway, into uncharted waters. Ordinarily we should be apprehensive but we had none of that emotion. Rather we all felt elated at the vast opportunities and challenges before us. Yes, we have to work hard but we also realise the rewards and satisfaction are great. In a true sense, all of us are pioneering the future of PBSNS and we pray that God will helm every meeting, guide every decision, plan every step and provide every need. I suppose this has been our source of comfort, our faith in God that He will provide every need we ask. As what Pastor Paul Christie, our spiritual advisor shared in his sermon yesterday, we need to have the faith like Abraham to trust God that He will provide all the resources - financial, people, knowledge and leadership, to take PBSNS from one level to the next.

Partnership: Our appeals have begun to bear fruits. Individuals and churches have started donating to our work, so far more than RM10,000 have been received. We expect more in the pipeline.

Staffing: We have peaked in our enrolment. We are trying to create more rooms to take beyond 25 to even 30, but stretching the limit means our staff's ability to run the centre will be similarly stretched. Soon we will be seeking a committed, dedicated, passionate, patient, loving and caring new staff to join our fantastic team of 2 staff and 20 volunteers. The new staff must be a team player with excellent socialising and communication skills. We were also challenged to start looking for a Trainer to oversee every aspect of our training as well as to eventually offering training to new centres being set up.

Expansion: We need more room to grow and it is unhealthy to cram too many people and too much activities into the same space. I believe God will answer our prayer for the new space we need.

Sponsorship: This and the coming years will be ones we will introduce our work to new sponsors. We never believe that recession will cut social responsibility out of many good corporations and foundations. We believe charity work is recession proof, although some donors will give less as a natural reaction.

Membership: We are also seeking new members to join us, Christian adults in Seremban who share the same desire to help the learning disabled, to give time, talents and connections to grow our work.

We are grateful to Pastor Paul and our advisor Neil for suggesting ways to help raise new funds for PBSNS. We have to reach out (to new sponsors, new trainees, new members, new leaders) and reach up (for God's grace and mercy in His ministry).

Reminding Ourselves Again

2009-02-27T14:53:00.004+08:00

I just decided to revisit this link to understand the nature of our work lest we forget. I would like to pick up some statements that impress me (with comments added in italics).

For many, undetected learning disabilities create a lifelong pattern of frustration and failure. Unable to learn to read or write adequately or to handle simple numerical calculations, they are forced into a lifetime of underemployment or unemployment.

My Comment: How do parents know if their child is learning disabled? A child who suffers from poor eyesight can visit an opthalmologist for comprehensive tests but where do a child with suspected learning difficulty go for evaluation? Often parents are ignorant of available facilities and are likely to leave their child uncared and unnurtured at home. At PBSNS we do not treat LD, it is beyond our expertise. What we do is provide opportunities to help LD persons bring forth their hidden or underdeveloped skills.

Other possible outcomes for individuals with learning disabilities who have not received appropriate intervention or help are low self image, teenage pregnancy, suicide, family instability, substance abuse, depression, significant psychiatric problems, and unemployment. They may end up on welfare, homeless, or in prison.

My Comment: Typically we observed new trainees to be quiet or lacking confidence when they first join the centre. This may be normal as they need time to adjust to new environments like normal persons. But at PBSNS our joy is to see such LD persons surprising us with abilities we thought were untrainable. Low self esteem is a common problem that we can definitely help by fostering a warm and loving work environment. We do have a suicide case but she has gain tremendous confidence with us. I believe we have helped her out of her depression through encouragement and love. LD people need lots of love to grow out of their perceived problems.

China Press Came A-Calling

2009-02-17T14:49:00.008+08:00

We cannot deny that media people want to know about our work. So far we have had Star, NSTP and Utusan Melayu publicising our community service. RTM1 and 2 have also filmed our activities for broadcast. Community service work are newsy although some may consider it boring. They serve to counter-balance the many negative reports we read about politics, tragedies, financial woes and crimes. Happy news may not draw much attention but they certainly encourage readers to the fact that there are better sides to the human race. News about helping the disadvantaged people are definitely good news and I am happy that China Press had sent its reporter to our premise this morning to interview the caregivers as well as trainees. For one hour she soaked in the spirit of our work and learned why we were so passionate. At the end she went away buying some of our greeting cards because, she said in her own words, 'she like to help the needy'. I believe we have touched her heart.

In the coming days we look forward to see this report in the China Press paper. It will add further awareness to the Mandarin-reading subscribers. And prayfully give them another avenue to show their charitable hearts.

Another Supporter for PBSNS

2009-02-15T12:25:00.005+08:00

This morning the Chairman was at the Mawar Renal Centre to receive a donation from the N.Sembilan Tai Chi Qi Gong 18 Gaya Association which also gave out donations to 7 other beneficiaries. Although the donation was for RM500 it represents a recognition of our work by the Chinese social clubs in Seremban. Last month we had received another donation from the Chin Woo Association. On hand were reporters from the Chinese presses. Hopefully news of our work will continue to dissipate throughout the state and nationwide.

The Perak Lesson

2009-02-08T11:24:00.002+08:00

The political development in Perak over the past week has a lesson that we in the welfare services can learn from. As much as you and I are dismayed by the manner the power transfer took place, citing the constitutions and the unquestionable authority of the royalty, the very essence of good governance through the electoral process was conveniently ignored. Abiding the law is good but it is still subservient to abiding the conscience of the people at large. Amidst the change of government lie a very serious issue of what service is all about. Do one need to be in power to serve? What are the hidden agendas of wanting to get into power? How can this development be a lesson to societies like ours?

1. We must remember we are elected to serve and to fulfil the obligations of what our vision calls us to be. Being in a position to serve, which means being given authority, empowerment and publicity, can tempt an officer of the society to aggrandise self beyond our call to duty over time. We need to constantly hold ourselves in check if this temptation rear its ugly head and to remind ourselves that while we may be the bigger cogs in the design of our work, yet they still need smaller cogs to make the society operate smoothly.

2. Our positions are given to us because the people who put us up trusted us to discharge our work faithfully, fairly and without any self interest. If possible, sacrificially. As easily as we are put up we can be taken down. We need to preserve our reputations as good stewards of the offices we are placed in charge. We may be able to deceive men but God is all-seeing.

3. The fear of God must remain central in whatever we do. Services to the disabled and the needy are in line with the characteristics of a compassionate God. As long as what we do are aligned with God's will He will bless our work and enable it to be taken further. But as soon as disunity, dishonesty and disorder overcome us then we have allowed evil to permeate our work and dissociate with the intention of God's will. Often societies fall through such developments.

The Perak lesson reminds us to stay alert to any signs of putting self above service. If we are unable to control the desire to use our work for self gain it is better to step down than let the society be affected. The society will profit from the services of its officers and workers if there is love and common desire to build it up. I have hope that more of our politicians will see this as their real purposes in public services.

Internalizing Our Vision

2009-02-02T14:19:00.008+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year to those of you who are celebrating. I hope the symbol of the ox represents strength, wellness, perseverance and, especially pertinent this current year, ability to endure hardship. Believe it or not, hardship is part and parcel of our very existence. It is folly for anyone to wish for a good life every day of our lives. Rather it is wisdom to be wishing for strength to sustain hardship and inconveniences.

I was reflecting over the word BERDIKARI in our name. We said that we want to bring Berdikari or self reliance to our trainees. Then I asked myself this searching question:

Is it possible that we apply the same Vision to our society? Is it possible that we become self sustaining and self relying one day?

Hard thought and tough target to be addressing at the start of our 'life'. It is my belief that nothing is impossible (without pushing our desires beyond human possibilities and trying for the moon) and beginning to think, plan and do something about it can actually bring us to that place where vision starts becoming reality. It involves much work, many tears and frustrating moments as well as many partners to hold us up. It is possible, only if we believe it to be so. Do you agree with me?

Chin Woo Donation Pix

2009-01-23T22:49:00.006+08:00

Here's the group picture of the recipients of the donations and some members of the Association before we had our lunch.

Visit the Revamped PBSNS Website

2009-01-23T22:24:00.006+08:00

In line with our new identity, the PBSNS website was revamped today. New look, new contents. Simpler and updated. Please take a look. Here's the link again. Hope you like it.

It's Good to Be Noticed

2009-01-22T14:42:00.007+08:00

Last week I was informed that the N. Sembilan Chin Woo Athletic Association wants to make a donation to us. I was pleasantly surprised. We have not made contact with them about our work so they must have heard of us privately. My understanding was we will be one of four beneficiaries of the surplus funds collected from their fund raising for another project recently. It is good to be noticed. Today David and I attended a luncheon at the Dragon Oakland Restaurant where I received a cheque for RM1200 from the Association. I took the opportunity to distribute text of our new brochure (yet to be printed) in Mandarin to the predominantly Chinese speaking guests to create awareness among the Chinese community here. Reporters from SinChew, Nanyang and ChinaPress attended so we can expect additional publicity when the news is published.

Being Self Driven

2009-01-04T12:15:00.011+08:00

All organizations can benefit from people who are self driven towards the established goals. Although there are managers, executives and supervisors, whose roles seem, as their titles implicitly suggest, to be ensuring that work gets done, and that lower rung employees are incapable of carrying them out without someone checking in on them, I believe that we need to have faith in our staff that they ARE capable of understanding and executing instructions and policies. Granted that there will be differences in styles and methods, what is important is they are on track to bring their work to fruition. The rest is managing individualities.

Before I started this post I thought about the team I have in Persatuan and how blessed I am that they are self-starters and even initiators of great ideas. They have passion towards fulfilling the dream of the centre and that count a lot towards what we set out to do. We can have two identically paid staff of different passions. It is easy to conclude which one is more valuable and effective.

I think of our human body as a terrific example. The liver is one of the largest internal organs, and probably the most important one, yet little understood. But the liver does its work quietly, self driven if you may, to ensure the entire body is healthy. If you must know, the liver detoxifies our blood every second, that is how important it is to us, or else we will not live very long.

Whether our helpers is a staff, a volunteer or a committee member, the fact that they go about discharging their work responsibly is a blessing to us in PBSNS. We appreciate them all.

New Year Greetings

2009-01-01T12:36:00.004+08:00

May I extend this New Year greeting to one and all. May 2009 be a good year to you and your family and that God's grace and mercy abound in every situation you find yourself in. May you look back to this day a year from now to be filled with thansgiving that God has indeed walked with you and granted you your heart's desires.

Have a blessed and joyous New Year 2009!

Official Closure of PBS

2008-12-28T22:14:00.008+08:00

This morning I was given privilege to deliver my closing speech in church (the same one I delivered at the final PBS committee meeting 2 weeks ago) to inform the congregation that Pusat Berdikari Seremban is now formally closed. Pastor Paul Christie prayed for the continuing work of the Persatuan.

I felt good at the way PBS work has been handed over to Persatuan and although I am apprehensive over the great potential Persatuan can reach I am also aware how insignificant I am in this vast sea of change and progress. I am humbled by all the help I have been given and must admit that Persatuan will not get to where I envision unless my team give me its continuing support.

Charity in Recession Times

2008-12-25T11:59:00.017+08:00

People have been telling me that it is bad timing to raise money during recession. It is generally true that pockets are less deep when economy is bad but the key word is 'generally'. In the hearts of charitable people and organizations, recession is not an overcoming factor to decide how much, or how little to be given out. In fact, the reverse can be true, that because the needs are constant, recession should NEVER be a reason to give less. Welfare centres like ours are in constant need to finance our work and look toward a steady stream of resources to put our mind at ease.

The 'Mama Mia!' musical is ongoing at the Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur. I read with interest how the Star Foundation and SP Setia Charity Foundation are actively raising funds to support the works of selected welfare centres throughout the nation that cannot survive financially on their own without such public donations. Recently I also read of another charity called the Budimas Foundation carrying out similar works but with a different focus. Here in Malaysia I believe that charity is in the core of many people and organizations. Not because they get any returns but they just find it so natural to be helpful. Isn't that so Malaysian? And this makes me really proud to be one, in spite of the many negative political talks about race, religion and government policies in the various blogs.

Charity foundations are very common in the west. I google that term and come up with many such foundations in the United States that aid the handicapped families, small businesses and welfare homes. Most are for those within the nation although they do support international needs but qualifying conditions are stiff and competitive. As more and more centres vie to get limited supports the chances of getting a reasonable sum is harder. As such it seems that to be in the race one has to impress as well as do very well to earn that support. The philosophy of any foundation work is to give to those that deserve to be helped. In the coming years I guess we have to work real hard to join the category that 'deserved to be helped'.

Like the proverb in Bahasa Malaysia says, 'Sedikit sedikit menjadi bukit', translated to mean 'Bit by little bit a hill will be formed', so we will need the charity from many hearts to build up the required financial base to enable our work to be discharged without any anxieties even in recession times. Our faith is that recession is NOT in the equation of charity. And I hope that our supporters feel the same way.

Our Precious Partners

2008-12-18T13:10:00.006+08:00

Betsi let in a secret this morning. We have 93 partners at last count since we launched the Partnership Program almost exactly a year ago. Some paid more than once in the year and we thank all of them for their generosity. Without partners and volunteers we would be nowhere in this work, really.

Christmas comes in just a week from now. I pray that our spirit of joy will not be in any way dampened by the current global economic recession. Think through this: Jesus Christ was not born in a predictable, safe or comfortable place. Yet he grew up in a warm and loving family and help restore broken relationship between men and between men and God. If Jesus had been born into a well-to-do family and a safe environment how can we expect Him to understand many of our predicaments of life? But He did, because He was there, done that and understood the ebbs of our difficult times. Therefore let nothing tough influence the true joy of Christmas, because Christmas is about God among humankind.

Let me wish each and everyone of you who read our posts a very blessed and thankful Christmas and may your New Year bring about new hope and new resource to face the challenges ahead. May God bless you and your family and give you health and happiness.

My Thoughts on the Initial Years of Persatuan

2008-12-17T21:41:00.011+08:00

Yesterday I spent some time jotting down what I believe to be key issues Persatuan need to address in the initial years of its formation. As chairman it is my responsibility to plan for the development and growth of the Persatuan. Infants need breast milk or infant formula to build up strong bones, healthy bodies and brains to prepare for their childhood. Likewise we need to be similarly provided to grow up strong.

I've identified the following key areas to develop in the next 2-3 years:

Financial Resource - We need to build our Partnership Programme, Corporate Sponsorships and Donations from Welfare Foundations to be financially adequate to meet our expected growth.
Capacity Building - Our centre is fully subscribed. We need new space to grow.
Human Resource - With growth comes the need to recruit more staff and volunteers.
Publicity & Awareness - New brochure, updated website and blog and newsletters to keep our supporters and visitors informed.
Social Networking - Create bases for parents and trainees to interact, share and encourage.
Skills Training - Improve on the quality of skills we possess and impart to the trainees.

There is much work ahead of us and many people are needed to help bring them to fruition. We need people to offer their skills connected to the above key areas to take Persatuan to the next level. Presently the available resources within the committee, Persatuan membership, trainers and volunteers are not enough to achieve them. More help are needed.

Closure of Pusat Berdikari Seremban

2008-12-13T12:52:00.007+08:00

A symbolic meeting was held this morning to formally close the work of Pusat Berdikari Seremban. Over the past 5 months Persatuan had gradually taken over Pusat's work and it is fitting to end this chapter of Pusat and hand over the work completely to Persatuan. Several resolutions were passed and the chairman gave his closing address below.

It gives me great pleasure, honor and privilege to deliver this closing address of Pusat Berdikari Seremban. 10 years and 6 months ago I remember attending the dedication service of this training centre officiated by the late Rev. Paul George Ponniah on 31st May 1998, 5.30pm. On 1st June 1998, PBS was officially launched with 17 trainees under the care of a staff trainer and a group of 13 volunteers.

From the time when the idea of setting up this centre was mooted by the Social Concerns Committee of Wesley Methodist Church Seremban to the LCEC on 23rd May 1996 to its inception, much work had been put in by both the church leadership and Malaysian Care who undertook the advisory role in setting up of the centre, putting a workable system in place and training the trainers and volunteers. No single party is more important than the others, all play important roles in ensuring that PBS was safely delivered and nurtured. We thank God that we enjoyed unity and passion in this work.

Over the years we have realized our vision of training self reliance to many of our trainees. In so doing we have indeed changed their lives for the better. And this is our reward, to be part of the life-changing process.

Unlike some of similar centres which choose to take the route of immediate registration as societies, PBS chose to remain within the church and waited for the right timing which came 10 years later. Therefore, when PBS celebrated her 10th anniversary on 5th July 2008, it was a fitting closure to a social ministry that began quietly, grew steadily and then blossomed into a butterfly to enable it to grow further.

Persatuan Berdikari Seremban owes to Pusat Berdikari Seremban the solid foundation it is built upon. Although about the same team takes over the helm, history will record how Persatuan’s work could not have been this smooth and strong if not for the early vision and efforts of its pioneers and founders.

In this closing address I wish to put on record my appreciation to every one of them. PBS shall find a place in the history of Wesley Methodist Church Seremban as the fore-runner of Persatuan Berdikai Seremban. On this note I wish to commit the continuing work to God for His onward blessing and shelter as we bring hope and joy to the learning disabled people who enter our doors.

To God be the Glory! Thank you.

The following members attended the meeting:

Welfare Allowance Approved

2008-12-11T14:12:00.006+08:00

Trainees who found work are entitled to receive a welfare allowance of RM300 monthly. We have been actively helping our trainees apply for their allowances. While some of the approval letters were sent to their homes, others came to us. Yesterday we received such a letter for one trainee who is now gainfully employed at Giant Supermarket. As he is working we presented the letter to his mother in a simple ceremony. Chong Ying Heng, congratulations!

A Surprise Gift

2008-12-11T13:58:00.012+08:00

Today we celebrated Christmas by giving the trainees a party in which 6 members of the d'Nous Academy students helped in leading the singing and playing games. Sister Siew Khim told the story of God's creation. Among the guests who came were 5 members from Kuala Lumpur Wesley Methodist Church, specifically on a mission at our invitation to present us a gift.

These guests are: Veronica Ting (Director, Social Outreach), Lim Pik Wah (Chairperson, Christian Social Concerns Committee), Goh Joo Gaik, Cindy Ong and Ong Jin Gay (Members, Christian Social Concerns Committee).

KL Wesley had heard of our work and were touched by what they discovered and decided to help us financially. So on one Sunday recently, they took an offering for their Needy Fund which is to be channelled to us. We were 'shocked' by the amount they gave. It came to RM16,794.70! A private donation of RM300 also came with the group.

We were very touched by this gesture of fine charity and kept the faith that there are many caring Methodists in this country. To KL Wesley in general and those who gave to this work in particular, we want to record our heartfelt 'Thank You' for being our partners. The trainees are the more blessed because of what you gave.

Pelita Methodist Vol 33, No. 10/October 2008

2008-12-11T13:47:00.007+08:00

The following article was published on our work. Double click for the enlarged size.

Time Flies

2008-12-01T16:05:00.006+08:00

Hi, is it December already? Time for some of us to start Christmas shopping, writing our Christmas greeting cards, organizing family year end get-togethers and parties. We are already selling our trainees prepared and packed Xmas cards at RM5 for a set of 2. We welcome you to buy them from the centre. Call 06-7632005 for details. Oh yes, PBSNS will have her annual X'mas party on December 11. Do drop by around lunch time and enjoy some fun singing with the trainees. I'm sure they will enjoy your presence.

If you have been our Partner when we launched the program about a year ago we would appeal to you to stay connected with our work by continuing as a partner again next year. It cost just RM120 a year and the amount will go towards financing the centre's operating expenses. Please mail us your donation to the address given at the top of this blog. Thanks.

Take care and God bless.

Oops Again! It is Really on TV!

2008-11-25T14:34:00.008+08:00

This morning a filming crew working for RTM2 came to carry out the filming and interviewing of our activities for their Kugapai Harapan TV magazine which, I realized upon clarifying with their Production Manager, Cik Suhaini Abdul, is actually a TV programme just like the Fitrah Kasih by RTM1. I was not exactly prepared to be interviewed but rather to read out the prepared answers to the questions that will be posed to me. As it turns out that state of unpreparedness placed me in a more relaxing mood before the camera. As it rolled and Suhaini sat next to it and asked me questions I managed to deliver impromptu replies. It was over in 10 minutes and the cameraman proceeded to video the rest of the activities by the trainees.

We are not advised of the actual broadcast date and time but once we have it I will update with another post.

Compassion in Society

2008-11-22T04:52:00.014+08:00

Compassion is a feeling for another's sorrow or suffering. An equivalent term is empathy. Not many people has this ability to understand and feel for the sorrowful, the suffering, the disabled. Perhaps those who can already understood that in the realm of human capacities there is inequality and that they have experienced the empty or half cup syndrome, which is how a person feels looking at life up from the floor level, much as a crippled or a lame beggar would. They further understand that there are others in the same situation, and worst. As such it is easier for them to view life from a blessed eye and hence dispense compassion to those less well off. Or else how shall we explain the poor and the sick still having compassion for others? Compassion belongs to people of every status, wealth and educational background. I guess it is both a gift of discernment as well as life's experience that enable one to feel compassion.

How many of us has true compassion for the disabled people around us? Perhaps when they are truly disabled, like when they are obviously blind, crippled, speech impaired or mentally deficient that we are moved to feel pity and helpful towards them. But do we really feel the same way for others who are not so obviously handicapped? Like the learning disabled people in the workplace?

These people look as normal as you and I but for the exception that they are slow in thinking, expressing, learning and doing. Quite often we fall into the trap of raising our expectations of them. Like why are you STILL so slow? Why can't you learn as fast inspite of all the trainings?

Learning disability is a lifelong setback. Short of wearing a label that shouts 'I Am a Learning Disabled Person' we don't need to demean these fellow human beings any further. We ought to treat them normally BUT with understanding that they are not as normal as we normal people are, or ever will be. Strangers may be forgiven for not knowing the lack of certain capacities of these LD people but those in their circle like family members, neighbors and workplace colleagues ought to know better. Sadly, familiarity still breed contempt and over time our treatment of the LD shift towards the way we treat the other people.

Other factors as to why disabled people failed to receive special treatment are the 'why are they so special? I too have my own set of problems!' ,'it is not my problem!' and the 'they get the same pay so should do the same work!' attitudes. In bad times more and more people need compassion, including the regularly normal families who may cut off their feelings towards the disabled since they too believe that they now belong to the financially disabled crowd!

However, compassion towards the physically and mentally disabled must be an all-season attitude because they are an all-season disability people.

Disabled Persons in the Real World Job Market

2008-11-21T14:15:00.010+08:00

It is all honky dory to believe that the real world outside will accept disabled persons in their midst with more compassion and patience than their regular peers. After all, the very fact that they are less endowed than us should invoke a sense of sympathy or even pity, right? Wrong!

What I have learned is that disabled employees are sometimes expected to perform just as well as the abled ones. Perhaps at the onset when they were new their colleagues tend to be more understanding but over time their expectations increase. They begin to expect the disabled colleagues to be picking up new skills as fast as they can and when that is not forthcoming they become critical. The able employees may not know that the disabled colleagues of theirs spent many years just to learn some basic skills and are also not able to learn new ones as well or as fast. Such treatment tend to give rise to grievances.

In some societies, perception of the disabled community is more matured in a sense this special people are already accepted as different and therefore treated with better respect and preference without any qualm. In such environments the disabled are accorded respect and preferential treatment that do not give rise to complaints from the normal adults. Evolving societies are learning to change their mindset. This process may take many years.

Management may have decided to give special privileges to their disabled employees. However, the workers themselves may not be as enthusiastic or charitable in their hearts. Such conflicts take time to resolve. It is necessary for open dialogs between employers and employees to resolve any misunderstanding.

Disable employees and their families are naturally aggrieved by any mistreatment or prejudice at the workplaces. It require patience and public discourse to bring this matter to the forefront, debated and resolved.

Oops! Not TV but Magazine

2008-11-12T10:12:00.010+08:00

RTM2 has advised us that this November 25's interview and photoshooting will be for their health magazine for the disabled people entitled Kugapai Harapan. It will not be for television broadcast as misunderstood by us. Upon reflection I realise it is a better idea since we will have newspapers, television and magazine coverages. Publication is due in March next year so this help spread our publicity over a long period rather than condensed all into this year. It is marvelous how we see PBSNS start off.

We plan to buy several copies of this magazine for distribution to our supporters.

Proposal to Buy Church Building

2008-11-09T11:11:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, at the local church executive committee meeting, I raised the proposal agreed by the PBSNS committee at its 27th September meeting, to buy over the church building that we are now renting so that the work of training the learning disabled may be expanded to include the first floor that is now used by the church as its administration office. We need the additional space to both improve on the training modules as well as accept more trainees on our waiting list.

Should the church agree to sell we will have to embark on fund raising projects after getting approval from the relevant authorities. It is my belief that the timing of this proposed purchase will help both PBSNS and the church in its growth. Do pray that God's will for us will be carried out smoothly.

PBSNS on Fitrah Kasih

2008-11-07T22:29:00.007+08:00

I am thankful that RTM1 has aired a 3 minutes segment on the work of PBSNS on their Fitrah Kasih programme on 7th November 2008 at 9.00pm. Below is the videoclip for your viewing.

Filming Date Fixed

2008-10-31T14:50:00.003+08:00

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

RTM2 Wants to Cover Our Work Too !

2008-10-31T12:17:00.007+08:00

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.

FITRAH KASIH

2008-10-29T16:41:00.002+08:00

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!

2008-10-29T16:25:00.012+08:00

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.

Going on National Television - It's ON

2008-10-21T19:14:00.005+08:00

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

2008-10-21T19:06:00.008+08:00

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!

We May be on National Television!

2008-10-20T15:25:00.008+08:00

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!

Updates

2008-10-03T21:58:00.021+08:00

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.

Visits by STM Students

2008-09-09T12:10:00.011+08:00

It is with pride & joy that we at PBSNS welcomed students from Seminari Theoloji Malaysia (STM) in their endeavour to orient themselves to the work among People with Learning Disabilities. The team comprising 18 students from the English department and 15 students from the Chinese department and their respective lecturers Rev Dr Joseph Komar and Deaconess Margaret Chen were here to understand the complexities of this ministry to the marginalized segment of our society.

Seeing the trainees make Christmas cards, bake cakes, and after sampling the Banana walnut cake and Magic sponge (chocolate cake) these aspiring Church leaders expressed that they are “touched by their capabilities” and that this ministry challenges them. Several have assured us that they would promote our cards and cakes in their respective churches.

At PBSNS our vision is to see people with learning disability be self-reliant and move towards independent living. The focus of our training programme is to help discover their potential, enhance their capabilities and empower these people with dignity.>

The Korean Connection

2008-08-25T22:14:00.013+08:00

We are favored by the visit of the newly appointed pastor of the Korean Church in Seremban, Rev. Lee Hung Sub, to understand our work better. Rev. Lee was here in Seremban to minister to the Korean Christians as well as carry out local missionary works.

Rev. Lee took a keen interest in our work and asked if he can bring Koreans visitors from South Korea to observe our work to which we agreed without hesitation. He further said he would like to bring his wife over to see how she can be of help. We are deeply touched by his gestures, which include possible financial aids later. We see today's visit as a potential beginning to a future tie whose opportunities only God can limit. We are glad to have been given this chance to explain what we are doing to him, as well as let him sample the cake and fried rice our trainees prepared.