Disabled and elderly dog owners are upset by MBPJ’s decision not to waive the dog licence fee.
APRIL 1 turned out to be a disappointing day for pet lovers. It was reported in the newspapers that the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), in a majority decision, had chosen not to grant free dog licences to handicapped and elderly residents.
A proposal was put forward to the council to offer a full fee waiver for disabled pet lovers, and a 50% discount for all elderly persons in PJ.
(Currently dog owners in PJ pay RM10 annually for their pets. Only the Shah Alam City Council offers such relief to the disabled and elderly.)
The proposal was meant to offer some relief and support for persons whose pets play an integral role in their lives. The proposal came from handicapped and elderly members of Petpositive, an animal-assisted therapy society where I serve as president.
It has the backing of several disability and animal NGOs, namely, the Independent Living and Training Centre in Rawang, Selangor, the Malaysian Parkinson’s Disease Association in Kuala Lumpur, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Selangor.
The move raises an important question about how local councils operate. When decisions that affect the lives of disabled persons are made, do our local governments ensure that they consult the disabled before they give the go-ahead?
And in this particular situation, not just any disabled person but the handicapped and the elderly who are receiving animal-assisted therapy.
Dogs possess an uncanny ability to help the disabled to lead positive lives. In so doing, the handicapped are able to achieve a better quality of life. This has been proven by medical experts and researchers.
Do those who make such decisions take the trouble to visit the homes of individuals with disabilities to see these wonderful canines in action?
Do decision-makers know what it’s like to be in a wheelchair? Or what it’s like to soil their pants because they have a weak bladder or poor bowel control (or both) as a result of an accident or illness?
As for the able-bodied who have dogs, are they dependent on their pets for therapy the way people in wheelchairs, the blind and the deaf are?
Take, for example, wheelchair users Sue Chen and her husband who own two dogs which they regard as their children. They don’t make much money so they have to share what’s on their table when they dine, with their pets.
“Every sen counts,” said the couple. “Besides, it would save us the hassle of travelling to the local authorities’ office and joining the long queues just to get our licences renewed.
“The taxi fare to the local council and back is almost three times the cost of the licence. Having our dogs greet us in the morning and follow us everywhere gives us a sense of acceptance, belonging and security,” they explained.
JK is another example of how animal-assisted therapy can make a difference. He was bedridden recently following an accident and now spends his time looking at the four walls of his room. His only pal is a puppy that was introduced to him recently.
The puppy is doing wonders for JK; he is starting to focus on his new friend instead of dwelling on his misery.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our respective councils could show some care and compassion by appreciating the special role of canines, and be mindful of the hardships the disabled face?
Enthusiasts claim that garbage enzyme works its magic indoors and outdoors. But not everyone is convinced of its benefits.
IT IS every housewife’s dream – a multipurpose cleaner that is all-natural, environment- friendly, non-toxic, free of synthetic chemicals and best of all, can be made from kitchen scraps.
Sounds too good to be true, right? But many who have made and used this cleaner swear by it. Making this wonder cleaner merely involves fermenting kitchen waste with brown sugar and water for three months. The resulting brown, vinegary solution is commonly called garbage enzyme and is diluted with water for use – and it appears to be able to work miracles.
Testimonies on its uses appear endless: to do the dishes and laundry, mop the floor, scrub the toilet and bathroom, remove stubborn stains, for body care, as deodoriser and antiseptic and to clear blockages in pipes and drains. It will even repel ants, mosquitoes, cockroaches, lizards.
Using citrus fruit waste will lend a pleasant scent to the garbage enzyme.
In farms, garbage enzymes have found use as a natural pesticide, herbicide, fertiliser and odour remover, and is also added to animal feed to improve digestion of livestock. And in the garden, it will make your plants flourish, bloom and fruit. Prisca Loke can testify to that. “Because of my busy schedule, I never had time to take care of my plants and they looked horrible. But after I sprayed them with garbage enzymes, they grew lush and started flowering. That converted me into a garbage enzyme user,” says the assistant human resource manager.
Loke now relies on garbage enzymes for many of her household chores. She finds it effective in removing grease from pots and pans and kitchen counters, as well as stubborn stains from her children’s white school shirts (she soaks them in diluted enzyme solution before the normal laundering).
Most of what she knows is from experimenting and sharing experience with friends.
“I could not find any scientific analysis on the enzyme on the Internet but from my personal experience and talking with friends, I find that the enzyme is useful.”
She has tried fermenting different fruit wastes since all will produce different enzymes, and some might be more effective for certain tasks than others. Ever willing to share her knowledge, Loke has given demonstrations on enzyme-making to her colleagues at Sunrise Bhd and residents of Sunrise Mont Kiara in Kuala Lumpur.
Enzyme evangelists
Dr Joean Oon uses diluted enzyme solution to clean vegetables.
Poultry seller Tan Yew Leong has also turned enzyme-advocate after seeing how it has reduced foul odours emanating from the Section 17 market in Petaling Jaya, Selangor .
“The market used to smell as the council only cleans it once a week or once a month by spraying water. Since we started spraying the enzyme (diluted with water) daily, it is not so smelly and there are fewer flies. The drains are also cleaner,” says Tan who has been making full use of vegetable and fruit discards at the market.
His home is filled with about 100 tanks, both big and small, of fermenting waste.
“Some other hawkers are also making the enzyme themselves after seeing its effectiveness,” says Tan, who provides free enzyme for cleansing of the market. He also sells the solution by the bottles but thinks it best that people make it themselves as they would reduce their waste.
Tan uses the enzyme liberally at home. “About 70% of the cleaning at home is now done using the enzyme, for mopping the floor and cleaning the toilets and bathroom. My family has reduced the use of chemicals and there are no more cockroaches in my house,” says the satisfied user.
The benefits of garbage enzymes is said to extend beyond the home. Apparently, when enzyme-laced wastewater flows down kitchen sinks and bathroom pipes, it supposedly continues to work its magic in drains, sewers and eventually, streams and rivers. This idea has spurred a project to get some 10,000 households in Petaling Jaya to produce their own garbage enzyme for home use.
The Danish-funded project by Section 19 Residents Association, Justlife (an organic food chain) and Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled, will see enzyme-making demonstrations for residents’ associations and other community groups in the next five months. In Thailand, households’ use of garbage enzymes is said to have helped keep some streams clean.
“When people use the enzyme to clean dishes and do the laundry, the discharged water will finally end up in ponds and streams, so indirectly cleaning up the water bodies,” says Lee Lih Shyan, senior assistant director of the Local Agenda 21 programme at Petaling Jaya City Council. This approach benefits the environment more than that of pouring drums of garbage enzymes into ponds and rivers to cleanse the water bodies as practised by some communities in Penang. Lee says cleaning up ponds and rivers this way is an exercise in futility if pollution is not stemmed at the source.
“Such efforts will not be effective unless there is a group producing the enzyme in large quantities and continuously pouring it into the river. There is no point in doing it once or twice,” he says.
Where is the science
But exactly how and why this miraculous solution works is unclear. Even its advocates can’t quite explain the science behind it.
“There have been tests done but all the information is in Thai. I do not have the resources to get them translated into English or to research into how it works. And I’m not a chemist, so I don’t know how to explain it.
All I can say is that people have used it, and it works,” says Penang-based naturopathy practitioner Dr Joean Oon, Oon had learnt about garbage enzymes from its originator, Dr Rosukon Poompanvong, a pioneer of Thailand’s organic farming movement and a Food and Agriculture Organisation award recipient for her work in using fermented organic waste for crop fertilisation, pest protection and livestock feed.
Scientists spoken to say it is the microorganisms present in waste that produce the enzymes. The fermentation produces acetic acid, characterised by its vinegary smell, and it is the acid that gives the solution its cleaning prowess; vinegar, after all, is a traditional household cleaner.
The usefulness of enzymes has long been known. Enzymes act as catalysts – they increase the rates of chemical reactions.
In the human body, enzymes help in digestion and other bodily functions.
In wastewater treatment, enzymes accelerate decomposition of organic substances.
Enzymes have also found their way into commercial goods: in detergents, they improve the cleaning performance while in cleaning solutions, they eat away organic material that clog up pipes.
While the cleansing ability of garbage enzymes can be explained, claims on its other abilities seem pretty far-fetched – for instance, its role in repairing the ozone layer and in reducing global warming. Its proponents say ozone generated by the enzyme solution will bind with heavy metals in the air to reduce global warming. The ozone will also react with other elements such as nitrogen and sulphur to form nitrates and sulphates, which make good plant nutrients.
The science behind these claims, however, is sketchy. It does not help that the few documents available from Oon have been poorly translated into English from Thai. In Internet chat groups, some have censured the claims, especially the one about repairing the ozone hole. It is argued that ground-level ozone is unstable and will break into oxygen before it has any chance to migrate to the stratosphere (10 to 48km above sea level) to form the beneficial ozone layer that prevents harmful UV radiation from reaching the Earth.
Also, ground-level ozone (it results when nitrogen oxides and organic gases, emitted by automobiles and industrial sources, react with air) is a toxic gas and irritant, and causes smog. In recent technologies, ozone is used to disinfect water as well as sterilise air and certain foods but the amount of ozone produced in garbage enzymes is so low that it would have little effectiveness.
Possible toxins
Sewerage plants do rely on beneficial bacteria to break down waste but no one knows for sure if the flushing of garbage enzymes down the toilet, as advocated by its proponents, would not lead to ill effects in the long term.
Likewise, flooding lakes and rivers with enzymes might be harmful if too much is used – it might well deplete oxygen levels in the water due to higher organic matter. Also, the anaerobic fermentation involved (the enzyme is made in an air-tight container) will release methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Dr P. Agamuthu, a professor in waste management at Universiti Malaya, has questions too regardin g garbage enzyme. That the solution is beneficial for plants does not surprise him as it is rich in nutrients from the sugar.
However, he is wary about using the solution in the shower and to wash dishes and food. “Since it involves fermentation of waste, there might be pathogens in the mixture. In normal composting of solid waste which is water-free, temperatures can reach to 65°C to 70°C, and this will destroy most pathogens. Fermentation, however, will never reach this temperature, especially when water is added.”
He is uncertain if it is the enzymes, or other chemicals that are doing the job. To clear these doubts, Agamuthu intends to conduct his own tests with the enzyme to see what it contains and its effect on plants and soil.
Following the barrage of criticisms, Oon has decided to stop linking garbage enzymes with ozone depletion and global warming – but only because she is stumped when asked to explain the scien ce. She adds that she does not urge people to pour the enzymes into rivers to clean waterways – that was done initially just to create an activity and to promote public awareness.
Sincere in wanting to encourage green practices, she now expounds on only one aspect of garbage enzymes: “It makes good use of kitchen waste which would otherwise end up in landfills and generate methane, a potent greenhouse gas. It is something that housewives can do. And the enzyme also reduces our reliance on chemical cleaners, detergent and fertilisers.”
Ambiguities aside, the garbage enzyme movement has found quite a following and many attest to its efficacy. Still, until more tests are done on its contents and long-term effects, it might be wise to use it judiciously.
More people will qualify for welfare aid under the Government’s Social Safety Net programme.
DURING an economic downturn, everyone feels the pinch, more so the poor or those living below the poverty line income.
According to the Economic Planning Unit, 16.5% of the Malaysian population lived in poverty in 1990. Twelve years later, in 2002, the rate dropped to 5.1% and last year, the poverty rate stood at 1.8%.
However, the actual number of poor people could well be higher, considering the high cost of living in urban areas and the current economic crisis.
A group of disabled people displaying their JKSM cards which act like identity cards, proof that the cardholder is on the social aid scheme.
One government mechanism that provides social support to the poor and needy is the Malaysia Social Safety Net or Jaringan Keselamatan Sosial Malaysia (JKSM) programme.
It involves various ministries and government agencies, including the Ministries of Health, Education, Housing and Local Government, Human Resources, Agriculture and Agrobased Industry, Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development, Rural and Regional Development, and, Women, Family and Community Development.
The social support given comes in various forms which include financial aid; food, fertiliser and fuel subsidies; free education, textbooks and uniforms; affordable hospital care and skills training.
Last year, a total of RM350mil was allocated to the Social Safety Net programme. This year, the amount has been raised to RM850mil.
Senior citizens above the age of 60 who are ill, not able to work and living in poor conditions are also eligible for the Government’s social welfare aid.
An important aspect of this social support is the Federal Welfare Aid given via the Social Welfare Department under the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.
“My ministry is only one part of this whole scheme and we are very focused on the so-called non-productive groups. They include senior citizens aged above 60 who are ill, not able to work and living in poor conditions, children aged below 18 from poor family backgrounds, and the disabled.
“We are involved in giving basic financial support to such groups,” said Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen.
On Feb 25,Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi together with Dr Ng launched a revised Malaysia Social Safety Net programme and a new Social Safety Net Card (Kad JKSM).
Under this Safety Net programme, more people will qualify for welfare aid.
The new Malaysia Social Safety Net Card or Kad Jaringan Keselamatan Sosial Malaysia (JKSM) under the Social Welfare Department of Malaysia.
In previous years, welfare aid was given to the hardcore poor who, according to the Economic Planning Unit, are those with a household income of less than RM430 in Peninsular Malaysia, RM520 in Sarawak and RM540 in Sabah.
This year, the Ministry is extending aid to those with a household income of less than RM720 in Peninsular Malaysia, RM830 in Sarawak and RM960 in Sabah, or those living below the average poverty line income.
“From this year, we are extending the social safety net. This means that the number of people eligible for aid will double,” said Dr Ng.
“Last year, 150,000 people from about 50,000 families qualified for aid. This year, we expect at least 110,000 families to benefit.”
Dr Ng stressed that the poverty line income only serves as a guide or the initial entry point for eligibility of aid. Final approval will depend on investigations by welfare officers who will look into factors like the living condition of the families, the number of children and dependants, age of applicant or head of household, physical disability, and health conditions due to disease or illness.
This year, those who qualify for aid will also receive the new Kad JKSM, an electronic chip card which replaces the manila cards that people on welfare have been using since Independence.
“The card represents a new system of delivery to recognise eligible recipients. It is also (a tool) to create awareness about the welfare aid as we are determined to provide aid to those who are truly in need,” said Dr Ng.
“The card is like an identity card to prove that the cardholder is on the JKSM scheme. Later, we hope to link the card to public transportation systems and even outlets with special benefits for these groups of people.”
Each JKSM card is valid for a year and has to be reviewed annually.
“We do not want the poor to remain poor forever. We also want them to move out of poverty.”
To reach out to people in need of aid, the Social Welfare Department launched Projek Cari last October.
Under the project, 850 temporary welfare officers were hired for six months from October to go down to the ground and identify, register, investigate and speed up applications for the welfare scheme. These officers work in tandem with the existing 7,000 welfare officers in the country.
From Oct 1 to Jan 31, 70,000 new cases were identified, of which 25,000 have so far been approved. About 7,500 people did not qualify or pulled out, while the rest are still under investigation.
“Projek Cari has proven its effectiveness. The aim of the project is to reach out to as many people as possible and to create awareness. It is ongoing until March 31, after which we will review it and see if we need to extend it,” said Dr Ng.
She hopes local leaders will help identify those in need and bring them to the department’s attention.
“I want to strengthen the whole welfare delivery system in Malaysia from the context of entry point, human resource and also the JKSM card as we move towards 2020,” she said.
Aid list
THE Federal Welfare Aid scheme under the Social Welfare Department offers:
> A general monthly allowance of RM80 per person, up to a maximum of RM350 per family, subject to a household income of below RM720 for Peninsular Malaysia, RM830 for Sarawak and RM960 for Sabah.
> RM300 a month for poor senior citizens aged above 60, subject to a household income of below RM720 for Peninsular Malaysia, RM830 for Sarawak and RM960 for Sabah.
> RM100 a month per child for families earning below RM720 in Peninsular Malaysia, RM830 in Sarawak and RM960 in Sabah. This aid is subject to a maximum of RM450 per family.
> RM300 supplementary work allowance a month for a disabled person who is working and earning below RM1,200 a month.
> RM300 a month for a non-working caregiver who looks after a debilitated/bedridden person at home. This is provided the family income is less than RM3,000 a month.
> From January this year, RM150 a month will also be given to a disabled person who is unemployed despite efforts to find a job.
To apply for welfare aid and the JKSM card, go to your nearest Social Welfare office or call the Ministry’s Talian Nur hotline at 15999.
JUST the other day, I was at one of the biggest shopping malls in Klang. It was a crowded Sunday and also the last day of the school break.
What amazed me was that as I was walking in to catch a movie, I noticed that many cars were parked at lots reserved for the disabled.
And all these cars had no stickers indicating the owners were disabled.
I even noticed a man coming out from his car at a disabled person’s parking lot and coolly walking inside the mall.
He was not handicapped and he had a Polis Diraja Malaysia sticker and a Parliament sticker on his car. Also, he was wearing a T-shirt of a local telecommunications company which was having a promotion at the mall.
I’m very disappointed that the mall’s management did nothing to stop this from happening.
The Klang Municipal Council (MPK) should provide stickers for disabled people to stick on their cars and the regulations should be strictly enforced. Malls should clamp cars without such stickers but parked at a disabled person’s lot and those who defy such regulations in town areas should be issued with summonses.
The search for a model disabled-friendly rest room yielded some interesting results.
I WAS involved in an unusual assignment a week ago. Together with another gentleman in a wheelchair, and accompanied by a team of experts from the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), our motley crew went out as “roving investigators” in Petaling Jaya.
We went to look at, of all things, toilets. And we were only interested in loos that were user-friendly for disabled and elderly individuals.
The purpose of our trip was to come up with a good prototype design of a restroom that would be user-friendly for the handicapped.
Our first stop was a well-known hotel. We oohed and aahed at most of the outfit’s disabled-friendly designs. The most impressive was the entry/exit door of the loo, which was an electronic one.
All a patron in a wheelchair needed to do was press a button with one finger and presto: it would open for him. Once inside, he has only to push another button. The door closes, offering him all the privacy he needs.
If only all other hotels in the country would follow the good example of the hotel we visited and provide electronic doors as well, it would make the lives of disabled and elderly persons much easier when they visit such outfits.
Even though posh hotels may have disabled-friendly loos, little attention is given to the doors. The doors are often so heavy that we have a hard time trying to open them.
Not everything was smooth-sailing during our assignment. Together with the good came the not-so-good.
We had a lesson on how important it was to train everyone to handle an emergency.
When we tried to get into the loo for the first time, it suddenly got locked and refused to open until 20 minutes later. None of the staff knew how to open the door.
They claimed the person in charge was not around. Fortunately, this was not a real emergency. We dreaded to think of what could have happened if a disabled person had fallen inside the loo and needed help.
It was disappointing too that the five-star hotel had a steep ramp at its entrance which disabled guests were forced to use to access the building.
The reserved parking lot for the disabled was located far from the entrance to the building.
The management promised to rectify the situation soonest possible.
Our journey also took us to Ikea and Ikano shopping centres in Mutiara Damansara.
No sooner had we arrived when we were greeted by smiling security guards at the generously-sized parking lots for the disabled. These people are so serious about their car parks for the handicapped that they clamp any unauthorised cars and make them pay a fine for abusing the facilities.
The money collected is donated to a local charity for the disabled.
I was shocked to hear about the reactions of some people who misuse the disabled parking bays. One or two of them even resorted to violence when their cars were clamped, I was told.
The majority, however, were apologetic when they realised the error of their ways.
As for the toilets, especially Ikea’s, I think they have close to the perfect one I’ve seen so far.
The toilet is spacious enough for a helper to accompany a disabled person. There’s an alarm bell (panic button) in case of an emergency and even a face mirror that leans slightly downwards from a strategic height to allow a wheelchair-user to view his upper body.
We were all touched by the willingness of these two shopping centres to improve on what they were providing for shoppers
TOILETS for the disabled are often too small or are locked.
These are some of the problems faced by the disabled at some places in Penang, said Society of Disabled Persons (Penang) former president Tan Kuan Aw.
Tan, who is wheelchair-bound, said there were also toilets for the disabled which had been turned into storerooms because the managements of buildings where these toilets are located think not many people use them.
He said there were specifications that must be complied with when facilities for the disabled are provided such as handrails for ramps.
But after studying the situation in Penang for a decade, Tan did not think the local authorities were serious when it came to ensuring that these specfications were adhered to.
“The setting up of a barrier-free facility like a toilet for people with disabilities just for the sake of it is a misunderstood concept. There are Sirim standards and requirements that need to be followed,” he said in an interview.
A check by The Star in public places around Penang proved Tan’s descriptions of several public toilets accurate.
One such toilet in a building along the Jelutong Expressway was so small that a disabled person in a wheelchair would find great difficulty to close the toilet door from the inside.
Tight space: A woman in wheelchair demonstrating how difficult it is to use the cramped toilet for disabled persons.
The reason for this, apart from the size of the toilet, is that the toilet door opens the wrong way. It opens inward, instead of outward or sliding.
Another toilet for the disabled persons in a shopping mall is occasionally locked and those who want to use the facility must find the cleaner who has the key, as instructed by a sign stuck to the door.
As for ramps, Tan said some were built without handrails. But in the case of the ramp at the Taman Sri Pinang flats on River Road, it was crossbars that has become a barrier for the disabled.
Stumbling block: A ramp with handrails is provided at Taman Sri Pinang but disabled persons, especially those in wheelchairs, cannot proceed further with the locked crossbars blocking the building's entrance.
Although the ramp has handrails, it is not barrier-free as there are crossbars at the bottom to prevent motorcyclists from using the ramp.
Women’s Centre for Change (WCC) committee member Lim Kah Cheng, who is an ardent activist for people with special needs, said the bars could also be a hindrance during emergencies like fires.
She said ramps could be designed in a way that motorcyclists could not misuse them, adding that the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) had agreed to look into the matter.
“Instead of a ramp, a winding path that motorcyclists will find difficult to manoeuvre their vehicles on can be considered. The council already has the design which is not costly to follow,” said Lim, who is also an MPPP councillor.
Her other complaints include the putting up of signboards, road signs, advertisement boards and other obstructing objects in the middle of pavements or walkways; and high pavements.
Lim said the trick would be to get things right the first time - constructing buildings and providing public facilities that were universal.
“If you build a ramp, build one that is for everybody. What is good for the disabled is good for everyone else,” she added.
Danger lurks: This bus stop at Jalan Dr Lim Chwee Leong is unsafe for disabled persons, especially for the visually impaired and those in wheelchairs.
MPPP president Datuk Zainal Rahim Seman, when contacted, said the council would take serious note of the problems faced by the disabled with the existing facilites.
“Our officers will conduct checks on these facilities to see if they comply with the required standards. If developers do not comply with building requirements, we will not grant them the CFs,” he added.
Kuala Lumpur: Being disabled should never be a deterrent for anyone to excel and prove to the society that they are capable individuals. Their greatest wish is to be given fair opportunities including the chance to obtain formal education, professional training and employment.
CIMB Foundation’s Chinese New Year celebration today was a showcase of what the disabled can achieve if given the right opportunities. Four (4) non-government organisations (NGOs), who are among CIMB Community Link’s beneficiaries, were present at the event - Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled, Pusat Majudiri ‘Y’ for the Deaf, Persatuan Braille Malaysia, and Persatuan Wushu, Tarian Naga dan Singa Jing Ying Kuala Lumpur. Through various initiatives, their members were provided with facilities and training to promote self-sufficiency and enabled some of them to earn an income.
Funded by CIMB Foundation, 15 individuals from the Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled were able to take up broadcasting courses at The Voice Academy where they had an opportunity to run their own programme for the disabled on AiFm, a Chinese radio station under RTM and collaborated with NTV7 to produce a Chinese New Year programme in 2008; 14 individuals from Pusat Majudiri ‘Y’ for the Deaf (known as “YMCA Deafbeat”) were trained to play traditional Chinese drums and in performing arts and have since successfully performed in a number of public events; over 200 copies of the al-Quran in Braille format were produced and distributed to various schools for the blind enabling them to learn to recite the verses; and an acrobatic lion dance programme was specially tailored for enthusiastic deaf youths and coached by the Persatuan Wushu, Tarian Naga dan Singa Jing Ying Kuala Lumpur. The acrobatic lion dance troupe has been invited to perform at various events during the recent Chinese New Year celebrations including the CIMB Foundation event today.
“Through Community Link, CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic branches have identified many worthy causes to be funded to benefit the communities served by the branches. We are very pleased with the results of these programmes, and the beneficiaries present today are a small cross-section of our success stories,” said Dato’ Sri Nazir, Group Chief Executive of CIMB Group. “I am proud of their achievements and we intend to continue our support through CIMB Foundation and empower these and other individuals to look beyond their disabilities and be independent,” he added.
CIMB Foundation also presented RM5,000 to each of the 4 NGOs. Datin Sri Azlina Aziz, wife of Dato’ Sri Nazir Razak, presented the mock cheques to the representatives of the organisations.
CIMB Community Link, is an initiative of CIMB Foundation, implemented by leveraging on the nationwide reach of CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic’s 367 branch network. Over 180 projects with a budget of RM6.2 million have been allocated to Community Link projects since the inception of the programmes in May 2007.
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