美門迷你殘障運動會

殘友發揮不屈不撓鬥志

（八打靈再也訊）身殘志不殘！

美門殘障關懷基金會週日（8日）在靈培才華小舉辦第六屆迷你殘障運動會，讓弱勢群體在競技場上交流，發揮體育精神。


運動會設5項比賽，包括羽球、兵乓球、中國象棋、西洋象棋及草地保齡球。由於草地保齡球需要更大的空間，因此這個體育項目是在班登英達進行。

參賽者的殘缺程度都不一樣，必須根據其殘缺的嚴重性分類後，才進行分組比賽，以示公平。

兵乓球的參賽者為輪椅員組，他們都是不良於行，必須坐在輪椅上比賽，因此，比賽進行時，兩邊都要安排工作人員專為他們拾球。

有些出席者首次觀看殘障人士參加運動會，感觸良多。尤其是他們在進行比賽時認真及不屈不撓的鬥志。特別是羽球和兵乓球的參賽者，他們想盡辦法把球打回對方的毅力，實在令人萬分感動。 （星洲日報/大都會•2007.07.08）



身殘志不殘，弱勢群體一樣能辦一場出色的運動會。



在進行象棋賽中，每位參賽者都很認真。



坐在輪椅上打羽球，充份顯示殘缺人士的奮鬥精神。



殘缺人士想盡辦法把球打回給對方的毅力，和抱著永不放棄的精神，實在令人敬佩。



雖然雙眼看不到，只要用心下棋，已經是勝利者。

摘自：http://www.sinchew-i.com/article.phtml?artid=200707090770&data=scnews&spid=34740

Wheelchair Mini Sports Competition

Ping Pong and Badmintion Competition
乒乓与羽毛球赛

All this while I have heard about disabled mini sports held by Beautiful Gate in the past, but never ever see it myself. I am unable to imagine how a disabled people can involve in ping pong or badminton until I have seen it today.

我常常听到美门以前举办过残障迷你运动会，却没有亲眼目睹，也无法想象残障朋友如何参加运动项目。直到今天，我亲眼目睹他们参加乒乓与羽毛球赛，才感到心服口服。

Chinese and International Chess Competition
中国象棋与国际象棋比赛

May be you can imagine how a disabled people playing chess, but not sure if you can imagine how a blind people can play chess? In the chess competition, there are quite some blind chess players, they used their great memory and hand to move the chess.

残障朋友参加象棋比赛可能你还可以想象得到，却不知道你是否也可以想象一下盲人下棋？在这里，有很多盲人棋手，他们靠的是惊人的记忆力，和用手触摸象棋而决定棋步。

Every move is a new move
世事如棋局局新

Every move is a new move, there are a lot of turning point in our life, we will experience different moment each time, thus we shall not give up when we are facing difficulties, however, we shall expect a more glorious future.

所谓世事如棋局局新，人的一生有许多转捩点，每一次都有不一样的遭遇，所以不应该为生活的不如意而一蹶不振；反之，应该期待更美好的未来。

Seven Years Old Boy
七岁的小男孩

Two months ago, I just got to know Wei Zhang, he was a shy boy and only smile at me while I talked to him. Later, I knew he reached the age to go to primary school, but his parent did not send him due to his disability.

两个月前，我初识的伟章是个害羞的小男孩，他并不多话，只会用傻笑来和我对话。后来才知道，伟章已经到了进小学的年龄，可是他父母没有送他上学。

Today, I met Wei Zhang again, he can speaks very fluent mandarin and become talkactive. I taught him how to use digital camera, he was very exciting and asked me to bring him around to take pictures. I can see that his learning curve has not been distort by his cerebral palsy, but better than the normal children.

今天再见到的伟章，却是口齿伶俐，讲得一口流利的华语。我教他怎样用数码相机，他就兴奋地要我带他到处拍照。由此可见，他的学习能力并没有因为他得了脑性麻痹症而受阻，反而比一般的儿童还要好。

Photos taken by Wei Zhang
伟章拍的照片

These are pictures taken by Wei Zhang. You can see the quality of the photos are not too bad.

这些都是伟章拍的照片，你可以看到这些照片还蛮不错的。

A friend to the disabled

UNIVERSITI Malaya Bachelor of Science student Amy Wong Jia Hui did not start out doing volunteer work because of some dramatic experience or driving passion. She did it simply because she was appointed Social Concerns head in her university's Christian Fellowship society.

The society decided to adopt the non-profit Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled as an organisation to help and support.

Amy helping Beautiful Gate resident Siew Yin who suffers from ‘spina bifida’. – AZLINA ABDULLAH / The Star

Twice a year, she would take groups of students to visit the residents and help out in their charity efforts by selling old books in the SS2 market, or participate in their camps during the semester break.

“It used to be a duty as I was voted into the post,” muses Amy. “These days, I visit them whenever I'm free, I hang out with them when they call me out to go yum cha (get a drink).”

She mostly helps out at the Beautiful Gate Career Development Centre for the Disabled, where residents undergo training such as computer and English courses and are encouraged to find jobs and be independent.

A student volunteer for a year now, she has heard many stories from her disabled friends.

“I met one woman who was able-bodied until she was in her early 20s,” she recalls. “When she became pregnant, the doctor told her that she had a genetic problem and had to either abort the baby or have something go very wrong with her nerves.

“She chose to give birth to the baby.

“The baby is fine but she can't walk now and has to use a wheelchair.”

It is stories like these that keep her motivated and change her outlook on life.

“They are so energetic and determined to live,” she says in earnest. “I used to get depressed over exam results but now, I realise that there is more to life, a purpose in living.”

Being around the disabled has taught her many things. For instance, she never knew how difficult it was to manoeuvre a wheelchair till she had to participate in a game involving wheelchairs in a Be An Angel camp, designed to engage the disabled with the able-bodied and to teach the latter how to assist the former.

“It was tough for me. My hands were in pain,” says Amy. “But I now understand how they feel.”

Being able-bodied, Amy, 23, admits it is sometimes easy to take things for granted; she has become so familiar with the Beautiful Gate residents that she treats them like her able-bodied friends.

“I learnt that I should be sensitive with my words,” she explains. “I once tried to put a pair of socks onto my friend's feet and I said: 'Why don't you straighten your legs so it would be easier for me to do this?'

“She immediately scolded her legs, saying: 'Yeah, come on! Why don't you straighten?'

Student volunteers find out how difficult it is to manoeuvre a wheelchair at the ‘Be an Angel’ camp.

“I realised how rude I had been and felt horrible after that.”

At the end of the day, Amy realises that what most disabled people want is genuine friendship.

“Being a volunteer is not so much about helping them but just being their friend.”

She has now become like family to the Beautiful Gate residents, chatting casually and being teased mercilessly by the office staff.

“Amy comes and disturbs us!” jokes the centre's staff member Chong Kar Yee, herself a cerebral palsy sufferer. “But people like her are rare. She can bond well with people of different ages and gender.”

Unfortunately, Amy still finds that many are not interested in doing what she does and some even think that Beautiful Gate, which is dependant mostly on public donations, is rich.

“At a flea market where I was holding out donation boxes, people told me that everyone gave to Beautiful Gate, so they should have lots of money,” she says.

The Centre's coordinator Ng Chung Chiat, who has worked there for eight years, believes that awareness about disability issues in general is poor.

“We write to schools and colleges twice a year proposing talks or student visits to create awareness,” he says. “Only about five schools in the Klang Valley respond in a year.”

Source : http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2007/6/24/education/18086667

Grateful for a new life

Story and photo by CHRISTINA TAN

SEVEN years ago, college student Thee Wan Chiee was hit by a motorbike when she was on her way home after supper with friends.

She suffered a broken skull and lost her vision as well as her sense of smell permanently.

After the accident which occurred at Jalan Banting-Klang on May 14, 2000, Thee, then 19, was unable to see and was forced to quit her studies at a college in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.

Still thankful: Thee working at a computer with software specially designed for the blind.

“I couldn’t believe this had happened to me I was extremely frightened and confused to see only darkness when I opened my eyes,” said Thee, who is 26 now.

The first year after the accident was a tumultuous year for her.

She had to fight for her life following major surgery to repair her broken skull. She was in a coma for five days and hospitalised for a month.

She was also fighting with herself for a new lease of life.

“I can’t remember much about what happened that night except that there was lots of blood,”. Thee said, adding that she had very few memories of the whole episode.

“I took me some time to recognise my parents and two younger sisters, and to realise what had actually happened to me,” she said when met the Beautiful Gate centre for the disabled.

During the first month of her recovery, Thee said, she not only tried very hard to recall her memories, but also learnt to walk, like a toddler.

“It was several months before I could walk again, and a year before I was able to face the reality,” she said, adding that she was initially angry with God for what had happened to her and confined herself to her own room.

Thee said it was her mother’s grief and tears for her almost every night since the accident that pushed her to seek a new life.

“She has suffered so much for me and the only way to cheer her up – and those who care for me – is for me to be happy,” she said.

She walked out of her room and took up a one-year “beginner's course” at the School for the Blind in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, to learn some basic skills for daily living.

Although the tragedy had changed her life completely, Thee said, she had more friends than ever now.

Her old friends, ex-school mates and relatives, with whom she had lost contact for a long time, had called her and visited her in hospital and at home after reading about the accident in the newspapers.

Her relationship with her family had also become closer than before, she said, adding that her life was more complete and more independent now.

“So I have not lost much, actually,” she quipped.

In January, Thee started work as an accounts clerk at the Beautiful Gate disabled centre in Port Klang. She is grateful for the job opportunity and trust shown in her.

Lately, Thee said, she could see some colours. “This is probably due to the hope and happiness in me,” she said, adding that she had never given up hope that she would be able to see again.

“I’m waiting for an opportunity to return to college to further my studies and become a business-woman someday,” she added.

She hopes all motorists would be more careful and considerate because their actions could affect not only their own lives but also those of others.

“Not every one is as lucky as I am to be given a second chance to live,” she said.

Source : http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2007/6/5/central/17859583&sec=central

一場高燒燒掉上學機會

35歲圓“讀書”夢

（吉隆坡）他從小到大的夢想是進入學校唸書，這個一般人眼中可輕易達成的事，他卻要在35歲之后才能完成！

發高燒患小兒痳痺症

因為他出世3個月時發了一場高燒，患上小兒痳痺症，家中長輩覺得這是一件羞恥的事，怕太多人知道，於是不讓他上學。

所以他小時候看到弟弟妹妹們去上學時，心里很羨慕，立志要去學校唸書。

直到35歲左右，他終於有機進入小學了，不過並不是做學生，而是當圖書館管理員。

他是張楨健，如果不是小時候他向弟弟“請教”，自己肯用心摸索，現在他可能會是文盲。

能閱讀簡單華文書籍

來自哥打白沙羅的楨健說，他現在能閱讀簡單的華文書籍和掌握普通的馬來文和英文詞匯，這是他這些年來努力自修的成果。

他說，他很喜歡目前的工作，這份工作圓了他想進學校唸書的夢想。

楨健目前在甲洞二校任職圖書館管理員。他感謝校方和學生在工作上給以的協助，並希望能長久在此工作。

楨健的情況是，左手和右腳可以活動，但是右手和左腳無力。

婆婆勸媽媽放棄
楨建險成棄嬰

提起往事，楨健相當感慨。他說，這事令他自小就不喜歡婆婆。

“媽媽告訴我，當我被證實患上小兒痳痺症後，婆婆曾勸媽媽放棄我，把我留在醫院，不要帶回家。”

“可是媽媽沒有狠下心腸，她告訴婆婆，我始終是她的骨肉，她不能就此拋棄我。”

他說，當時父親需到外工作，而母親是割膠工人，清晨就需到膠園工作，婆婆因為他是殘障兒，而聲明不照顧他。

從沒埋怨過父母

楨健說，因為父母的堅持，他才不至於成為孤兒。所以他從沒埋怨過父母，不過卻無法原諒婆婆，自小就很少和婆婆講話。”

除了險成棄嬰之事，另一件影響楨健至今，造成最大傷害的事是沒有讓楨健上學。

“因為我姐姐也患小兒痳痺症，她是在出世4個月大時得此病，不過她的情況好一些，她還可以走路。婆婆說，家里已經有一人殘障，上學時被人指指點點，不想我再去上學再讓人嘲弄。”

楨健說，家里除了他和姐姐殘障之外，其他弟妹都健全。

弟弟教導及自修
楨健能識字閱讀

“我15歲那年，弟弟開始唸小學，他第一天上學時，我看到他的校服很漂亮，心里很羨慕，很希望自己有機會穿上。”

“那天我等到弟弟放學回來，我向他借校服穿上，以滿足自己，但是我非常清楚一切都是假象。”

“我每天等弟弟回來，要他教我唸書認字，我是在這樣環境下長大和慢慢識字。”

楨健說，除了通過弟弟的教導，他的識字能力是通過電視節目逐慚一點點累積。

他說，他現在能夠識字和閱讀，但是書寫的能力還很弱。

他說，那時他都是看華文書，所以他不會馬來文和英文，另外，他也只是學會認字，可是完全不會寫。

華文能力只有中學程度

楨健說，現在他的華文能力只到中學程度，文字較深的書籍，他看不懂。

“初在圖書館任職，當閱讀中學程度書本時，我一行文字中有好多字不會，經過3年的努力自修，一行文字我已經可以讀出來，只是迅速比較慢。”

圖書館的工作讓楨健有更多機會與書為伍，彌補自小無法唸書的遺憾，也滿足他的求知慾。

從本身事件中，楨健體會到殘障人更需要學習機會，同時也希望社會人士多給殘障人士工作機會。他相信只要有機會，殘障人會比正常人更珍惜學習和工作的機會。

最喜歡歷史書籍
盼考取證書文憑

楨健說，他是在11年前才從家鄉來吉隆坡尋找工作，那時他是想到父母已老，有朝一日他要自己獨立生活，為了自己未來著想，他才只身出外找工作。

這些年來，他做過幾份工，包括在電子廠工作和在報社發行部工作。

楨健說，在來甲洞二校工作之前，他也在八打靈再也培才小學擔任過圖書館管理員，只是那裡的圖書館在樓上，他行動不便，所以只做18個月就離職。

“當初聽說可以在圖書館工作時，我好開心，因為終於可以完成進入校園的夢想了。”

楨健最喜歡閱讀歷史書籍，他希望可以在這方面考取一張證書或文憑。

“可是我不知道如何去尋找這方面的資料。”

他希望有人可以提供這方面的資料。

楨健已婚，妻子是名教師，倆人是在美門殘障中心認識。妻子也是他的老師，他閱讀時遇到難題，就會向妻子請教。

真情人物

姓名：張楨健
年齡：39歲
家境：已婚。

遭遇：小時因一場高燒而患上小兒痳痺症，長輩們覺得是件羞恥的事，不讓他上學，導致他沒有機會上學唸書，只靠弟弟教導及自修。他卅多歲成為小學圖書館管理員，完成進入校園的夢想。 （星洲日報／大都會‧2007.05.14）

摘自：http://www.sinchew-i.com/article.phtml?artid=200705140368&data=scnews&spid=34715

Using the law to help the disabled

RAMPS have been put up for the disabled in major shopping complexes, but some are too narrow to accommodate a wheelchair.

If you take TV programmes, only news segments are being sign-translated for the deaf, while tactile flooring to help guide the blind to safety is only provided on selected urban streets.

In short, the disabled are still made to be largely dependent on others to survive, let alone lead a "normal" life.

"Without (proper) facilities, getting out of the house is not only unfriendly but downright dangerous for the disabled," said Anthony Thanasayan, spokesperson for the Malaysians Against the Discrimination of the Disabled.

He admitted there have been more efforts in recent years to have disabled-friendly facilities, "but they’ve been largely sporadic and centred in Kuala Lumpur".

"A comprehensive plan is needed to provide facilities to help us be independent and productive members of the community."

Meanwhile, parents like Darshini Ganeson are worried that their children cannot get the proper training to become independent individuals because of the lack of "well-run" vocational institutions for the disabled.

She dismisses the special public schools for the disabled, saying they are of no help.

"If I had left Nanthini in her public school, she’d be a vegetable by now. They lump the children together — the autistic with the Down’s syndrome and the dyspraxic, like my girl.

"They must realise that each has different learning capabilities," said Darshini.

Malaysia has long been a signatory of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) — the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.

Its article 23 upholds that children with disabilities be guaranteed "a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation".

Earlier this year, a new treaty to ensure the human rights of people with disabilities opened for signature at the United Nations General Assembly.

The new treaty, which strengthens CRC’s Article 23, further advocates the human rights of an estimated 650 million disabled people in the world.

As of March 30, some 80 countries have signed the new Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Malaysia is not on the list of signatories but the Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said "we are working towards it".

"We want to have our groundwork in place first. Our legal advisers are working 24/7 to finalise the Persons with Disabilities Bill to be tabled in Parliament this year. Once we have that in place, we will sign the convention."

Presently, Malaysia has 170,000 registered disabled people. To facilitate the disabled, especially the poor, a new directive was issued last month for special counters for the disabled to be set up in every district welfare office.

"Just go and speak to my officers and they will help you," said Shahrizat.

Source : http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/Focus/20070513085558/Article/index_html

Mum’s love knows no bounds

By LEE YUK PENG

PETALING JAYA: Love is not ever feeling sorry.

Life had given Tey Hong Eng, 66, and daughter Sia Siew Chin, 41, more downs than ups, but for every heartache, headache and backache they suffer, they always see a sunbeam shining through.

And being wheelchair-bound has not stopped the two gutsy women from continuing to inspire and motivate others about seeing the best in people.
















Great inspirations: Tey and Sia with little Pui Yarn.

For years, Tey worked as a domestic help and, when she returned home, would bring piles of clothes to wash to earn some extra income.

In between chores, she would cook for her seven children, prepare them for school and attend to their every need.

More challenging for her was that five of her children suffer from muscular dystrophy - a disorder characterised by degenerating or abnormal muscle development.

In 1999, when she was with Sia, who was having a difficult delivery in Kuala Lumpur, they heard that a fire had gutted their wooden home in Sungai Rambai, Malacca.

In that same year, Tey was diagnosed with a spinal problem and needed to go for an operation.

Despite being wheelchair bound since her surgery in 2000, Tey said she has a better life now.

Sia, who inherited her mother’s guts and courageous nature, beamed as she talked about her only daughter – for whom she risked her life to give birth.

Due to her muscular dystrophy, doctors advised her to get an abortion. She, however, took the risk and baby Ng Pui Yarn was born.

“Pui Yarn is a God-sent gift. I have no right to take her life away,” said Sia, who was fully aware that the child had a 50% risk of inheriting the genetic problem from her.

Now, Pui Yarn has been diagnosed to have similar signs like her.

“Being a mother has made me feel complete and proud,” said Sia, who now champions the cause of the disabled as executive director of the Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled.

Sia will be receiving a special Mother’s Day award from the Kiwanis Club of Taman Tun Dr Ismail here on May 20.

Pui Yarn, who grew up with many disabled around her, used to tell Sia: “I hate to be like you.”

However, Sia has repeatedly told her young daughter that being wheelchair-bound would not make her life unhappy. “You can still do a lot of things” she told Pui Yarn.

The young girl, inspired and motivated by her mum, made a Mother’s Day card for Sia, complete with a drawing of a woman in a wheelchair

Source : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/5/13/nation/17704988&sec=nation