The Disabled And The Old

Beautiful Gate Foundation For The Disabled (Klang)

10 July 2011, a Sunday where we find ourselves once again joining our new friends from the 1Month 1Charity Group in their visit to the Beautiful Gate Foundation For The Disabled in Klang.

We met up with Chew, who brought along his adorable son, and the rest of the Group at Tesco Klang around noon to purchase some groceries and other necessities. Chew has thoughtfully enquired their needs from them beforehand and generously fulfiiled them. Apart from this, we also added a microwave oven to our contribution, upon hearing that they are in need of one after their existing one broke down beyond repair. On this same shopping trip, we also purchased some groceries to be delivered to Persatuan Warga Emas, an old folks home located in the same vicinity.

Our first destination, the Beautiful Gate Foundation For The Disabled in Klang, is one of the six Beautiful Gate Centres throughout Malaysia which provides different services to disabled community locally. Upon reaching the Centre we were warmly greeted by Mr Lee Yew Hoe who is the coordinator there. Shortly after unloading the groceries and other stuff, we were joined by Miss Esther Ng (General Affair Secretary) who gave us a briefing on their Centre, their mission and the noble works they do for the local community there.  This Centre is housed in a double-storey corner house with five bedrooms, located in a relatively busy part of Taman Chi Liung, with restaurants, minimarts and other shops within walking distance. The Centre can house up to 15 people and accommodate 30 people for daytime training programmes, including computer skills training. Within its compound, there are two Recycle Bins, which the residents nearby and other visitors regularly drop in their recyclable items.  The small area adjacent to the house is converted into a mini-workshop for the use of some of the disabled residents with skills in repairing electrical equipment and even computers. These appliances collected via their recycling lorry or drop-ins from their recycle bins are then repaired and sold to generate income.  Miss Esther further briefed us that the Centre’s primary aim is to teach some skills to each and every of their resident or trainee there based on the condition of their disability, with hope that someday they can be self-reliant and be able live a normal life as others in the society. In line with the other Beautiful Gate Centres’ objectives, this Centre also provides training in surviving skills and self-development skills for the disabled.

The Centre currently has two vans, one donated by a nearby minimart and another purchased through donations from kind benefactors. Both vans have been modified and fitted with hydraulic lift to enable easy loading and unloading of wheelchairs.  Esther informed that these vans are also utilised to transport some invalid or disabled people from nearby neighbourhood to nearby hospitals for their regular checkups or even for short outings. Their act is truly exemplary and a shining example of sharing of blessings with others.

As Esther was briefing us, we were shyly joined by a few of the residents with various disabilities, some were born with it, some acquired it through accidents or illness. From their smiles and beaming disposition, you can see that they accept their disabilities well and learn to cope with them the best they can.  Esther said that the residents there are very independent and even look out for each other, a common trait which I notice in most of the Homes and Centres. The camaraderie among them is truly to be respected. The greatest testimony of this Centre’s good work and effort in ensuring its residents welfare can be seen in some of the residents’s unwillingness to go home during weekends or festivals. The few residents which were there with us all nodded their heads in agreement when Esther jokingly complained that she has to coax them to go home and spend some time with their families so she can have some rest.

After thanking Esther and Lee for their time, we made a move to our next destination.

Persatuan Warga Emas

Our second destination for the day... Persatuan Warga Emas, a sanctuary for the abandoned old run by an elderly Indian lady and her family.  Located within the peaceful housing area of Solok Tamarind, this corner house is home to about 30 old folks, made up of Indians and Chinese.  As we reached there quite late in the afternoon, we just stayed long enough to drop off the groceries we bought and exchanged some pleasantries with the friendly Indian Lady Caretaker. Most of the residents were seen resting around the Home compound, some asleep, some indulging in idle chat, some in faraway thoughts, reminiscing about the past perhaps…

It was apparent that Chew was no newcomer to this Home as he and Lady Caretaker chatted away like old friends.  However, there was a moment of melancholy when she enquired about Chew's teammate, Lai who had passed away about 9 months ago. These 2 young guys must have endeared themselves to this elderly lady for her to remember them well even after long months of absence. Found out that Lai had a soft spot for this Home and had regularly drop by with food assistance. Sadly, with his untimely departure, this Home had lost a Friend.