FOR a person with cerebral palsy, great effort is needed just to pick up a tambourine or hold on to a drum stick to hit on the drums.
However, with a love for music and through diligent training, the Percussion Band from the Spastic Children’s Association of Selangor and Federal Territory can now play together in unison despite the difficulty they have in moving their limbs.
The band, consisting of about 15 members aged between 14 and 45, proudly performed two numbers for their special guest, the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.
Massive: Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah taking a look at the model of the new building. With him are (from right) Dr Lam and Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim. The Sultan was present at the association’s premises in Petaling Jaya to lay the foundation for a new nine-storey building under its redevelopment plans.
“We have come a long way since we started out in 1960 with five children. In 1964, we had 50 children and today, we have 250 children registered with us,� said association president Datuk Dr Lam Peng Chong.
He said the support and understanding of their kind-hearted donors were vital in the growth of the centre.
“The cost to transport one child to our centre alone is about RM200 per month and we’re grateful for the people who have supported us,� he said.
“We will also have two dormitories for girls and boys so that parents can leave their children here for the night if they have something to do,� he said.
He said they have managed to raise RM10mil out of the RM18mil needed for the redevelopment.
Proud day: The Percussion Band performing for their guests. “Once we have raised the other RM8mil, we will start work on the building, hopefully in a month’s time,� he said.
Athletes from the association’s boccia team also put on a demonstration game for the invited guests.
Trainees and caretakers with a model of the new nine-storey building for the spastic centre. — Picture by Rosela Ismail
PETALING JAYA: The Spastic Children’s Association of Selangor and Federal Territories will be spending a total of RM18 million to build a nine-storey complex and upgrade its classrooms at its centre near Padang Astaka here by 2013.
The construction of the nine storey building which is expected to start next month. in December. It will be named after the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, and will have also completed with three additional levels for parking.
The present single-storey classroom complex has 14 rooms. It will be renovated into a double-storey building with more than 20 classrooms.
Other facilities will which are to be built include a large and a small swimming pool as well as two separate dormitories for male and female trainees.
The dormitories are expected to house the trainees when caretakers go on working trips or have urgent matters to attend to overnight and cannot take the trainees along.
The association also plans to rent out office space on higher floors and of the building as well as parking bays to other non-governmental organisations.
After the foundation stone was laid by the Selangor Sultan here recently, on Thursday, the association’s president Datuk Dr Lam Peng Chong said it was short of RM8 million.
He said that a total of RM10 million had been raised for the construction of the building so far and the association was preparing to move the lessons and therapy sessions to the six-storey Bangunan Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah.
“We urgently need the RM8 million to start construction on schedule. We hope that individuals and organisations come forward and donate generously,” he said, while adding that the operation costs of running the centre was RM2 million a year.
The centre, which focuses on the care, rehabilitation and education of cerebral palsy sufferers, also has physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy sessions, and computer classes.
There are currently 250 trainees going for lessons and courses at the centre. They are aged between two months and 50 years. So far the centre has touched the lives of thousands of cerebral palsy suffers.
The centre’s six-storey workshop extension building which was built in the 1990s. It was named Bangunan Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah after Sultan Sharafuddin’s late father of the current Selangor Ruler. The former Selangor Sultan was the most influential patron of the association.
The building currently has some 30 NGO tenants.
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Owwwhh...! I even took pictures of our Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and his car. Woot-ness!! Will post the pictures when I get them *big smile* Sorry for being MIA, been lazy... :P
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