Disabled Treated Like Kings By Gapurna

CLOSE to a hundred persons – most of them people with disabilities – had a time of their lives recently when they turned up at a leading hotel in Petaling Jaya in the state of Selangor.

VVIP Table

All of the handicapped guests, together with their families and friends who accompanied them, were treated like virtual VIPs at a special Buka Puasa dinner event that was held at the grand venue of PJ Hilton’s Crystal Ballroom in Jalan Barat.

                                       

The occasion was a first-ever Ramadan treat that was put together for members of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association or Petpositive.

Petpositive is a national non-profit society that unusually and uniquely uses animal companions for empowerment and positive living. 

The event was fully sponsored for Petpositive by Gapurna Group Sdn Bhd.

Guests from Klang

They are the developers of a brand new and much talked about upcoming commercial project called PJ Sentral Garden City in Section 52 in PJ.

Once completed, the garden city, among other notable features, is expected to offer a landmark disabled and elderly-friendly facilities in its vicinity that will be comparable to none.

Handing of Raya biscuits

It will serve as a benchmark design in the way future buildings and developments should cater for the growing population of disabled and elderly citizens in our cities and towns.

The Buka Puasa event last Thursday turned out to be a smashing success for a number of reasons:

Imran in action

• All disabilities were invited: Unlike most other NGOs that normally focuses only on one type of disability group, Petpositive which targets all types of disabilities that includes the blind, Deaf, learning and physical handicaps and the elderly had the advantage of bringing all the major handicapped categories of people together for the event. The result was extraordinary! People with different forms of handicaps and their families were able to meet each other for the first time. One parent of a learning disabled boy told me that the exposure itself at the dinner was such a big eye opener for her as she never realised there were so many handicapped people around with different types of disabilities. “I don’t feel so alone now in my struggle with my son,” she said. Some blind people were seen helping the physically handicapped by pushing their wheelchairs – and the latter helping the blind find themselves to their tables. The Deaf, who often live in a silent world, had the “loudest” table of the evening, judging from the lively conversation gestured by their hands.  
• Focus on the most deserving: Rather than extending invitations through NGOs, Petpositive decided to approach the disabled and the elderly directly. This was easy to do as the Society’s target groups are automatically already members and don’t have to pay anything for Petpositive’s services. Most of the handicapped that turned up were those without jobs or an income. A good number of them had never been lucky enough to have attended such a grand occasion before hence the sea of beaming faces.
• Go Gapurna! Everyone was full of praise of not only the delicious serving of a scrumptious meal with mouth-watering side dishes, cakes and desserts but also that the organisers had arranged for waiters to serve them at each of the tables. This was extremely helpful especially for the guests in wheelchairs and the blind. Gapurna’s team and the hotel’s staff also chipped in by guiding and helping the guests into the ballroom. The most touching moment came when Gapurna’s Encik Imran Salim went over to all the tables to hand over Raya cookies to all his guests and have a brief chat with them before everybody left. I have rarely seen VVIPs take time to do this when functions are held for the handicapped. Not only that; but everyone at the VVIP table ended up staying an extra hour chatting at their table even when all the guests had left for the evening. We couldn’t seem to stop talking about the tremendous courage of all disabled Malaysians – and how much more our nation needs to go in providing equal opportunities for them compared with the able-bodied.

All in all, the Buka Puasa event proved to be a true altruistic effort to show some extra kindness to the disadvantaged during this holy month of Ramadan.

Even the non disabled patrons of the hotel had to undergo some inconvenience as the wheelchairs and walking sticks jam packed into the row of unusually small-sized lifts in the building.

But none of them seemed to mind the temporary setback. They gladly chose to use the stairs instead.

Some of them even came up to us to say how inspired they were to see all of us come out together as a group to have a good time. 

Thanks to Gapurna, for making it all possible. 

(Note: Pictures courtesy of Gapurna Group Sdn Bhd.)  

The End

PET+BLOGSPOT is an ACTIVE ONLINE BLOG of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive). We strive to keep our reports and stories CURRENT, ACCURATE and RELIABLE. We offer both local and foreign news on animals, disability and the elderly. PET+BLOGSPOT was first established in October 2007. Our hits since then is now 55,000 and counting. PET+BLOGSPOT is updated daily. Sometimes even twice and three times a day. Kindly take note that views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of PETPOSITIVE. You may also visit our Webpage by browsing: www.petpositive.com.my You can also find us in Facebook as PETPOSITIVE EMPOWERMENT. Thank you for your support.