A Groundbreaking Disabled Centre Soon For Rawang

A groundbreaking ceremony took place in Rawang, Selangor, last Friday, which was like no other.

Nearly a hundred and fifty people gathered at a new development village site called Kampung Sungei Tambahan Dua.

They were there to proudly witness the laying of the very first brick of a brand new building that would bring hope to the disabled community.

Its services would not only be available to the handicapped living in the area but for those throughout the nation as well.    

Nearly half of the crowd were people with physical disabilities. I was privileged to be there as well.  

With their wheelchairs, walking sticks and crutches, the 60-odd disabled guests braved the narrow roads and rough tracks leading to an empty place that was surrounded mostly by thick grass, shrubs and trees.

It is here where a one-of-a-kind disabled centre will be constructed.

The force behind this noble project is a self-help nongovernmental organisation called the Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) which has been operating since the year 2000.

They have been doing this in a rented building about two kilometres away in Taman Garing.

The new land was given to them in 2005 by former Rawang assemblyman Datuk Tang See Hang. The ILTC has been raising funds since then for their dream centre.

To date they have collected RM380,000. The ILTC needs another RM570,000 to make up a total of 950,000 for the building.

The new disabled centre for the ILTC has turned out to be a timely and godsend opportunity for the group as the owners of their present premise want their building back.

Because of this, it has now become a frantic race against time to complete the centre as they have to vacate by August of next year.

The groundbreaking ceremony was a simple affair. It was officiated by Dr Xavier Jayakumar, the Selangor executive councillor for a Caring Government.

The disabled community told me afterwards that they were deeply encouraged by the Guest of Honour’s presence.

They were delighted that the VVIP himself showed up personally instead of promising first; and then sending a representative afterwards, as is the practise of some politicians these days.

They were also thrilled to discover that Dr Xavier had no reservations about turning up in the middle of nowhere.

“Not only that, our VVIP was not afraid to get his hands and feet literally dirty first thing in the morning by walking into the earth and laying down the sand and cement filled brick,” said a disabled woman whom he shook hands with afterwards.        

“In his speech, he spoke from his heart rather than reading from a paper,” beamed an elderly man in a wheelchair. “I was happy to hear him say that the disabled are normal too before encouraging us to push on with our struggle for a higher quality of life,” he added. 

The morning event could best be described as an epoch-making occasion for the handicapped community for better things to come.

In its one decade of existence, the ILTC has done much in raising the plight of the handicapped in Malaysia and offering them a new life with their disabilities.     

      

With nearly a dozen residents currently in the centre, the ILTC has helped many more dozens of disabled people – mostly from poor backgrounds – to come to terms with their handicapping conditions and move on with life and living.

Residents stay at the centre for a certain period of time to learn independent living skills. These include taking care of themselves to learning new skills for employment such as computers, driving and even cooking.

All of their services – including lodging and food – are available free of charge.

The chief driving force behind the ILTC is its President and founder Francis Siva, 50. 

Paralysed from his neck down since a driving accident about 25 years ago, life has been a continual struggle for him, which he says, has pleasantly turned into his personal forte in helping other people who are disabled like him.

Francis spent more than five years in the hospital after his accident. Depressed and suicidal, he only wanted to die until he met two other patients who taught him the value of life.

One was a young man with terminal illness on a bed to his right. He wanted so much to live but cancer took his life the week after.

The other, a patient on his left, was far worse than Francis because he couldn’t move his body at all.

And yet he remained cheerful throughout until he died.

He kept reminding Francis that he wished that he could at least have some body movement abilities like him so that he could do more things for himself.

It took Francis a good two years to fight off his depression. When he came out of it, he reorganised his life and moved on to form the ILTC.

Francis now runs the ILTC together with help from his secretary Gurdip Kaur who also uses a wheelchair.

The rest, as they say, is history with now another new chapter in the lives of disabled community just waiting to start all over again with even much greater heights with their new building.

If you are able to help, please contact Francis at +6-019 338 5959. You may also visit www.iltcmalaysia.blogspot.com or email: iltcmalaysia@gmail.com

   

The End

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