Tuesday November 2, 2010
Disabled community brave heavy rain to attend event
By STUART MICHAEL
metro@thestar.com.my
IT might have been a late Hari Raya gathering for some and for others, an early Deepavali celebration.
Whatever the case, it was certainly an eagerly awaited moment for hundreds of disabled people who braved a downpour recently and made it to the Sri Mahamariamman Temple Devasthanam in Batu Caves, Selangor.
The occasion? A one-of-a-kind DeepaRaya get-together for the disabled community.
The three-hour event was jointly organised by the Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) in Rawang, Selangor and the Mariamman Temple management board.
Let’s shake it: The children of the disabled performing a dance at the event. The temple hall, where the gathering was held, started filling up quickly from 7pm.
Petpositive president Anthony Thanasayan was also present at the event.
Within an hour, the hall became so crowded, the organisers had to create an al fresco sitting and dining area for the others guests outside the hall.
ILTC president Francis Siva said that he was happy to see many of the disabled members from the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur attend the event despite the bad weather.
“This is the first time we have done something like this with the Batu Caves temple authorities.
He said the temple authorities were so surprised by the turnout, that they were already thinking of having a similar event next year.
As many as 10 companies came forward to sponsor the DeepaRaya event. The main sponsor was Sports Toto Malaysia with McDonald’s Malaysia donating 300 burgers.
Welfare, Women’s Affairs, Science, Technology and Innovation Committee chairman Rodziah Ismail came up with the second biggest financial assistance.
Performances were by the disabled who presented wheelchair dances.
Children of the disabled also joined in the performance and did their part in entertaining the crowd.
PET+BLOGSPOT is the ONLINE BLOG of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive). Our reports and stories are 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 70,000 and going strong! PET+BLOGSPOT is updated daily. Sometimes even twice or 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. Please sign up as a FOLLOWER of this Blog if you haven't done so already in order to show us your kind support. Thank you!
No comments:
Post a Comment