StarMetro On FRIM Launch on January 14, 2008

Friday January 25, 2008

A jungle pathway for the disabled

By Hilary Chiew

Chong: Appreciates the chance to enjoy the jungle atmosphere again.

In the last 25 years, Chong Tuck Meng, has not stepped into the natural, outdoor world. Prevented from doing so owing to his disabled state of being, he recently gets a rare chance of being close to nature at the Kepong Botanical Garden.

“Forest is nothing new to me as I came from Bentong, Pahang which were pretty much a forested area during my younger days. So, it is really heartening to find this beautiful jungle in the heart of the city made accessible for people like me,” said the 45-year-old who heads the Perwira K-9 Malaysia, an organisation for people who are paralysed from the neck down like him.

(K-9 refers to the ward in Hospital KL for patients with spinal cord injuries.)

The 80ha garden located next to the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (Frim) has incorporated a 400m wheelchair-friendly pathway to cater to the needs of the disabled community.

Refreshing: The wheelchair-bound visitors being taken around the trail at the Kepong Botanical Garden after the launching ceremony.

Called the Razak Walk, named after the current director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Razak Mohd Ali, the cemented trail was launched recently with little fanfare participated by senior staff of the institute and representatives from several organisations of the disabled community.

Razak said the trail was designed with the disabled in mind as there are not many public parks available for the disabled members of society. And it could very well be the first nature trail designed for the disabled people in the country.

Close encounter: Wheelchair-bound Francis Siva (left) and S. Johnson admiring a ginger plant along the Razak Walk.

Besides creating a disabled-friendly corner in the botanical garden, the trail also aims to introduce the natural wonders of the rainforest to the less fortunate lot.

The plot of planted forest is dedicated to under-storey plants like palms, orchids, gingers, pitcher plants and mosses. About 150 species of under-storey plants found in the peninsula as well as from Borneo had been planted along the 400m trail.

Under-storey vegetation thrives on the forest floor with canopy-filtered sunlight and plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance in the natural forest ecosystem.

“It is important for them to know the forests and appreciate it. Natural forests are too challenging for them so we’ve to provide this facility. Otherwise, they will just go to shopping malls.

“There are, however, room for improvement with the trail. We are getting feedbacks from the community after this launch and improve on the design of the trail which included some slopes and installing railing where it is needed,” he said, adding that the next disabled-friendly facility will be the 1.5km trail around the lake area.

Anthony Thanasayan, a vocal advocate of disabled rights thinks the trail was a noble effort on the part of FRIM and hopes that more of such facilities will be made available for the disabled community.

Cool trail: The Razak Walk is a 400m-long nature trail within the 80ha Kepong Botanical Garden.

“It maybe a small step for FRIM but it is a big step for us. The trail provided a fantastic opportunity for us to be acquainted with nature despite some of the shortcomings.

“We are offering ourselves to be in a committee to manage the trail so that we can share our knowledge on how to make the trail and the garden a truly disabled-friendly place,” he said.

Thanasayan said the steep parts of the trail could be a hindrance to the wheelchair-bound public and suggested an alternative route to avoid the dangerous slopes.

Rare outing: Anthony Thanasayan soaking in the sights, sounds and smells of the jungle.

The garden that is open to the public daily from 7am to 7pm is a popular haunt for joggers. However, some unscrupulous visitors had been stealing the rare plants in the garden.

Pictures From Razak Walk Launch In FRIM

Hello everybody! Here are the pictures taken by Ruwaidy Mat Rasul and his wife Tuty Liana Medali for Petpositive at the FRIM launch on January 14. The event took place from 9am until 10.30am.

I was invited in my capacity as columnist for Wheel Power and President of Petpositive. Francis Siva, Head of the Independent Living and Training Centre of Rawang, Selangor; Chong Tuck Meng, Advisor to Perwira K9 Malaysia in KL and Engr Mr Sivaraman Kannan, Vice-President of the Malaysian Parkinson's Disease Association in KL was also present at the event.

Petpositive was also represented by Captain AKS Russell and his wife Fasidah Sabeh, who is also a committee member of Petpositive.

Here is a short synopsis to the photographs above. For a fuller write up, click on WHEEL POWER.

1) FRIM’s Director-General Datuk Dr Abdul Razak Mohd Ali (extreme left) whom the trail is named after, with his gang looking obviously mighty pleased with the whole thing.

2) The disabled guests taking a breather after the tour. Standing behind me (right) is Elango Valautham, the brainchild behind Denai Razak.

3) Morning tea after the excursion with Fasidah Sabeh (facing the camera) in deep thought. Probably pleasantly relieved that none of us encountered any unpleasant leeches that day.

4 & 5) Intrepid explorers: Landscape architect Nik Adlin bte Nik Mohd Sukri, Waidy and aNt wondering what unfriendly beasts we might encounter in our adventure. (Nah, just kidding!)

PETPOSITIVE BREAKING NEWS!

SUPER NEWS EVERYONE!

1. Mid Valley City and Cititel Mid Valley Hotel is organising a Chinese New Year get-together for about 50 elderly persons through Petpositive. The event to be held on Thursday January 31. Invitations to the occasion is now all filled up. Twenty elderly blind persons, twenty persons with Parkinson's disease and their caregivers and ten more physically disabled elderly persons and their volunteers will be taking part. The event will include an auspicious CNY hair cutting opportunity, a sumptuous lunch and a 20-minute performance of high-octane acrobatics from performers from China.
2. Malaysia's first handicapped-friendly trail called the "Denai Razak" or "Razak Walk" will be launched on Monday, January 13 at 9am. The close-door event has invited aNt as writer of Wheel Power and President of Petpositive to be present at the occasion. Also attending will be Capt AKS Russell and his wife Fasidah Sabeh of Petpositive.
3. Please note that owing to this month's jam-packed activities, we have decided to postpone our animal-assisted therapy and nature trip in FRIM for Deaf children to sometime in March or April of this year. FOR DETAILS ON THIS AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTS, PLEASE STAY LOGGED ON TO PET-BLOGSPOT.
   

All Systems Go for AAT in Malaysia!

PETPOSITIVE'S VALENTINA PROJECT UPDATE:
(Pictures by Lynda Merican and aNt)


Dateline FRIM, Kepong, Selangor, on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 9am - 1.30pm.



(Below: FIRED UP OVER PETPOSITIVE POWER! People + pets on a special mission to empower handicapped and senior Malaysians)

















APPROXIMATELY 25
DISABLED PERSONS - together with an equal number of their personal caregivers and friends - joined further by twenty teenagers from a local school in Kuala Lumpur, will be heaving a huge sigh of relief before long.

The agonising waiting period for them all for the Big Day to start will finally be over in less than a fortnight from now.

These privileged groups of people will not only get to witness a rare opportunity that has never been achieved or experienced before in the disability and animal-welfare circles in the country - but the best part of it is that they will also be able to take part in the epoch-making occasion.

(Left: ONWARD MARCH! Intrepid explorers walking and wheeling into the forest on a specially-built pathway for wheelchairs. Notice the green grab-and-safety bars on the left? Click on pictures to enlarge)

The end of October this month will mark the unveiling of the first animal-assisted therapy (AAT) session for the disabled and the elderly in Malaysia.

Called The Valentina Project (VP), the initiative is the brainchild of Petpositive, the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly National Society in the country.

Registered in June of last year, Petpositive aims to help its members lead positive lives through the uncanny power of pets.

The VP, which was named after Petpositive's first AAT animal Valentina - a seven-year-old female bunny that died of cancer this year - will formally introduce and encourage rabbit-rearing as a means of therapy for the disabled and elderly Petpositive participants present at the occasion.

In addition to AAT, the groups will be led with help from volunteers, family and friends through an exciting nature walk through the dense Kepong jungle on a special walkway designed for trekkers in wheelchairs at the Forest Research Insititute of Malaysia (FRIM)'s park.

(Left: UNDER THE CANOPY OF TREES:

Petpositive's Jungle Walk Coordinator
Chan Mee Leng (in blue and black) passed with flying colours during her hands-on pre-wheelchair-training session at FRIM.

Encouraging her on is our Society's rabbit-care specialist Fasidah Sabeh.)

(Left: THOROUGH TESTING: VP team investigating everything; from too rough or too smooth surfaces, uneven sections, steep areas, potentially hazardous spots on the windy 400-metre pathway)

(Below, right: A SERIOUS MOMENT: Preparing for anything on VP day. Notice the handsome cat on the leash in pix)

Earlier today more than a dozen of Petpositive's organisers and volunteers met up with the FRIM team at the event site in order to go over the final details of everything before the actual day.

We arrived at 9am. And almost at once we were all greeted by the natural residents of the forest.

A magnificent bird - not normally seen in the city - with its wings outstretched hovered over us for several minutes at FRIM's car park where we met to run through our written out plans before venturing into the forest.

Our meeting there incredulously lasted about one-and-the-half hours. There was just so much to run through before the real walking took place.

Our meeting was also "attended" not just by the two-legged kind.

(Below: OOH, THIS IS LIFE: Having a breather under the cool shade)

Four four-legged animals: two dogs and two cats tried to get acquainted with each other that soon turned out into an exercise of futility.

One of the cats decided that it had had enough with the two literally nosey mongrels that couldn't keep their noses to themselves.

They got into his face, prompting him to voice his protest with hisses and snarls before retreating to a shady and safer area - first under one of the trees in the park and then inside his owner's Volkswagen van.

Facilities-wise, I was pleased to note that improvements were made to FRIM in the original disabled toilets since I last visited the public park about six months ago. I was there along with some of our Petpositive Committee Members to prepare for this event.

Instead of the odd couple of steps that wheelchair-users had to contend with previously, the floors inside the bathrooms were now levelled for the physically handicapped and those with walking difficulties with a better designed ramp to access the restroom.

The morning excursion lasted a good four hours before we were finally satisfied with what we saw and decided upon as trouble-shooting solutions and alternatives to take if something cropped up.

(Left: TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE: Petpositive VP Event Coordinator Lynda Merican and aNt being briefly distracted by some irresistable animal antics during the meeting.)

Some of these included reminding participants to bring along sunscreen creams and sun hats to protect them from the sun and umbrellas for rain. On our side, it included providing extra wheelchairs for those who might need them and even tools to tighten the nuts and bolts that might give way whilst on the rough terrain.

WHAT WE STILL REQUIRE:

1. LUNCH SPONSORSHIP BY A FAST FOOD CHAIN: No positive news yet at publishing time from the companies that we've approached.



2. SPONSORSHIP OF SECOND HAND WHEELCHAIRS, WALKERS, CRUTCHES, ETC: Two professors from UMMC in KL have sponsored one brand new wheelchair. We still need more.



3. VOLUNTEERS TO FERRY THE DISABLED AND ELDERLY FROM THEIR HOMES TO FRIM AND BACK: Please contact us if you don't mind providing this service for that day.
   

Please contact Petpositive at 012 220 3146 or mailto:petpositive@yahoo.com or viisit http://www.petpositive.blogspot.com/

MORE WRITE-UPS COMING SOON:

• MEET THE TEAM BEHIND THE VALENTINA PROJECT: Why they're doing it and what they hope to see happen there.


• GETTING YOUNG PEOPLE INVOLVED: Petpositive visits a local school to pick volunteers for our VP.
  
  

KINDLY NOTE THAT PARTICIPATION AT OUR VP IS BY INVITATION ONLY. THE LIST FOR OUR UPCOMING EVENT IS NOW FULL.

The End

Exciting wild wheelchair adventure in the forest

(Petpositive is going into the jungle!)

PETPOSITIVE NEWS UPDATE:
(Taken from Petpositive's blog: http://www.petpositive.blogspot.com/)

First, they thought we were "outrageous".

Now they'll probably think that we've plain gone crazy!

Petpositive - Malaysia's first and only animal-assisted therapy (AAT) Society for handicapped and senior citizens in the country - is back.

And once again about to perform the unimaginable!

After having turned ordinary and often unseen handicapped and elderly persons into instant VIPs at our official launching dinner in a leading hotel in Kuala Lumpur last July, we're going wild this month.

Petpositive is taking a couple of dozen disabled and elderly Malaysians - quite a few of them with profound disabilities - into the "jungles" of the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) in Kepong, Selangor.

The youngest is 18 years of age and the oldest is 77.


(Drenched after a sudden, heavy shower but all smiles at FRIM)

Called Petpositive's "Valentina Project" after our Society's first AAT rabbit which died of cancer earlier this year, the outing will take place at the end of the month on the eve of All Hallows Eve or Halloween's Day on Tuesday, October 30.


(The late Valentina impressed many hearts at Petpositive's meeting)

Whilst many perceive disability as a virtual "death sentence" and old age as people living under "borrowed time", Petpositive begs to differ.

We're adamant that the disabled and the elderly can and should lead a high quality of life.

That's why our NGO is taking the challenge to give about 20-disabled and elderly persons an opportunity that's never been offered before - to go on a nature walk under the thick canopy of wild flora and fauna in FRIM.

The four-hour exercise that begins at 9am is part of Petpositive's first-ever AAT session in the nation.

Participants made up of the blind, Deaf, persons with spinal injuries to others with neurological conditons will be guided through the forest on a special path in FRIM which has been designed for wheelchairs.

The journey will be led by FRIM research officer Elango Velauthan who was instrumental in designing the wheelchair path.

(Disabled loos - too close for comfort?)

Some of the participants will be accompanied by their pet companions who have been specially invited by Petpositive.

The excursion will also include an AAT session on rabbit appreciation and care. It will be conducted by two of Petpositive's bunny-handlers Captain Abdul Karim Stuart Russell and Fasidah Sabeh.

FRIM expert Norsham Yaakob, who is a trained zoologist, will also introduce some of FRIM's wildlife to all the participants.

Participants will be encouraged to put their animal-care questions forward to the presenters, as well as to at least two of Petpositive's animal-care experts: Dr P Vanaja, a senior veterinarian and Dr Jon Satyamoorthy, our Society's Secretary.

Dr Anna Padma Soosai, Petpositive's Vice-President will be the doctor on standby at the event.

The event will wrap up with an AAT review session over lunch by Petpositive.

(One for the album . . . say Cheese!)

The Valentina Project is working on having a strong volunteer support with the help of Petpositive volunteer Sally Addington and Valentina Project-Coordinator Lynda Merican who is also our Society's Special Adviser.

Please note that participants from ages 18 and above have already been selected to take part in this month's walk.

If you are interested to participate in Petpositive's next jungle walk and AAT session, kindly submit your details to the email address below.

Please call 012 220 3146 (aNt) if you wish to help or mailto:petpositive@yahoo.com