Rotary club presents vocational service awards to top individuals

Wednesday October 29, 2008

Rotary club presents vocational service awards to top individuals
By STUART MICHAEL

FOUR people including a disabled couple received the Vocational Service Award from the Rotary Club of Damansara at a function in Kuala Lumpur last Thursday.

The recipients were Dr Hartini Zainudin, Tamil Selvi Velloo, Gurdip Kaur and her husband Francis Sivasangararao.

Rotary Club of Damansara Vocational Service Award director Johan Nicholason said, every year since the club was set up 28 years ago, it honoured people who deserved the recognition.
In appreciation: Usha (left) presenting the awards to Gurdip and her husband Francis at the event in Kuala Lumpur recently

“Many people do charity work without thinking about their welfare and money they spend. They do it because of their passion and this is what the award is all about,” he said.

“Some are not appreciated in the community and we want to show them they are appreciated by our club,’’ said Nicholason, who presented the awards together with Rotary Club of Damansara president Usha Rajasingam.

Dr Hartini, a consultant at Pusat Jagaan Nur Salam and Rumah Jagaan Kanak Kanak at Chow Kit in Kuala Lumpur, has worked with the half-way-house on a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week basis at the crisis centre for underprivileged, abused and deprived children.

Selvi, a nurse at University of Malaysia Medical Centre (UMMC) and a committee member of the Breast Cancer Association of Kuala Lumpur, was recognised for her care for cancer patients at UMMC.

Selvi was awarded the Piala Cemerlang by UMMC in 2002 for her service.

Gurdip and Francis are a couple who were disabled due to spinal injuries.

Gurdip was disabled in a fall in 1993 and Francis in a car accident in 1986.

Both overcame the odds and started helping fellow disabled persons by setting up the Independent Living and Training Centre in Rawang nine years ago.

Gurdip was awarded the Disabled Woman Worker of the Year Award in 2003 by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Francis was awarded the Disabled Man Worker of the Year Award in 2005 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Both of these events werre organised by Perkeso.

"Many people do charity work without thinking about their welfare and the money they spend" - JOHAN NICHOLASON

Gurdip is a councillor with Selayang Municipal Council and is determined to help disabled people and the public to solve their many woes in Rawang.

Francis, who founded the Damai Disabled Persons Association of Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan in 1996, has been educating the public on the needs and aspirations of disabled people.