NOTICE OF THE 7TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF ILTC

Warm greetings from ILTC Malaysia

To All Members of ILTC

Dear Sir / Madam:

RE: NOTICE OF THE 7TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF ILTC

Notice is hereby given that the 7th Annual General Meeting of the Independent Living & Training Centre of Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur will be held on 31st of May 2009 (Sunday), at 10.00am, Venue: Independent Living & Training Centre, Taman Garing, 48000 Rawang, Selangor Darul Ehsan.

We hope all members will be able to attend this meeting and your presence at the AGM will be highly appreciated.

If you have any enquires please contact President or Secretary at 03-6091 2531 or 03-6093 6292

I look forward to meeting you again on 31st May 2009

Thank you,

Ms. Gurdip Kaur @ Rina
Secretary of the ILTC

Like a stroll in the park

Thursday May 28, 2009

Like a stroll in the park
WHEEL POWERBy ANTHONY THANASAYAN

Local councils step up drive to provide access for the disabled.

HAVE you noticed the increasing number of disabled-friendly facilities in Selangor?

This clearly demonstrates that the local governments – in the Klang Valley for a start – are beginning to view with seriousness, building by-laws gazetted years ago to ensure access for the disabled.

I was delighted when I visited my hometown in Klang last week and discovered a number of disabled-friendly car parks in town. At the Klang City Council, there was one situated at the entrance of the building. And not far away were several wheelchairs awaiting disabled visitors.

What a positive change this is compared to a few years ago when it would have been impossible to find even one car park – or wheelchair – in public view in the royal town.

The provision of wheelchair ramps and special car parks by our local councils sends a strong and encouraging message to all disabled Malaysians that they do not need to feel shy or afraid about going out in their wheelchairs.

Like our non-disabled counterparts, we too can now enjoy the experience of being able to interact with society.

Disabled residents in Subang Jaya, and particularly in Shah Alam, can look forward to seeing more disabled-friendly car parks in the area.

This was revealed to Wheel Power recently during a conversation with Rodziah Ismail, the Selangor State Welfare, Women Affairs, Science, Technology and Innovation Committee chairman.

She pointed out that the car parks would be provided free of charge, and reserved only for the disabled.

The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) is going one step further in its commitment to provide access for the disabled.

The MBPJ is presently expanding its disabled car parks which will all be fully covered to protect the handicapped from the sun and rain.

These car parks will be accessible to disabled drivers and caregivers. This will make it easier for parents of disabled children, and those with elderly disabled parents who wish to take their loved ones out. The Selayang Municipal Council (MPS), one of the pioneer local councils to introduce disabled-friendly parking lots, is taking its social responsibility to a higher level.

The MPS is working on setting up a special disability technical team over the next few weeks.

The team will be headed by disabled councillor Gurdip Kaur who mooted the idea.

The council will handpick persons with various handicapping conditions as well as those from non-governmental organisations for the disabled, to sit in a committee as expert advisers. The team of experts will include heads of the various departments of the MPS and other relevant bodies.

The MPS disability technical committee will be tasked with looking into the needs of disabled residents, and ways in which they can have a better quality of life.

The committee will look into accessibility issues in buildings before they are approved by the main council. The committee will also set out to raise the standard of services provided by homes for the disabled and the elderly in Selayang.

Rehab effort helps injured employees return to work

Wednesday May 27, 2009

Rehab effort helps injured employees return to work

By PRIYA MENON

THE recent economic downturn has made it tough on those seeking employment, more so for those who have lost a limb or two in an accident.

For this reason, the Social Security Organisation (Socso) has come up with a rehabilitation programme to help those who were rendered helpless after an accident to find suitable jobs.

The Return to Work (RTW) programme, which began in 2007, has certainly changed the lives of these people who would usually find it tough to return to the job market.

Since its inception, 441 out of 566 employees who joined the programme have gone back to work as of March this year.

Checking it out: Two DBC physiotherapists demonstrate how an assessment is done.

Each case received by the Socso is handed over to case managers who take the time and initiative to ensure that the cases are genuine and deserved aid.

Gayathri Vadivel, a case manager, said upon receiving a case, an initial assessment was carried out to verify the extent of the injuries and disability.

Her colleague, Rosmawati Mat, 37, said the case managers worked on the strengths of the patients to ensure they received either rehabilitation or vocational skills.

This will help the patients become economically independent.

“Most of the time, these people are afraid that they may not be hired again by their employers or other companies so we have to find a way to ensure that they do get a job after the programme,” Rosmawati said.

The steps taken by the case managers include talking to the previous employers and convincing them to retain the employees with adjustments to their job scope.

“The employers are afraid that the disabled employees can no longer work as well as when they were able bodied but statistics show that a disabled employee is more loyal,” Gayathri said.

In the case of Low Yew Loi, 32, who was involved in an accident at his work place early this year, he managed to continue with his job after recuperating from his injuries over a six-month period.

Low, a site supervisor, lost his right leg after he was run over by an excavator during the construction of the Duta Ulu Kelang (DUKE) highway.

“I lost all hope of retaining my job. That is when Socso stepped in and bought a prosthetic leg for me,” he said.

“They also spoke to my employer and ensured adjustments were made so that I could continue working for them,” added Low who is now confined to office work.

At the RTW National Seminar 2009 held recently, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said more case managers would be hired to help workers who had sustained injuries.

“For now, there are only nine case managers in the country but by the end of the month we hope to employ 34 more,” he said.

Besides the case managers, the rehabilitation centres also play an important role in ensuring that the patients receive proper rehabilitation and are fit to work again.

One such centre is the Document Based Care (DBC) company that has been working with Socso since its pilot project in February 2005.

DBC chief executive officer Wee Hock Kee said DBC was the only service provider with the capacity to support the Socso RTW project nationwide.

“We have successfully treated 500 Socso patients so far nationwide and we have a success rate of more than 30% for the pilot project and for RTW early intervention, it is 63%,” he said.

DBC has back, neck, shoulder and knee protocol and assessment and it covers the psycho-social assessment of the patient and follows an approach called the “Cognitive Behaviour Approach”.

“Each rehabilitation programme lasts for 12 weeks and includes two physical examinations and 24 sessions of physiotherapy and muscle reconditioning sessions,” Wee said.

Disabled buddies find their niche at hypermart

2009/05/23

Disabled buddies find their niche at hypermart

Sahril Adamuddin (left) and Mat Jamil Ramli are part of the 60 people with disability who are employed at Carrefour Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: Twenty- five-year-old Mat Jamil Ramli spends his day at Carrefour creating press advertisements and leaflets on his computer.

Employed as a graphic designer, Mat Jamil would otherwise go unnoticed at the sprawling Carrefour head office floor in Subang, where hundreds of employees move around like bustling bees, but for the fact that the metre-tall lad uses his toes to type on his keyboard.

Born without hands, Mat Jamil counts himself lucky to have secured a job at Carrefour two years ago.

"Everyone here is friendly and helpful. It's like being part of a big family."

Sahril Adamuddin, 26, is Mat Jamil's lunch buddy, who sometimes helps the latter cut up his meat during meals. Wheelchair-bound Sahril works as a pricing clerk at Carrefour and, like Mat Jamil, he feels he is at the "right place".

Mat Jamil and Sahril are not the only people with disability (PWD) who work at Carrefour Malaysia.

There are currently 60 PWD who make up two per cent of Carrefour's 3,423 workforce.

According to Carrefour human resource director Mohamad Fauzi Hassan, the company implemented the hiring policy two years ago when it employed 20 PWD at its stores nationwide.

The hypermarket hopes to hire about 400 PWD by 2012, making up five per cent of its expected 8,000 workforce.

Carrefour became part of the United Nations Development Programme's pilot project called Employment Model for PWD last year, under an agreement where UNDP provides job coaches for Carrefour to train the PWD.

Carrefour has also, on its own initiative, trained job coaches among its staff to cater to the hypermarket chain's expansion, Fauzi said.

These coaches are given special training, such as sign language and systematic instruction.

"To help them, the PWD are partnered with a Carrefour 'buddy' each.

They are given on-the-job training under supervision until they are able to perform the tasks on their own.

" He added that there were hardly any disciplinary problems among the PWD."

They are enthusiastic and passionate about their work. Once, one of them fell ill but he insisted on coming to work. His parents, however, refused to allow him.

"So he made them come and explain to us that he was indeed ill. I told them they didn't have to come and that they only needed to call."

Fauzi said there were no restrictions as to where the PWD were placed in the hypermarket. They work in the head office as marketing executives, graphic designers, accounts executives and data entry clerks. At the store front, they are hired as clerks, security personnel and call centre and customer service representatives, among others.

While Carrefour's disabled personnel are independent, where they travel to and from work on their own, Carrefour is planning to provide accommodation and transportation in the future, through its Yayasan Carrefour.