GEORGETOWN, Dec 6 – More than 150 participants was gathered at the Penang Botanical Garden on Saturday early morning to show their support towards the disabled community and Yayasan Orang Kurang Upaya Kelantan (YOKUK) at “Run, Walk and Wheel”, a charity sporting event.
In conjunction with the International Day of People With Disabilities (IDPwD), a day sanctioned by the United Nations (UN), Projek Komunikasi@USM-YOKUK organized a carnival called Carnival Love, Care and Hope which was held at the USM Main Campus, Pulau Pinang, on the 4th and 5th of December 2015.
The main objective of the carnival is to unite the public from all walks of life to show their support towards the disabled community and YOKUK. Two guests of honours, Chairperson of YOKUK, Datin Suliana Shamsuddin Alias, and Prof. Madya Dr Jamilah Hj. Ahmad, Dean of the School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia, graced the event.
The main objective of Run, Walk and Wheel is to unite the Malaysian public in showing support for the disabled community and YOKUK. At Run, Walk and Wheel, people from all walks of life will come together, network and exchange life stories. This promotes a more positive attitude and perspective among the public towards all persons with disabilities and encourages a healthier lifestyle within society.
The run was divided into three (3) different categories which are Men’s Open category, Women’s Open category and a special category for persons with disabilities. More than 100 participants were involved in men and women category while 30 were involved in the special category for persons with disabilities.
Mohamed Khairul Anuar Ismail won 1st place for the special category for persons with disabilities, and Dur-e-Najafzaibi and Ooi Tek Hup won 2nd and 3rd respectively. For the Women’s Open category, the 1st place won by Chew Lay Ling, Nur Hazimah Idris came in 2nd and Chong Ah Tin won 3rd place. Finally, for the Men’s Open category, the winners were Godwin Kipruto in 1st place, Wesley Kikpkurui in 2nd and Ruburn Kummar Ramasamy in 3rd place.
In addition, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Penang Deaf Association, Society of Disabled Persons Penang and The Cerebral Palsy Children’s Association Penang (SPASTIC) also joined the charity-sporting event. These non-governmental organizations has shown great toward towards YOKUK’s efforts in enriching the lives of persons with disabilities through love, care and hope, and have been morally supportive towards the planning committee of Projek Komunkasi@USM-YOKUK.
As the closing for Projek Komunikasi@USM-YOKUK, the Charity Gala Dinner is to be held at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country (KLGCC) on 13th December 2015. The dinner will be filled with exciting performances and a Silent Auction to raise funds for YOKUK. All proceeds gained throughout the dinner will be fully channeled to YOKUK to ensure that their efforts in providing free rehabilitation services and therapy to over 4,000 clients will continue.
Among the corporate entities who have so generously sponsored funds and goods to support Projek Komunikasi@USM-YOKUK were Yayasan Sime Darby, Neelofar Hijab (NH Prima), Malaysian Press Institute (MPI), Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad, Bank Rakyat, Brahim’s and several other contributions from both corporate also entities and generous individuals.
