creating greater public awareness concerning the abilities and capabilities of the visually impaired persons under our wings to ensure better integration into the society and quality of life,” added Mr. Izzat. “By exhibiting in Kind Malaysia, we hope to make our presence and activities known to more potential donors so that we can serve more visual impaired people in Malaysia,” he said. “Just as MAB tries to provide a platform for the blind and visually impaired to function well in society, at the same time, we need society to support us for us to grow.”
National Council for the Blind – Working Together to Help the Blind In a joint effort to serve the blind and visually impaired, the National Council for the Blind (NCBM), Malaysia was founded in 1984 by five NGOs in the different regions of the country: St. Nicholas’ Home Penang, the Society of the Blind, the Sabah Society for the Blind, the Sarawak Society for the Blind and the Malaysian Association for the Blind, “The objectives of NCBM include the introduction and progressive improvement of policies and implementation of services governing education, rehabilitation, employment and general welfare of the blind, as well as pertaining to prevention of blindness in Malaysia,” said NCBM Executive Director Moses Choo. NCBM’s initiatives include coordinating activities of member organizations to facilitate cooperation; organizing forums for consultation and discussion; reviewing progress in the fields of education, braille literacy, vocational training, employment, blindness prevention, and other programs for the blind in Malaysia; and soliciting the support of the government and other agencies for services and programs to be carried out for the socioeconomic advancement of the blind. “We also look into the implementation of software to assist the blind and recently, we are moving
toward the use of apps on smart phones. We achieve this by working together between organizations and maximizing all our resources. With this effort, we hope that no blind person is left behind,” explained Mr. Choo. “Participation in Kind Malaysia will allow us to continue our advocacy work, which is keeping the sighted world informed of the progress of the blind community, with the hope of making society more inclusive. When the blind are accepted into society and allowed to work side-by-side with people of normal vision, there will not be a need to place the blind under welfare services,” he continued. “Time and time again, the blind have proven that they are able to be successful. They can hold responsible jobs and maintain a family. There are blind people who are lawyers, lecturers at institutions of higher learning, as well as in business and politics, like prominent ex-UK minister David Blunkett,” said Mr. Choo, who is visually impaired himself.
Editor’s Note: Kind Malaysia 2018 took place on 24-25 October 2018 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) in partnership with #myWorld by MITEC.
About the Contributors Daniel Soon has been executive director at St. Nicholas’ Home since 2010. He started his career in the specialized field of structural steel engineering in the mid-80s upon completing his diploma. Over his 20-year construction career, he managed many major private and public projects all over Malaysia. He became a board member of St. Nicholas’ Home on voluntary basis in 1997 and served as a subcommittee chairman for many years. He has introduced and presided over many new initiatives and programs at St. Nicholas’ Home. [Email: rd2@snh.org.my]
Muhammad Izzat Amirul Md Saidey is the sales and woodwork executive of the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) responsible of managing the sales and production of wood and rattan craft made by visually impaired persons. He holds a Bachelor of Forestry Science (Wood Technology and Industry) from the University Malaysia Sabah. [Email: izzat@mab.org.my]
As the executive director of the National Council for the Blind Malaysia (NCBM), Moses Choo oversees most operations of the organization. Prior to joining NCBM nearly 16 years ago, he worked in companies such as TriCor and PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he progressed from a telephone operator to the post of admin manager. After that, Mr. Choo joined NCBM with the hope of using his experience to enhance the organization’s work. [Email: moseschoo@ncbm.org.my]
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