Petra Group donation benefits 3,000 families in disabled community

KUALA LUMPUR – A total of 3,000 families in the disabled community affected by the Covid-19 pandemic are set to benefit from a Petra Group donation of RM200,000 to non-governmental organisation OKU Sentral Association.

The first half of the contribution was handed over to OKU Sentral president Senator Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi during a cheque presentation ceremony here yesterday.

She said apart from people with disabilities, the donation will also assist those affected by the recent floods in several states, adding that the families will be given aid in the form of food supplies and other household items.

She said the association is grateful to the Petra Group and its chairman and group chief executive, Datuk Dr Vinod Sekhar, who wanted to be part of its community assistance mission launched last March.

“We have been going down to help our friends who are disabled and able-bodied, because we help people in need. It does not matter if they are disabled or not. 

“Even though we are OKUs (disabled people) ourselves, we extend assistance to everybody who needs it most because, for us, our blood is all red.”

She said the association sought to do its best to help those in need after the pandemic struck early last year, especially disabled people.

“It hasn’t been easy, especially when sending rations to our friends in rural areas and to those who are bedridden.”

Ras Adiba said this is why the association works closely with the Social Welfare Department, village chiefs in rural areas and state constituencies to distribute the aid. 

She added that apart from food supplies, some recipients of assistance requested personal hygiene items and diapers, as well as stoma and urine bags.

She said the country has an estimated 4.7 million people with disabilities, based on the United Nations’ estimates of 15% of a country’s population, but Malaysia has just over 590,000 registered disabled people.

“We do what we can regardless of their disabilities.

“We also help the parents of the disabled because sometimes there are two or three disabled children in a household. 

“Some of the parents have lost their jobs and cannot send their children to special needs centres, so contributions such as this from the Petra Group help lessen their burden.”

She added that the number of those in need of help due to mental illness has also increased during the pandemic, and that the association is looking into working with the Petra Group to set up a hotline to attend to those who need to reach out.

The Petra Group has been actively helping communities since the pandemic broke out last year, with assistance for refugees, Orang Asli communities, hospitals, children’s and old folk’s homes, as well as those in the B40 group, all totalling some RM7 million.

Meanwhile, Vinod, a philanthropist, said he has always followed Ras Adiba’s initiatives, and agreed with the senator that the country’s disabled persons are one of the most disenfranchised, especially those who are in the B40 group.

“Because of their disabilities, even those who are in the M40 are struggling like those in the B40 because of lack of opportunity and access to support. It’s very startling,” said Vinod, an advocate of good capitalism.

“It’s very disconcerting that a country as rich as Malaysia is not able to help all those in need. There should be no extreme poverty because the country has enough (resources). The government must pay attention to it.

“We can pay attention to all the infrastructure developments and modernisation projects, but we will have failed (as a country) if we don’t uplift our people, especially from extreme poverty, which is something very important to me.”

Vinod said the country should be supporting the aspirations of the disabled community as they contribute to society in many significant ways, adding that the plight they face should “not be swept under the carpet”.

He added that this is why the Petra Group is working with the association to come up with tangible and practical solutions on the matter.

“It’s time for economic leaders and businessmen to be involved in societal development.

“I think this is one of those issues, because we can bring them (disabled) into the workplace and create opportunities. We can treat them with extra care, especially when they are from the M40 and B40 groups, because they have an even bigger burden to carry. I think we should be cognisant of that.

“I have the most senior members of my team working closely with Ras Adiba and her team to work out the practical applications and roll-out of a programme like this.

“There are a lot of moving parts, but I guess that we can say that this is a work in progress.” – The Vibes, February 19, 2021