raising awareness on autism

People with autism have said that the world, to them, is a mass of people, places and events which they struggle to make sense of, and which can cause them considerable anxiety. In particular, understanding and relating to other people, and taking part in everyday family and social life may be harder for them. Other people appear to know, intuitively, how to communicate and interact with each other, and some people with autism may wonder why they are ‘different’.

It can be hard to create awareness of autism as people with the condition do not ‘look’ disabled. Parents of children with autism often say that other people simply think their child is naughty, while adults find that they are misunderstood.

Coming Sundown Marathon end of this month, our dear friend Kash is starting her own charity Project 84  to create an awareness for Autism. In support for Kash’s Ultra Marathon for her youngest child, Dharma, Friend-Friend Charity Network is assisting her to collect more fund for The National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM) by selling quality dri-fit tees that carry simple yet strong message on Autism. 

 Sizes available: S, M, L, XL

 

You can just put up your order here or drop me an email at trainer@corporateathletes.com.my or just get hold of Kash at her blog www.run-kooky-run.blogspot.com. Proceeds from the sale will go to The National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM), a non-profit, non-governmental welfare organisation aims at providing education, help, care and protection for people with autism and their family members.

It’s important for us to reliase that Autism affects individuals in every country and region of the world with no racial, ethnic, social or economic boundaries. Together we can turn awareness into action and make this world a better place for autistic community.

bringing a meaning to life

Dear athletes and friends,

Cancer causes tremendous pain and suffering. You may not realize this but sometimes the smallest effort can truly make a difference and touch a patient’s life. MAKNA (Majlis Kanser Malaysia) is focused on “Bringing a Meaning to Life” to those affected by cancer. You have the power to do the same.

A good samaritan, Faridah Sheikh Hussein has a story to share…

“..Only then did I realize that this was the little girl whom we had come to visit. Like any child her age, she was playful and full of cheer…”

Fatin Azwani bte Abu Zarin
2 years old

It was my first visit to Encik Abu Zarin’s house that afternoon.

We had come to see little Fatin, their two and a half year old daughter, a MAKNA bursary recipient. As we stepped into the house, a little girl cheerily invited us in. “That’s Fatin,” Mama Gie, MAKNA’s volunteer coordinator said. Only then did I realize that this was the little girl whom we had come to visit. Like any child her age, she was playful and full of cheer. At first glance, her face looked normal but close-up her left eye was different. Little Fatin was suffering from Retinablastoma, a form of cancer that had been affecting her left eye since she was a baby. She had undergone an operation to replace it with an artificial retina.

Fatin lives with her parents and three other siblings in a two bedroom-flat with a minimum rent from Dewan Bandaraya. One sad thing we learned about Fatin’s parents is that her father is blind. He earns a living by selling tissues and sometimes as a musician when there is a request for his music. Her mother, Yuroslaini, is also not medically fit after an operation in her ear had left her right leg slightly limp. She often suffers from severe migraines which leave her helpless. The family lives on Abu Zarin’s meager income of less than RM500 per month. They also receive some contribution from The Welfare Ministry. Despite this the family finds it hard to make ends meet, especially when Fatin needs to get regular treatment at Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia from time to time. To ease the burden, MAKNA gives the family a small contribution of about RM150 per month. We are also currently helping the family be financially independent through our micro credit scheme. We have yet to identify the type of business the family can start, but most probably it will involve food. We also need to solve Fatin’s mother’s difficulty in walking by getting her a pair of specially ordered shoes so that she can walk and move at ease.

You can provide support in terms of volunteering your time, making a financial contribution or giving needed items.Remember, every little bit helps.

My dear friend Shakhir @ Diket is making a conscious effort to help raise funds for National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM) during the Standard Chartered KL Int’l Marathon, so NCSM can focus on what they do best - caring for and serving the less fortunates. 

His initiative is a community effort and cannot be successful without the support of runners, corporations, media and other organisations. Supporting National Cancer Society and its programmes is the best way you can contribute towards the difficult battle against cancer. By helping someone in your community, you may be helping someone you may care very much about.

Name : Shakhir Ishak @ Diket
Age : 38
From : Selangor
Category : Full Marathon

Charity Organization : National Cancer Society of Malaysia

If you would like to make a financial contribution via e-banking or credit card, please click here. They will even send you a tax exemption letter. The money raised will be used to help National Cancer Society of Malaysia. Your generous donations will definitely help the Society to overcome its challenges and improve the patients’ lives.

Together as one, we can make this marathon to become a true community event and helping the less fortunate across all ages and ethnicities.

Friend-friend Charity Network

Since the establishment of FFCN three years back, I’m grateful that this self-initiated charity network had carried out several charity drives and successfully collected more than RM10,000 in cash for several orphanage homes here.

Among other activities organised by FFCN in the past includes;

• “Teddy Bear’s Picnic” Birthday Party – where everyone that attended my munchkin’s birthday party had to bring a teddy bear, old or new as a gift. These teddy bears were then donated to orphanage home in Puchong. It’s good to see that munchkin whole-heartedly supported this project and gave her brand new teddy bears away.
• Book Attack!– You’ll be surprised to see so many books are being rejected in publisher’s warehouses, especially the big ones. We were lucky enough to receive so many boxes of new books (with very minor defects) from a Publishing company. We were happy to give them away to an orphanage home in Klang.
• Tie me a Ribbon – Towards festive occasion, we received many beautiful used clothes for donation. We cleaned them up and placed ribbons on each single one of it. My friend fisha was the one who started it and soon after, we found it so infectious and started to put ribbons on everything :) we donated these clothes to an orphanage centre in Selayang.
• ChariTee – We sold Corporate Athletes’ cotton tees with 100% of its sales went to the three orphanage homes in Perak. I managed to get one of the leading Malaysian models, Azlan, to help me out in the project. Another dear friend of mine, Halim, volunteered to become the photographer. And as a team, we took photos of Azlan exhibiting CA’s tees. This by far the biggest effort done by CA, and we collected more than RM6,000 from it. Alhamdullilah.

I have some plans lining up for this year. But still needs to wait for the right time to do it as my schedule is a bit tight now i.e. with the upcoming book and the fitness studio. I want to do a fitness weekend with the orphans, like bringing them out for a run and picnic soon after etc. If you have any ideas or want to be part of it, you may want to write down your comments here, and probably we can work on something. I was even thinking of setting up a simple committee just to ensure that plans are executed nicely.

Recently,  my dear friend Kash, a branding expert, came up with a new logo for FFCN and I think that marked a good start of 2010. Thank you so much Kash. So, here is the new one :)   

 

helping out the needy

Yesterday, I had the privilege to dine with the directors of Reach Org, a Non-Profit Organisation that helps to feed hundreds of homeless and less-fortunate citizens living in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Reach Org, established 1.5 years ago (its early operation started more than 4 years ago under a different NGO) has been distributing packets of food and drinks, and basic medical aid to the needy every Saturday.

In trying to create awareness on social responsibility, Reach Org is now in the midst of creating their own website. This is where I was invited by Anne, one of the strong people behind Reach Org to assist in the development of the website (never cross my mind that I am capable of maintaining a weblog on my own now .. geez, I was never a ‘computer’ guy). Since I am very much tied up with my work as an Engineer and a Fitness Trainer at the moment, I have to pass over the role to a dear friend of mine, Fisha (where she accepted it whole-heartedly), whom I have utmost trust and respect. Well, she cares for human mankind and animals more than any other people that I know. You should read her blog here.

Yesterday, Fisha and I met the directors for the very first time. I suggested one of my favourite restaurants, Nerve, as the meeting point. We had fantastic time over lunch discussing in great length of the feeding efforts that Reach Org is doing. Fisha took down alot of notes, soon to be shared in the Reach Org’s blog.

Below are some of the pics that I took two months ago at one of Reach Org’s Distribution Centres (DC) – this particular site was at the riverside infront of the Main Post Office, near Central Market KL.

If you have the time and would like to help Reach Org, either thru packing of food or distributing ‘em or even sponsoring the food, do let us know (either to me or Fisha through our blogs, while waiting for Reach Org’s blog to be launched), and we are more than willing to assist you with the details. The food packing and distribution only takes place every Saturday from 3pm onwards.

it’s the season for giving II

 

As to-date, Corporate Athletes’ Friend-Friend Charity Network managed to collect a total of RM 6,440.00 from the sales of its tees as well as direct contributions from families, relatives and friends.  Thank you so much to those who have contributed. May God bless your good and sincere deeds.

To hand-over the donation, my family and I are heading upnorth this Friday, and plan to visit orphanage homes on Saturday. We already have few homes in mind. As these homes are scattered all over, we hope to have enough time to visit the ones in our list within this one day.

Thank you all, and may God bless you.

it’s the Season for Giving

We are in the season of giving.  I’m discovering more and more that there are countless ways of sharing that can truly benefit those in need.  I recently had the great honor of having one of our leading male models, Azlan, with the help of a dear photographer friend, Halim, to help me out with the promo of Corporate Athletes Tee charity drive. (Check out the previous behind-the-scene post here.)

So what am I up to now? Under Friend-Friend Charity Network, as usual, we are collecting donations for the unfortunate ones. We still have orphanage kids in rural areas as our main target group. Having said that, Corporate Athletes is selling their limited edition white t-shirt with 100% of its sales will go to Friend-Friend Charity Network fund, which later will be handed over to these kids.  Although this post  came a bit late, words among friends have been passing around for quite some time now. So far, alhamdullilah we have collected RM600.00. Thank you very much to those that have donated, and may God bless your good deeds.

These are our 100% Cotton t-shirt (a thick one too) and we are selling at RM15.00 per piece only. To those who are interested to donate, please sms me at 012-200-2239 to confirm the t-shirt size. This charity drive will be running for next two weeks.

We are also proud to launch our new edition earth-tone Corporate Athletes t-shirts, also in 100% cotton. The t-shirts are normally given as complimentary to my PT clients. However, for this coming two weeks, we are selling these tee at RM20.00 per piece and similarly, 100% of sales will go to the same fund as well.

So guys, grab this opportunity to membeli sambil menderma. Have a good Ramadhan, and do stay fit and healthy.

p/s – We have very limited sizes for both, the white and earth-tone t-shirts. SMS to 012-200-2239 to book the sizes.

Photoshoot : Behind the scene

Past weekend, Corporate Athletes team did a photoshoot session for its ‘Tee Charity Promo’ in Hulu Langat, Selangor. I chose the location due to its not-too-spoilt natural surrounding. As blogged previously, Corporate Athletes is selling away its t-shirts for a good cause – 100% of its sale will go to charity. This will be explained in detailed in one of the blogposts later.

I am very grateful that I had the support by a dear friend of mine, who is also one of the leading male models in Malaysia, Azlan, and another very close friend of mine, Halim, the IT head of one of the leading newspaper publishers. Halim also helped me out to set-up the very first Corporate Athletes’ website. They are truly professionals.

Here are some of the behind-the-scene shots that I managed to capture. Enjoy!

Note : All the above pics were taken from my Canon Ixus 70 digital camera.

Thank you so much guys. You guys are great !!.

p/s – Halim uses Nikon D70s with lenses vary from 17-105mm, 70-300mm and 55mm.

Gerai OA

I’m a volunteer at Gerai OA - a mobile, non-profit stall carrying Orang Asli and Orang Asal craft from 17 different ethnic groups. The crafts are sourced directly from the villages where possible. 100% of sales go back to the community.

Last few weeks, Gerai OA has been busy hauling crafts out of various villages, coz this coming August, Gerai OA will open its ‘gerai’ at few locations.

So, do come over and see what’s new! The very next one is at :

Malaysian Handicraft Promotion
venue:  KL Sentral Centre Court (in front of Komuter entrance/exit)
date:  1 to 5 August 2009 (Sat to Wed)
time:  9am to 10pm daily

Gerai OA is one of 10 craft shops that you can find during this promotion. So, what can you look forward to buying from Gerai OA this time around:

• Semelai mats in autumn shades
• Lun Bawang ceramic beads (many in shades of blue)
• Temiar “pregnant” fish traps
• Dusun “humming” bamboo tops

We also have a new selection of books for the bookworms, plus the Bead Bar will be opened too.

See you there! …. not in Taman Negara, at KL Sentral ….. . Do come and support Malaysian crafts, as well as Orang Asal craftspeople.

Siemens Made It

Last Sunday morning, I went for my 10k Siemens run at Dataran Merdeka with my client, Rina. Another client of mine, Anne, supposed to join us but had to cancel last minute due to a kitchen mishap – hot cooking oil accidentally fell over her leg and arm. I feel very sorry for her, and hope she’s recuperating well now.

Rina* brought along her younger sister** to replace Anne. Both of them did very well in their first 10km run and completed it in 90 minutes … *ehem* … TOTALLY IN-STYLE …. hehehhe! Yeahhh, kudos to both of them.

* I told her to buy a sports tag-along bag to stuff her belongings during training sessions, instead she bought a Coach sling bag!

** came in a Coach sneakers to run :)

Overall, Siemens did very good job in organising this run.

Water Supply

There were 5 water stations throughout the 10km route. In fact, although we were in the last pack of runners, there was still enough water for us all. A highly recommended run for beginners (and smokers too – they consume water more than non-smokers).

Cheerings

The beatings of Malay, Indian and Chinese drums cheered us in the last km, and not forgetting the cheerleading teams. It was truly ‘motivational’ for our tired legs.

Charity

100% of the registration fees were channeled to charity – The Handicapped Children (Taman Megah Handicapped and Disabled Childrens’ Home), the Autistic (National Autism Society of Malaysia) and The Blind (SKPK Setapak-the only secondary school for blind children) will all get its share. Congrats to Siemens fow making it possible.

Leadership

CEO of Siemens Malaysia, Tan Sri Rainer Althoff (pic above), clad in white shorts and running tee, also ran. This is the classic example of Lead by Example. Wish my superiors are like that.

It was indeed a pleasant morning (except the accident that took place earlier that morning), and we really enjoyed our run. Corporate Athletes fully support Siemens run.

Not so good …

A kancil rammed at full speed into the fence barrier near the starting line at around 6.30am. Luckily, there wasn’t many people yet – no injuries. The driver took almost half an hour to recover from the aftershock. Don’t speed and drive, especially at Dataran over the weekends! 

Opening of a Charity Home

Friend-Friend Charity Network is coming up with another charity drive to help out the setting up of a charity home for orphans and poor children. This new home will be located at no. 11A, Jalan Baiduri 2, Taman Baiduri, Dengkil.

Details of the visit (also can be found at above link) are as follows:

Location : Rumah Anak Yatim / Miskin Baiduri, Dengkil

Visit Date : February 28, 2009 (Saturday) – 1400hr

Purpose : Charity home to be operated by mid march 2009. Still lacking in essentials like matresses, food supplies, books, etc.

Collection so far : RM1,950.00 (as at 24/02/09)

To those who wish to contribute, please drop me an e-mail or call me at 012-200-2239. Jazakullah khairan khatiran. May God bless your good and sincere deeds.

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