Story by Amanda Khong
RECOGNISE their abilities and not their disabilities.
That was the message of Pulau Tikus assemblymember Yap Soo Huey during the official launch of the “Special Hands: Empowering Abilities Exhibition” on Dec 3 at The Star, Pitt Street.
Asia Community Service (ACS), in collaboration with Think City, launched this exhibition to showcase the works of members with intellectual disabilities from the ACS Stepping Stone Work Centre in Balik Pulau.
The official launch was in conjunction with International Day of Persons with Disabilities (OKU) which is on Dec 3.
“To be able to achieve inclusion in Penang, we should start recognising their abilities rather than disabilities. Every person is unique in their own way. We should overcome the problematic social stigma with early intervention,” said Yap in her opening speech.
Also present at the event was Datuk Dr Anwar Fazal, chairman of Think City, and ACS chairman Datuk Gillian Teh.
Yap stressed on the importance of early intervention as there are more than 41,000 registered OKU, and 6,313 of them are children under the age of 12.
This art exhibition was an affirmation of the 2015 theme which is “Inclusion Matters: Access and Empowerment for People of All Abilities” and it managed to attract many international visitors such as those from Australia, United Kingdom, Japan and Germany.
There was also a charity silent auction for the two paintings by one of ACS’s artists and resident, Aniza Mohd Ismail.
These paintings will go to the highest bidder with a reserve price of RM1,000 each.
The month-long exhibition from Nov 23 till Dec 20 is open to the public and comprises forums, talks, movies and various interactive workshops.if (document.currentScript) {