IT was a memorable day for residents and staff of St Nicholas Home in Pulau Tikus when the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, accompanied by his wife Caroline Welby, paid a visit to the home today.
They were accompanied by Archbishop adviser on Anglican Communion Affairs Anthony Poggo and his executive assistant Raquel Hitchman.
The group was greeted on arrival at St Nicholas Home by general manager David Chiang and vicar of St George Church Penang Datuk Charles Samuel.
Chiang, in his speech, said the purpose of the visit was in conjunction with the commemoration of the 200th anniversary (1819 – 2019) of the consecration of the Church of St George The Martyr (also known as St George Church).
“As a member of Anglican Care, St Nicholas Home is linked to the St George Church under its Anglican Care Ministry.
“Currently, St Nicholas Home is a multi-service institution catering to the visually-impaired community in Malaysia.
“It is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation whose work is supported by donations and volunteers.
“Our main aim is to integrate the visually-impaired into the Malaysian society,” he added.
Chiang said among the future plans for the St Nicholas Home are a massage centre, a cafe manned by blind and visually impaired, and expand services and the number of students in Taska and Retirement Home for Senior Citizen
At St Nicholas Home, the visitors were shown a video clip narrating the history of the home dating back to 1938, and then taken on a tour of the various sections, namely massage training centre, handicraft training centre, on-line learning and Braille, information technology, pastry training centre, toy library, Sherman House, senior citizens – ladies dormitory and others.
St Nicholas Home started in 1926 in Malacca and in 1938, a generous gift by a Lord Nuffield enabled the Board to acquire six acres of property at Jalan Bagan Jermal in Pulau Tikus and make necessary alterations to the building which has been the Home since then.
Among the multi-service offerings for children, adults and senior citizens are education programmes (early intervention till six years old), vocational training(massage, pastry, IT training, skill development centre, basketry and supporting services (Braille unit and library, low vision, job placement, social care and senior citizens).
Story by Danny Ooi
Pix by Alvie Cheng