They lead the way... enjoying a sense of independence
By Katherine Ho
At a workshop in Mambau, Negri Sembilan, a group of special people have been doing their share for the environment long before the green cause became an issue in this country.
Every day, thousands of brown recycled paper envelopes are being made by the workers at Bengkel Seri Sembilan.
These workers may be disabled, but that is no handicap as they can turn out stacks of envelopes in just a few minutes.
Seri Sembilan is a rehabilitation centre for the disabled. It is a sheltered workshop which provides jobs for those who want to pick up a skill and be self-reliant.
The 91 workers at the centre come under four categories: the deaf and dumb, the blind, the physically handicapped and the mentally retarded.
At the workshops, these divisions cease to exist. Every one does his share and is paid on a piece-meal basis.
Samiah and Salmah Ahmad, 26, are twin sisters and both were born deaf. At Seri Sembilan, they fold paper into envelopes for a living.
Every day, the number of envelopes they make is written in a little note book.
At the end of the month, they are paid according to the sum total stated in the note book.
"We get about $190 a month," said Samiah using sign language.
"We keep $100 in the bank and spend the rest," her sister added excitedly.
"We take a bus to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday morning, go shopping or to the movies and return in the evening bus," she said.
Ramlan Abdul Rani, who is without hands, also folds paper into envelopes. He makes about $100 a month. Yet he manages to send money home.
"We don’t spend much because food and lodging is free," he said.
"We get six meals a day and we have friends here."
Zaharaih Hassan, at 45, is one of the older persons at the centre. She teams up with Nor Azleme, 25, to make wire latex cup holders.
Using a simple wooden contraption, one measures the length of wire required for the latex cup holder and the other breaks it with a hammer.
Their accuracy has not been affected by their blindness. The workers at Seri Sembilan help each other out and no one is seen as different.
It is not unusual to see new blind workers being shown around the grounds by other blind workers already familiar with the layout.
Many of them came to Seri Sembilan as part of the Welfare Department’s efforts to rehabilitate and train the disabled.
But many choose to stay on at the centre, because it gives them a sense of independence to be self-reliant. Besides, they would have made many friends there too.
According to Mr Wong Kee Onn, the manager of Seri Sembilan, food and lodging is subsidized by the Society for the Disabled in Negri Sembilan.
Any money made from the selling of envelopes or wire latex cup holders is spent on enhancing the facilities for the workers.
"For us, more work means more money, which means better living standards," he said.
"We would like to give the workers as much paper as they can use up within their working hours but that depends on the demand too. If there is no demand, there is no work."
For now, Wong relies only on government departments for orders.
"The quality is not as good as outside but that is because we use recycled paper. We make the cheapest brown envelopes in the market," he said.
Seri Sembilan has a capacity of making two million envelopes a month and there are six other such centres throughout Malaysia in Alor Star, Ipoh, Batu Pahat, Pekan Johor Barn and Kuching.
Source : The Star, May 19, 1992
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