YAYASAN Artist 1Malaysia (YA1M) joins in the effort to support Datuk Ooi Eow Jin financially by putting him on a pension scheme that provides him with a RM500 monthly allowance.

The association’s president, Datuk DJ Dave, shared the news during a visit on Tuesday to the veteran composer’s home in Petaling Jaya, where he presented a cheque for RM2,000 to the ailing veteran.

If ever there was a typical path for launching a thriving business, Issam Bajalia–who owns Salon U, a premier Aveda Lifestyle salon–didn’t take it. His path began with rolling silverware at Olive Garden and ends with the successful salon he owns today. If you ask Bajalia, however, the story goes back much further than that. It really starts, he says, when he woke up one day with a fraction of his vision.

Who would have thought that a person with deformed hands and feet will be able to operate a smartphone using only her tongue? Nursamawati Mahmud (pic), 33, uses her smartphone not only to access social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram and WeChat, but also to promote her family’s soy and chilli sauce business under ‘Mahmudah’ brand.

Nursamawati Mahmud tidaklah sempurna seperti wanita lain lantaran kecacatan fizikal dialaminya sejak berusia setahun. Namun, siapa sangka wanita Orang Kelainan Upaya (OKU) berusia 33 tahun itu yang banyak menghabiskan masa di rumahnya di Kampung Gelong Gajah di sini, mampu mengaplikasikan telefon pintarnya secara baik dengan hanya menggunakan lidah untuk bersosial dan berkomunikasi.

It has not been easy for Mohd Noor Firdaus Mohd Salim to find a job as he is a slow learner. When the 20-year-old attended a job fair for people with disabilities (OKUs) in Kulai recently, he hoped to find an opening that would help him to become more independent. It was his lucky day. Not just one but several companies at the fair interviewed him and some of them showed a keen interest in hiring him.

PETALING Jaya Utara (PJU) Barisan Nasional donated RM3,000 to composer-songwriter Datuk Ooi Eow Jin, who has been stricken with Alzheimer’s disease since 2015, and his family. The 80-year-old lives in Taman SEA, Petaling Jaya, with his wife Datin Elaine Khaw and their son Raymond, 54, who has a brain tumour.

The first paracycling training camp in Cyprus took place this week at Aphrodite Hills Resort in Paphos.

Headed up by para athlete Christos Loizou, 44, the weeklong camp was organised by the Cyprus Cycling Federation, in cooperation with the Swiss Cycling Federation.

Marks&Spencer was forced to remove its ‘cauliflower steak’ from sale after it was criticised for being little more than a pricey, plastic-covered, sliced vegetable. But as Symeon Brown reports, for some disabled people, the convenience of pre-packaged food can be vital.

Being disabled has not stopped teacher B. Krishna Kumar from helping his students to improve their command of English and Bahasa Malaysia.

The 48-year-old will be launching his ‘’Newspaper A Day Makes You Streetwise” campaign on Jan 14 at Accelskill Academy in Peringgit here.

In any public place, it may surprise you to look around and consider that one in five people have a disability. Many engage less with society than they would like.