Living With Disability

Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking, whose mental genius and physical disability made him a household name and inspiration across the globe, has died at age 76, a family spokesman said Wednesday.

An explosion tore through Nilofar Bayat’s leg when she was just two years old, but as she spins her wheelchair across a basketball court in Bangkok, the Afghan athlete is determined to turn her story from tragedy to trium­ph.

A disabled student, Ervina Tang Sze Cheen, did her school proud when she received recognition as the 2017 STPM spastic candidate with the best results from the Education Ministry.

Two visually-impaired men proved that being disabled should not hinder a person from achieving their goals. Wong Hung Fai and Faiq Adnan, who became professional swimmers despite suffering from visual impairment, shared their experiences and struggles with participants during a drowning prevention campaign organised by the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) at Taman Tasik Ayer Keroh.

WeCareJourney was formed to enable better lives for those living with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and to educate the public on the importance of an inclusive society through activities and events. It operates as two legal entities – one as a non-profit organisation and the other as a social enterprise.

Alyson Thor and Eileen Soon are intrigued by their special needs students, and find teaching them interesting and rewarding. But they also realise that most people do not even see people with disabilities, let alone accept them or recognise their potential.

The Lunar New Year was especially good to Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled in Kampar as they received a generous donation from Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Lee Chee Leong.

“Selagi mampu bergerak, saya akan mengerahkan kudrat badan yang cacat ini untuk mencari rezeki sendiri,” kata orang kurang upaya (OKU) Muhammad Helmi Firdaus Abdul Halid. Pemuda berusia 21 tahun itu mengidap penyakit kepala besar atau dikenali sebagai Hydrocephalus sejak lahir, menyebabkan kedua-dua kakinya lumpuh dan terpaksa bergerak dengan bantuan kerusi roda.