A special needs sanctuary

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IT all began with the demolition of the Sibu Lau King Howe Hospital in the early 2000’s.

CONCENTRATION: Young adults at the Methodist Care Centre are given special tasks to improve their learning skills.

The Clinic for Children with Special Needs, which started at the Hospital on Jan 7, 1998, suddenly found itself without a home.

About the same time, benevolent bodies such as the Association for Children with Special Needs Sibu (ACSNS), the Methodist Care Centre (MCC), the Sibu Autistic Association and the Special Olympics Sarawak, Sibu branch, were already operating at their own premises.

The search for a proper place to house for the Clinic for Children with Special Needs proved successful when the government – following a request from the BN Wawasan Team led by Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh – granted 1.65 ha at Alan Road for the project in 2003.

Well-known local philanthropist Datuk Tiong Thai King, who is also Lanang MP, contributed millions towards the construction which was completed in 2006.

It was initially proposed to name the building after Datuk Tiong but he declined, saying what he did was to express his care for people with special needs.

Tiong preferred the name Agape Centre, likening it to God’s gift for the disadvantaged.

Noble idea

A noble idea then came up. Wong, together with Tiong, ACSNS president Datin Janet Lau and several top officials felt it would be a huge waste for the building to house only ACSNS. Consequently, they decided to invite the other four special needs NGOs on board.

After completion of the building, ACSNS was the first to move in on April 1, 2006 followed by the other four. The five NGO’s coming under one roof aptly reflects the meaning of the name Agape – which stands for every member in a community comes together and shares all the good things.

American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr defined agape as ‘disinterested love.’ To quote King: “Agape does not begin by discriminating between worthy and unworthy people or any qualities people possess. It begins by loving others for their sakes. Therefore, agape makes no distinction between friend and enemy – it is directed towards both.”

After a few years, with the growing numbers of young adults with special needs, the necessity to find a workplace for them took on a sense of urgency.

The Agape Centre was also getting increasingly crowded and the little room left for expansion prompted the management to look for more space and land.

Great present

Wong once gain stepped in to help and not surprisingly, the government agreed to give the Centre another piece of land to help it out. The 2.1-acre plot is adjacent to the Centre and Wong, during the Chinese New Year gathering of the Sibu United Association, described it as a “great Chinese New Year present” from Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

“It’s just a start. Even with the land, the Centre still needs the support of all sectors of the population to come up with a new building and better facilities for special needs adults,” Datin Janet Lau said.

According to her, the Centre will be named Shelter Workplace and Independent Living Home for Special Needs Adults.

“It will be a workshop for special needs young adults to do things like laundry, woodcarving, bakery, flower arrangement, basket weaving and many other types of jobs.”

If everything goes to plan, Lau said, the centre will be the first of its kind in Malaysia. The concept is to enable young adults with special needs to make a living by selling their products.

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