Boon in his handcycle. He has been promoting sports among para athletes.
AS a quadriplegic, Boon Foo Ping strongly believes in the importance of having self-confidence.
He says, being submissive to negativities such as low self-esteem and self-doubt isn’t helping at all for people like him.
“I know I could be quite nosy sometimes but it is always better to be an approachable person than the one who is not,” the 37-year-old told thesundaypost.
His chatty personality has actually outshone his physical appearance.
Despite his condition, Boon does not feel like a wheelchair-user and is instead driven to reach out to others, hoping he could inspire them to live life to the full.
Boon is passionate about helping fellow disabled people rebuild their confidence and socialise.
Feeling rather hilarious and a bit embarrassed, Boon’s wife Elaine Teo said when he started talking, it was “impossible for him to stop.”
“He has so much to talk about his life experiences,” said Teo, herself a cerebral palsy patient and a wheelchair user.
Fateful incident
Boon was left paralysed from the chest down by a spinal cord injury in an accident at waterfall when he was 17.
“I’m naturally an optimistic person. Although bed-ridden, I didn’t think much about it at the time, believing everything would eventually pass — just like flu and fever.
“My friends, teachers and church members who visited me, kept giving me the sad look and I was the one ending up comforting them,” he chuckled.
According to him, physiotherapy was dreadful as it shattered his confidence. His father advised him to stop and pursue home-learning instead.
Boon spent the next few years learning as much as he could about his condition from books and worldwide web (WWW), using the desktop computer his father bought him.
“Back in 2000, a computer could cost a hand and a leg. But my father bought me one to help me spend my time productively as I couldn’t attend school.
“So with only half of my left arm still functional, I learned coding, programming and creating websites.”
“I had all the ideas in my head — I wanted to do something different. So, I created a forum website for a private entity, providing a platform for Internet users to discuss topics and ideas.
Boon and his wife Elaine enjoying a day
out with the help of friends.
First step
In 2006, while surfing the Internet, Boon chanced upon a website, offering learning opportunities to people with disabilities.
He contacted the person in charge and was told if he wanted to lead a normal life, he would have to learn to be independent and not rely on people to do simple tasks like looking after himself.
Subsequently, Boon started working on his hands, using sandbags, tied to the hands, and doing other strength-training exercises.
When he first visited Kuala Lumpur a year later, he was introduced to Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled where he was encouraged to take the SPM exam for the disabled.
“It couldn’t have been more timely as I didn’t have any qualification,” he recalled.
Over the next 12 months, Boon prepared for the test. He scored four credits from the six main subjects he took. After that, he enrolled for more management courses to improve his soft skills.
“When the most difficult obstacle is yourself, other challenges seem much easier to overcome,” he noted.
Passion for sports
Boon has been actively involved in sports since young.
“I love all kinds of ball sports like basketball, table tennis, tennis and bocce. But after my injury, I stopped playing due to lack of confidence,” he said.
A friend introduced him to hand-cycling sports and he has been hooked ever since. He promoted the sports to para athletes in Perak and Kuala Lumpur where he stayed between 2007 and 2016.
Boon undergoing physiotherapy during the early days of his injury at Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled.
Boon revealed he once even proposed to organise a hand-cycling event in Malaysia and had looked around for participants and sponsors.
“At the time, I didn’t have the equipment but I still tried to look for sponsors, hoping to raise enough funds to buy at least one equipment costing about RM10,000, including shipping.
“Some of the people I approached didn’t support the idea. Two years later, a similar event was held in Taiwan – it was exactly what I mentioned in my proposal.
“It was a huge disappointment for me. People don’t really appreciate that people with disabilities also have dreams.
“So, instead of listening to those who rejected me, I decided to do things my own way.”
After raising enough funds, Boon bought a hand-cycle equipment and went on to compete in many public events to promote hand-cycling among OKU. He was frequently featured in the local dailies, earning him quite a reputation as a participant and promoter of sports events for the
Boon (second right) with fellow OKU competitors in his first ping pong competition where he placed fourth.
disabled.
“This important to me because I want to let people know we (OKU) do enjoy sports as well.”
In 2016, he was introduced to para table tennis by a friend who invited him to join an OKU ping pong competition.
“I practised for roughly 10 days to compete against other more experienced players. I didn’t expect to win anything and was pleasantly surprised to finish fourth,” he said.
Boon began to participate in more competitions, believing it could pave the way for him to get into the national team under the National Sports Council.
“It isn’t easy for para athletes because there are no qualified doctors in the country to verify the level of their disabilities and determine which category they should register in.
“Until today, I’m still struggling to qualify into the national team and compete in international competitions,” he lamented.
Recently, Boon organised a para table tennis workshop in Miri for potential players with physical disabilities. It was conducted by Sarawak coaches Anthony Jong and Oh Kwong Foi.
Boon said such a workshop not only attracted new players but also the attention of agencies like Miri Hospital and Welfare Department to help them recommend people with disabilities to try out para table tennis.
“I’m working on promoting sports among people with disabilities. I strongly believe through sports they can rebuild their confidence, learn to accept their situation and socialise.”
Boon (left) taking part in his first OKU ping pong competition in Perak in 2016.
Service centre
Boon is in the midst of setting up a service centre for disabled people.
“When I first came back to Miri in 2017, there were two NGOs for the physically disabled. But they were inactive and no longer able to provide useful service to those in need.
“So, with my service centre, I hope to help improve the living standards of the disabled in Miri and strive for make the centre easily accessible to OKU’s in future.”
Boon said the facilities in most parts of Miri were not friendly enough for wheel-chair users and he hoped to be an advocate of the rights for “special needs” people in the city resort.