Seri Mengasih – where special needs people get support to succeed
WHERE there is love, there is hope. Where there is integrity, there is dignity. Where there is caring and sharing, there is meaning in life.
That was the philosophy which Irene Tioon, 49, always believed in since the past three decades she has been working with Seri Mengasih Centre, a non-profit special developmental centre located at Tanjung Aru. Established in 1981, Irene started her career as a teacher in the centre, which was formerly located at a footballers’ changing room at the Likas Sports Complex.
“When we started the centre in the 80s, there were only three teachers, a general helper and a CUSO (Canada) volunteer worker as its first principal. “Seri Mengasih Centre was the first special school in the state for children whose special requirements could not be met in mainstream schools. At that time, only 10 children aged from six to 12 years were accepted because of the shortage of staff and fund. “Two years later, the centre shifted to a government residential building which has a spacious compound and beautiful surroundings located in Tanjung Aru, near the beach,” said Irene, recalling the past. Today, from a very humble beginning of a single class operating in a place which had to be vacated whenever there were soccer matches, Seri Mengasih developed into a special developmental centre at its present premises in Tanjung Aru, with current enrolment of 125 students ranging from six-year-olds to young adults and 45 staff members. “It never crossed my mind to quit or leave Seri Mengasih because the centre is the perfect place for me to work and help people at the same time.
“Looking at these disabled children growing up, making positive development and having a career is the satisfaction that made me never regret the choice that I made more than 30 years ago. “Just imagine, from the first day of a little child registered for our programmes in the centre. He or she will be taught how to read, count and write. It was not easy because of their ability, but once they are ready for employment, that is the best feeling ever,” she said. Irene is now a senior officer (Community) for the centre, preparing modules for its academic and independent living programmes. Seri Mengasih Centre provides a comprehensive range of training programmes for the intellectually challenged and services for their families. Among the disabled trained at the centre are those diagnosed with Down syndrome, slow learners, autism, cerebral palsy and many other conditions which cause learning disability. “Teaching basic academics to our students requires different techniques compared to a normal school. The children are special, so the teachers need to show that they are in charge of the situation.
“Once the students know who is in charge, they will listen and follow instructions. But since most of the children are very loving and friendly, the teachers need to know how to handle various situations. Students must focus on their studies once they enter the classroom,” Irene said.
She added that there are six workshop classes in the centre, providing work skills training to selected students to join the work force. “We have various classes, namely gardening and farming, arts and craft, car wash, laundry, bakery and canteen handling. To date, about 50 students from Seri Mengasih are already employed, including Zie Pien.
“Zie Pien is one of our students who showed tremendous development in his life. His parents sent him for academic and independent living classes since he was nine years old. He loves writing song lyrics and helping his mother in the kitchen. “Zie Pien’s performance in our bakery class was very good but he decided to work at the Dong Sin Food Sdn Bhd factory in Inanam because it was the first job that was offered to him.
Down syndrome is like that, once they know and understand the job, they will focus and stick to it. I was not surprised when he refused to find another job and wanted to work in the factory forever,” said Irene. -
Zie Pien who speaks, reads and writes Malay, English and Chinese was trained at Seri Mengasih’s bakery, the vocational department of the centre. The bakery supplies mini sausage buns, egg tarts and doughnuts to schools and kindergartens. Zie Pien has been working for more than a year at the Dong Sin Food Sdn Bhd factory, packaging noodles from morning to noon.
When asked about the operational cost of Seri Mengasih Centre, Irene revealed that the centre needed a lot of money to operate and funds has been an on-going challenge for them. As mentioned in the newspaper before, operational cost for Seri Mengasih Centre is around RM1.2 million a year, or RM100,000 a month.