KUCHING: The establishment of bodies like Sarawak Association for the Welfare of Intellectually Disabled Children (PERKATA) is important in providing support and training for special children.
This was said by Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii who paid a visit to PERKATA located along Jalan Ong Tiang Swee on Friday (March 11).
He handed over some allocations to help with their annual operational cost, noting that it has been difficult for the association to do fund raising due to restrictions to activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“PERKATA runs the school that specialises in taking in school-age children with special needs for nurturing and training that allows them to learn independence as well as self-care skills to help them integrate into society.
“The establishment of the special school aims to create a caring learning environment for children with special needs so that they can develop physically, mentally, intellectually, socially and emotionally,” he said in a social media post.
Dr Yii noted that the school also helps special children to grow in confidence and independence whilst making good use of all their abilities and giving them a sense of direction in life.
“It is well known that raising a child with special needs is not an easy task and many families do find it difficult to provide for such children with a wide range of special needs.
“This is why establishment of bodies like PERKATA is so important to provide the necessary support and life training for our precious special children to enable them to live a good life like everyone else,” he said.
He also assured that his office will continue to work with PERKATA and find ways to help them in their daily activities especially for the benefit of special needs children.
In a related development, Dr Yii met with Kelvin Li who is a very gifted artist despite being autistic.
He pointed out that the 16-year-old is an animal lover who is passionate about wildlife preservation and together with his mother, they founded the Endangered Species Conservation Club.
“I am very inspired by his story and we will look at supporting him in some of the things he is passionate about and some activities of the club he co-founded.
“Most of his arts are based on animals of all kinds including marine, land, birds and insects. He aims to increase awareness of the high extinction rate caused by the anthropocene,” he said.
Dr Yii added that those who want to support the talented boy’s art can go to his website (https://www.bykelvinli.com/) to order, adding that every piece of art is made to order and not mass produced.
