Yvonne Foong

My dear friend, Chen Pelf Nyok, or better known as Pelf the blogger, is a post-graduate student in conservation biology. She will be blogging 24 hours straight in support of Eden Handicap Service Center, Penang.

The race will begin at 0600 EST, on 28th July 2007. Together with Pelf is the infamous 5xmom. They will be writing impromptu, on topics pertaining to the cause. No pre-written posts are allowed. Pelf has an informative/easy-to-understand introduction to her campaign. I have pledged RM20 from my own pocket (not the medical fund, stop looking at me like that) to cheer her on. With the right encouragement, people like Pelf will not easily give up reaching out to others. So please consider sponsoring Pelf for a good cause. All proceeds go DIRECTLY to Eden Handicap Service Center in Penang. Click here to pledge.

Cynical-Idealist says…

This will be the final post for the entire blogathon. John, Yvonne, Pelf and Jess, it was great to be on the same team as you guys.

I’ll wrap up our effort by saying this: I have a dream.

I have a dream where the disabled aren’t shunned by society because they can’t function like the rest of us.

I have a dream where every single building will have walkways, toilets, bathrooms, ramps and railings to cater to the disabled.

I have a dream where the deaf can walk into a lecture hall and still get what’s going on because there will be people relaying things to them via sign language.

I have a dream where Malaysia makes equality of access a right of every citizen. I have a dream where it doesn’t matter what you’re lacking, because you’re recognised as a welcome part of society.

I have a dream where people will limp down the street or cruise down the street in wheelchairs, and be safe because they have their own pathways. I have a dream where we’ll all say hi to them because it’s the most natural thing in the world to us.

And until that dream can become a reality, we have to keep raising awareness on the many many issues that disabled people face.

We cannot hide from that fact that some of us are different, but we also have to recognise that all of us are still equal. No matter what a person’s condition is, he or she deserves to live a life as full as any of us.

Depression. Deafness. Illness. Diseases. There are so many conditions out there that have to be brought out into the limelight.

Until those are sitting in the sun, we cannot deal with them effectively. So as I close the Blogathon for our team, I would like to urge everyone to go out and be more compassionate, more loving, more caring, and more aware.

Together, we can make a difference in so many ways.

Thank you for being with us during these 24 hours. Thank you for sponsoring Eden.

Thank you.

Cynical-Idealist says…

I’m back! We’re into the final hour of the Blogathon, and there isn’t much time left to pledge. The last time I checked, we managed to raise $325. Thank you so much to all of you who have chosen to sponsor Eden. We’re immensely grateful to you all.

I never really told anyone why I was really excited to be offered a chance to participate in this year’s Blogathon by Yvonne.

When I lived in Kuching, I was blessed to have a healthy family, and I was very privileged to be able to be active many sports. When I came to Perth to study, my whole world changed in the blink of an eye.

I was sent to live with my grandparents who had migrated to Perth more than a decade ago. My grandfather is in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and he is also partially deaf. He also has weak legs due to a fall several years earlier. He couldn’t go out without a wheelchair, and struggled to even feed himself.

My grandmother was his full time carer, and without her, my grandfather would not be able to have his daily needs tended to.

It was at home that I got to witness the hardships of living with a disabled person first hand. There are many things that my grandfather could not do, and my grandmother had to always be around to make sure he didn’t choke on his food and to help him clean himself.

My grandfather had to be put in special chair, and at first, my grandmother moved him herself with the aid of a special sling.

Later on, as his condition got worse, we were sent a full hoist that literally lifted my grandfather from bed to wheelchair, and wheelchair to armchair.

Everyday was routine for my grandparents, and it became harder and harder to go anywhere out of the house.

After being at my peak back in Kuching, I felt utterly helpless here. There seemed like nothing I could do to make things better, except help clean the house a bit and help move my grandfather from place to place.

You need to have special training to handle the disabled. People are fragile, and no one should be ever left to be manhandled by untrained amatuers.

We were fortunate to have Silverchain, a free organisation that is something like Eden that gave aid to carers and to the disabled a few days a week, come over and help. That way, my grandmother could take a well-deserved break.

Without organisations like these, many many families with disabled members would not be able to cope. That it why I’m glad to do what ever little bit I can for Eden.

“Make a difference”, “make it better” all sound like nice phrases to everyone. But warm fuzzy feelings aside, it is people who really need those services who feel the impact the most.

Carers would be able to take a break. The disabled would get the care they need. This IS for a good cause, and while you may think that we Blogathoners are hogging the limelight and spamming PPS, stop and think awhile.

It may be easy for you to call us selfish while sitting in front of your comfortable computer. But tell me, do you KNOW how hard it is to be disabled? Do you know how hard it is to care for a disabled person? Do you know what it’s like to worry about every single thing, because a life hangs in your care? Because someone is entirely dependant on you for survival?

Organisations like Eden desperately need that money to continue giving out these much needed services for free so that people like my grandmother can take a much-needed break to make sure she doesn’t suffer too. It’s so that people like my grandfather are being kept alive by plenty of love, care and attention.

It’s so easy to dismiss people like us who are blogging for charity. We aren’t doing this for ourselves. Publicity doesn’t matter to us. BUT, it matters for Eden. Who will be their voice if people like you and me don’t step up and say something? We’re doing this because we want to help make a difference.

There’s only half an hour left, so I urge you all, PLEASE do pledge for Eden. So many people would be eternally grateful if you could.

By Jess 

I must say, it’s been a great experience being a part of this team. From waking up at 2.30am (trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake up my parents), to staying awake the whole day when they finally got up around 7am (so that they didn’t get suspicious!). From planning what to write and thinking out drafts in my head for the past few days.

Thank you Yvonne, once again. (:

Now I’m off for dinner with darling Melanie who actually gave me a wake up call so that I wouldn’t oversleep this morning and miss my shift. Which means that she gets a free drink from me! And we’re going to take pictures of White Lady, cha kueh, satay and food-food-food to tempt our Sadistic Stef who’s far away in NZ. My dear, dear friends. Where would I be without you guys?

Remember to make your pledges people!!

This is Jessica, signing off for the last time.

By Jess

Can’t blog about baking and not put up a recipe, right? Tried, tested and approved by my greatest critic : my mom.

Chocolate Chip & Nuts Cookies

You will need:

1. 250g butter
2. 450g brown sugar
3. 1 egg
4. 2 tsp vanilla essence
5. 525g self-raising flour
6. 50g nibbed almonds
7. 2006 chocolate chips

Before you start mixing everything, preheat your oven to about 170^oC.

The Mixing

First, beat the butter and brown sugar until it’s light and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla essence and continue to beat the mixture. Next, stir the flour into the mixture. And finally, stir in the nibbed almonds and chocolate chips.

The Baking

Bake cookies for about 20-25 minutes. The size depends entirely on you, however big or however small you want it to be (I usually use about half a tablespoon for each cookie). The cookies spread when they bake, so remember to leave space between each cookie for spreading!

Happy baking! Do let me know how they turn out if you ever try this.

By Jess

Whenever I’m stressed out, baking can always make me feel better.

The part I like the most about baking is not the eating. It’s the beating, dicing, chopping, stirring, blending, rolling, moulding, shifting, cutting, washing up. It’s very relaxing. And the thing about baking is that all you have to do is follow the recipe. Or not follow it at all. It’s all up to you.

Believe me, baking can really be very relaxing.

I like baking because when I bake, I feel like I’m in control of the situation. I like to bake more than I like eating what I bake. It’s a good thing that I have constantly hungry family members and friends to finish up my creations.

It’s the journey that counts, not the destination.

By Jess

You wanna know what some students say the school prefects are?

Dogs.

We serve the school, so we’re dogs. So if we don’t serve the school, that would make us…cats? Hehe. I don’t get it. We’re just something to help out. Why call us dogs? Of course, only some students call us dogs. But I tell you, it’s more than enough. ):

Another thing I don’t get is why do the students see us as being against them? We’re students, just like you are. Do you think we actually care whether or not you tie your hair, tuck in your shirt, wear you tie properly, bring handphones to school or wear more than one pair of earrings?

Actually, we don’t care.

But school rules are school rules. We don’t think we’re better than you or anything. We’re just doing our part. So can’t you make our job easier? You’re happy, I’m happy, so we’re all happy together, right?

I never really had that many problems with the students though. They learnt quickly that the fact that I’m a girl and so much shorter than them didn’t mean that I would be afraid of them. Stare at me and I’ll stare right back. Gggrrr…!!

I’ll let you in on my little secret. It made me many new friends. I kinda miss prefect duty now because I don’t get to see them that often anymore. Me being too lazy to go down to the canteen during recess. It also helped cool down heated situations many a time. And what is it?

Smile and say please. (:

By Jess

I was a very quiet prefect when I was a Form Four/Five prefect. The only other prefects I mixed around with were my group members. I always felt like the excos were far, far away somewhere up there in the clouds and that I was way, way down below somewhere underground.

But all that changed when I got chosen to be an exco when I came back for Form Six.

“Hey, I’m up here! Muahahaha…look at you down there!! You little, little things!”

Hehe.

I got promoted further up the totem pole again when the Assistant Head Girl left for Curtin. I was originally one of the co-heads of one of the groups. As a co-head of a group, I had prefects under me. There was this family feeling going around. But my first week as the Assistant Head Girl only left me feeling very disconnected.

Well, needless to say, I made sure I got to know the prefects. And they got to know me too. I think I came across as the one who’s usually smiling, making jokes, the really happy and giggly exco. As opposed to all the other serious faces. And my partner-in-crime was just like me! Perfect!

Prefect to exco link? Mended and fortified. (:

By Jess

Phew~! Was worried that I wouldn’t be able to come back online, due to heavy lightning and thunder. Luckily the rain has stopped. (:

Pelf says…

I have not mentioned my disabled aunt in the Blogathon, have I? Ouh, how could I have missed the point, considering that we are blogging for Eden Handicap Service Centre?! *smacks forehead*

Now let me see.. My youngest maternal aunt was born a normal child. But she developed a very high fever when she was a couple of years old and the fever kind of rendered her both legs paralyzed. I am not exactly sure whether both her legs were paralyzed or whether she had slowly lost the ability to use her legs due to the lack of exercise.

My aunt moves around sitting on the floor. I remember when we were small, my Mum used to buy her walking sticks and a couple of those “equipments” that she could hold on to and try to walk on her own, but she refused to use them.

My maternal grandmother has been taking care of my aunt eversince the incident. My other aunts have also tried advicing my grandmother to send my disabled aunt to one of those “Pusat Kebajikan Masyarakat” in Kuantan but my grandmother refused.

So what will happen to my disabled aunt once my grandmother passes on..? Nobody will know..

But with service centres like Eden, the future of the disabled persons will be in good hands. They will be taught to take care of themselves. They will be taught to appreciate the environment by recycling. They will be taught to do simple housechores. And they will be taught to undertake simple tasks and they will eventually be able to get a job. Now, isn’t a life like this more meaningful?

Come on, make that pledge now. You can make a difference, so why don’t you?

P/S: We need more sponsors! All proceeds will go to Eden Handicap Service Centre. Click here to pledge.