AS at March 2017, there were more than 420,200 people with disabilities (OKU) registered with the Social Welfare Department.

The definition of OKU includes the physically, mentally, intellectually or emotionally disabled.

In Selangor, the Bangi Industrial Training and Rehabilitation Training Centre run by the Social Welfare Department offers the disabled vocational training and medical rehabilitation.

Its main task and objective are to empower members with disabilities with vocational training and offer medical rehabilitation to help them recover skills lost because of accidents.

The goal is to make members self-reliant, prevent a disability from worsening, providing a service centre for referral and training resources for medical students, dentists, prosthetic and orthopaedic technicians and other staff in need, be a reference point for conducting studies related to the disabled.

Each student-trainee is given an RM150 allowance with free accommodation and meal.

One of the most important departments in the rehab centre is the prosthetic and orthotic unit set up in 1984. This unit has about six students/trainees who work under the guidance of head teacher Badrul Hisham Munir, 47, and teacher Zahir Abdul Hamid, 50.

The six come from different backgrounds. Ashraf Badrin, 22, from Malacca, has been with the unit for five months and has learning disabilities (LD).

Mohd Fazli, 23, from Seremban, met with an accident in 2011 and is amputated below the knee (BK). He joined the unit in 2018 to develop his skills and knowledge.

Amirul Rashid Ishak, 20, from Johor also is also a BK amputee after an accident in Senggarang. Isaac Peter, 20, from Subang Jaya has LD and joined the unit six months ago.

Mohd Amar Mohd Malik, 25, from Klang with LD is in his final year. Mohd Ajwad Mohd Fadzil, 26, from Sg Buloh has physical disabilities and uses a wheelchair to move around. He joined the unit a year ago.

The unit only admits OKU students with physical disabilities (leg) and LD, who must pass a number of tests.

Badrul has almost 20 years’ experience in the field.

“At this unit, our main responsibility is to make sure that the students can be independent and can find a job in the related field after completed their training. But it still depends on the student whether they want to challenge themselves despite the obstacles,” he says.

“We want to prepare them for the real world. We want public and private companies to hire them so they can make a living.” 

So far, the unit has produced about 40 trainees and 35 are working with private companies in the same sector and some with the manufacturing sectors. – December 19, 2019.