| James Kon |
ABDUL Suwari bin Haji Za’abar suffered from hearing impairment when he was just three months. Despite his disability, the 20-year-old managed to pursue Design and Drafting at the Institute of Brunei Technical Education.
Chasing after his dream of becoming an architect, Abdul Suwari received assistance in a form of hearing aid yesterday at the presentation ceremony under Hear Better Services Company‘s ‘Better Hearing, Better Living’ Charity Project: Raising funds to support hearing-impaired school children.
The ceremony took place at the Swensen’s Café and Restaurant, Sengkurong.
The guest of honour Cikgu Haji Ali Yusri bin Haji Abdul Ghafor, Acting Head, Special Education Unit, Ministry of Education presented the hearing aids to eight students from primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.
The other recipients were Nurul Aqilah binti Abu Bakar, Wan Ahmad Murbarak bin Hasmali, Mohd Faiz Azizi bin Abdullah Muhammad Ali Dzulfikri, Norasheken binti Tumos, Mohd Irfan Muhtadi bin Rudy Effendi, Ahmed Bakhtiar bin Abdul Rahman Ratino Azrudy and Nur Batrisyia Basirah binti Mohammad Hatta.
This is the fifth year that the company organised the charity project to provide hearing aids to hearing-impaired children in Brunei Darussalam.
The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project is also supported by the Special Education Unit, Ministry of Education and funds are raised through charity bazaars and corporate sponsorships.
The Corporate Sponsors are DST, Huawei Technologies (B) Sdn Bhd, PAR Corporation Sdn Bhd and Hear Better Services Company.
Abdul Suwari in an interview said that with the hearing aid, he will be able to listen and understand what the teacher said in the classroom. He also thanked Hear Better Services Company and the corporate sponsors for the sponsorship.
Noorafzah binti Ahmad, the General Manager of Hear Better Services Company in her opening remark said, “Communication is vital for learning and hearing aids will help the child learn to hear and socialise in school or family setting. Let’s not take this for granted.”
With early intervention and the right support at home, at school and hearing centre, she said, “We would like to see these students develop into productive and self-reliant citizens of Brunei Darussalam.
“We have helped 36 students. One hearing aid costs more than two high-spec smartphones and recipients usually wears two hearing aids. We are grateful for the support of the community to help Hear Better Services company raise funds,” she added.
She also said that there is a growing public awareness about the challenges faced by the hearing-impaired community since the project first started in 2013.
Following the success of the first hearing awareness exhibition last year, she revealed, “We plan to organise another exhibition alongside our charity bazaar in early next year and we look forward to the participation of all relevant government agencies, corporate bodies as well as non-governmental organisations”.
“We look forward to hold another art workshop for hearing-impaired students with the cooperation of the special education unit and the rainforest gallery soon. We hope to exhibit their works at an art exhibition at next year’s annual charity bazaar,” she added.
By end of this year, the company is targeting to fit four more students with hearing aids under this CSR project.
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