Thursday, November 25, 2010

SMARTER Invites Public To Attend Open Day & Charity Bazaar

SMARTER Brunei is inviting the public to come to the Open Day & Charity Bazaar this Sunday, November 28 at ASD (SMARTER) Centre, Sengkurong. The event will be held from 8am till 6pm.

SMARTER will be making it slightly different compared to its past events. Apart from raising money for a charitable cause, its primary goal is to create a platform to increase public awareness about autism as well as the activities conducted by SMARTER.

Hj Yusof Thani, one of the founders of SMARTER Brunei and chairman of the upcoming Open Day & Charity Bazaar, said the bazaar this Sunday would be more than just a fund-raising event.

"All this while, individuals and organisations have continued to provide us with donations and held charity events for us, but they don't really know what we did with the contributions," he said.

"The event on Sunday will provide an opportunity for the public to know what we do with the donations and why we need more funding in order to establish a dedicated centre for autistic people (PWAs)," he stated.

"That is our primary goal this time, not just to raise funds. I think it is about time we did this," he added.

"During the event, the public can join the many activities and at the same time, learn about SMARTER Brunei."

Members of the public can rent a table for $50 to set up their booth. According to Hj Yusof Thani, there are 30 tables altogether and 80 per cent of the tables have already been booked.

Colouring competition, treasure hunt, F 1 simulator race, "teh tarik" making contest and ambuyat making competition are some of the activities that will be organised at the event.
Coupons worth $5 and $1 will be sold in order to purchase the items at the bazaar.

The event will also showcase calligraphy art and photography services.

All proceeds from the bazaar will go towards sustaining the SMARTER Brunei.

Recently, SMARTER has become a model for other centres who care for autistic individuals across the globe.

In the words of Mr Akiie Ninomiya, Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Development Centre on Disability (APCD) Foundation in a recent interview with the Bulletin said, "SMARTER is currently using equipment accumulated mainly from donations. I think a lot of other autistic centres in the region could learn from Malai Hj Abdullah. Japan and Canada took some 30 years to get where they are today and their equipment is modern and specialised, while the facilities are very expensive. At SMARTER, they use inexpensive equipment to deliver a top-notch curriculum."

He said he had never seen anything like SMARTER Brunei, and it could be a pioneering autism centre in the region and should be used as an example.

SMARTER Brunei was recently in some financial difficulties in sustaining its current and growing activities. They are also facing challenges in attaining the new building, which was completed a long time ago.

The new building was built to meet the increasing number of autistic individuals, SMARTER Brunei told the Bulletin. - Borneo Bulletin



LANEIGE Brunei Darussalam is organizing a Broadway Musical Charity competition with the support from Ministry of Education and various generous sponsors. There are 11 secondary schools students to participate this charity competition by performing musical plays on stage 28 November.

The main objectives of organizing this charity competition within government and non-government schools, raise awareness from public to look after particularly youths especially for those are less fortunate. Fund raising will be collected from entrance tickets and will be donated to charity organization: SMARTER Brunei.

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