SIBU, April 1: The Sibu Autism Association (SAA) needs financial support from the Sarawak and the Federal governments to build a home for adults with autism.
Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Dudong branch chief Wong Ching Yong said such homes are available in overseas countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia.
“The biggest challenge for SAA and parents is to source funding to build a home for adults with autism.
“Adults with autism need a home to live in because it is highly unlikely that their siblings will forever look after them after their parents have passed on.
“After the parents have passed away, children or adults with autism, without a proper home with professional care, will face an extremely challenging and daunting life ahead,” said Wong, one of the founders of SAA in 2000, in a statement today.
Today, he is working closely with SAA to seek funds to build a home for adults with autism.
He said in 2000, SAA started with two teachers and three students in a semi-detached house at Lane 15, Brooke Drive.
There was hardly any fund, but in 2001, Wong and others managed to raise RM150,000 by organising a classical singing performance at Westley Methodist Church situated at Jalan Lily Sibu.
With the help of the late Dr Wong Soon Kai, the then Prime Minister cum Minister of Finance, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, granted tax exemption for donations to SAA in 2002, he added.
He urged parents to continue discovering the talents of children with autism who can become geniuses in arts, music, and science.
“Stephen Wiltshire, an artist from the UK, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, could memorise the appearance and position of hundreds of London’s buildings in exact scale during a helicopter ride along the Thames, Singapore River, and the Hudson River, New York City. We may have another Stephen Wiltshire in SAA,” said Wong. — DayakDaily
