Autism shop's hope of regular income
By Ubaidillah Masli

Bandar Seri Begawan - In keeping with World Autism Awareness Day, the Smarter Autism Shop was officially opened yesterday by the Minister of Communications and the chairman of the board of directors of Yayasan, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Dr Hj Abu Bakar Hj Apong.

"We hope this shop will give us financial stability in the form of a regular income," said Malai Hj Abdullah Malai Hj Othman, the president of Smarter Brunei during his speech at the reception held at the Brunei Hotel after the opening ceremony of the shop.

"The Smarter Autism Shop was the result of the contribution from Yayasan of $10,000 as seed money to start a business," said Malai Hj Abdullah.

He was grateful for the donations made by Yayasan and other individuals, but the president urged the contributors to continue their support towards Smarter, adding that Smarter was utilising the money raised to develop and upgrade the programmes which provided assistance to the children and the families, affected by autism.

"(The money will) enable us to at least get the service of psychologists and speech therapists on a locum basis," the president of Smarter said.

The Smarter Autism Shop, located in the Wisma Jaya building in Bandar, had been opened on February 23. The store, which has a "charity sale" concept, sold items such as clothing, books, magazines and electronic devices.

These goods were donated by members of the public, including associates of Smarter Brunei. Malai Hj Abdullah urged the public to donate items that could still be used to the shop which was open everyday from 8am to 7pm.

Malai Hj Abdullah also announced the coming of the Annual Smarter Challenge on April 27. This year's challenge will be to climb seven hills around Bandar Seri Begawan.

Aside from raising funds, the event also aims to raise awareness of autism. The seven hills represented the challenges families affected by autism have to face during the seven days of the week.

These challenges need to be overcome everyday ... (as autism) is a lifelong process. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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