JARO celebrates Chinese New Year

Johor Area Rehabilitation Organisation (JARO) committee and staff members, volunteers and well-wishers enjoyed a sumptuous lunch treat at the New York Hotel Johor Baru recently to celebrate Chinese New Year.

JARO chairman, Datuk Jimmy Low, presenting ang pau
to the JARO staff at the Chinese New Year lunch

Jaro celebrates Chinese New Year, along with Hari Raya Aidil Fitri and Christmas, every year with its staff, who are artisans with disabilities.

Founded in 1952 as a rehabilitation centre for TB patients, JARO has evolved into an established charity with a sheltered workshop where people with disability are trained and employed in the book-binding, basketry and tailoring sections.  Their products are sold in a gift shop run by JARO.

JARO is proud that their book-binding section continues to receive job orders not only from local customers but also from an international clientele who appreciate the fine quality of their work.

Datuk Jimmy Low sharing a light moment with JARO
staff in the basketry section, Khairuddin Ong Abdullah

“JARO has been able to train and provide employment to our disabled staff for the past 64 years through the support of generous donors and sponsors,” said JARO chairman, Datuk Jimmy Low Boon Hong as he expressed his appreciation for their loyal support and generosity.

“I hope your support will continue in the coming years and wish to encourage corporations to consider offering employment to people with disability,” he added.

He also thanked the hotel management for their kind sponsorship of the Chinese New Year lunch with JARO staff.

Low, who has been JARO chairman for more than ten years, leads a committee of socially conscious aprofessionals to manage the charity which also has a gift shop that sells quality handicrafts.

Chairman of JB Tiong Hua Association, Dato Seri Tey
Kim Chai [Left] and members of the youth wing [Right]
presenting their donation cheque to Datuk Jimmy Low

Low said Think City, a community-based urban regeneration body and subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, was studying JARO so that the sheltered workshop could be upgraded to offer a better working environment to its staff and more employment opportunities to the disabled.

Also present at the event were Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association and Chinese clan associations representatives, as well as friends of JARO such as Helen Lim of Fizzio Health, who distributed ang pau or red packets to JARO staff.

JARO also received donations of RM1,500 from Holiday Plaza management and RM15,233 raised in a charity event organised by the youth wing of the JB Tiong Hua Association last November.

JARO is run on an annual government grant and public donations, the bulk of which goes towards staff salaries and operation costs.

To make a tax-exempt donation email: jarokraf@hotmail.com or visit JARO at Jalan Sungai Chat, JB.  It is open Sunday to Thursday from 8am to 5pm daily.

A version of this was published in The Malaysian Insider on 18 February 2016