OFFICIAL VISIT TO ST. NICHOLAS HOME
SPEECH BY CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG
AT THE OFFICIAL VISIT TO ST. NICHOLAS HOME
22 APRIL 2019
YB Wong Hon Wai
MP for Bukit Bendera
Mr Kaliyappan a/l P. Renganathan
MBPP Councillor
The Rt. Rev. Dato Charles Samuel
Chairman of the Board of Directors, St Nicholas’ Home, Penang
Ms Doris Teh
Acting Executive Director of St Nicholas’ Home
Trustees and Members of the Board of Directors and Committee Members of St Nicholas’ Home
Staff, trainees, volunteers and residents of St Nicholas’ Home
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning to all of you.
I am so glad to be here today for this visit at St. Nicholas’ Home and to witness personally the tireless and commendable effort by the management in making meaningful changes to the lives of the visually impaired.
Since 1926, every drop of blood and sweat of those who managed the Home have been directed to the realization of the motto – We walk by Faith, not by Sight – and it’s definitely not an easy 93-year journey. Many of those who are visually impaired are leading meaningful lives today – lives which are independent, self-reliant and purpose-driven due to the learning process and the range of services which they obtained and went through right under the roof of this home, St. Nicholas’. For that, I can say it’s one meaningful journey lasting 93 years and still counting.
When I looked through the list of services available in St. Nicholas, I was personally drawn to the Senior Citizens Home and the Arts, Culture & Music Programme both of which serve to provide or to include a holistic approach in the care of the inmates of the home who could be as young as 2 years old, 18 and senior citizens above 60. Here, we are not talking about a home which simply equip visually-impaired people with the basic skills to survive on their own in society and that’s it. But more importantly, efforts are made to enrich their lives in areas that suit their interests and finally, allowing them to live with dignity in their twilight years.
All of these suggests that St. Nicholas’ Home blends in well with what I have envisaged to be the future of Penang. The realization of a Penang in the coming 11 years where liveability is increased to enhance quality of life by strategic initiatives especially by enhancing our welfare and care system and the diversification of recreation, in the case for St Nicholas’ Home, facilities for arts and culture. It goes without saying that St. Nicholas’ Home (SNH) and the current Penang state government share the same wavelength and the only difference is our target audience. SNH for the visually-impaired and my state government for the people of Penang. But what is certain is this: it is evident that nobody is left out in the objectives and goals of Penang2030, whether blind or otherwise.
Another aspect which I think deserves to be mentioned here is the Visually Impaired Indoor Navigation (ViNV) system which truly caught my attention. I was made to understand that it is a recent initiative by the Home and it is an indoor navigation tool to help the visually-impaired to find their way more easily within the confines of a building. This innovative technology uses one’s smartphone within a building with beacons installed to guide him or her to the desired location. Again, this mirrors the early stage of integration of municipal services with smart technologies in which the state will invest in built environment to improve resilience as spelt out under Penang2030 vision.
Today’s visit has been an eye-opener for both St. Nicholas’ Home and the Penang State Government. I believe with the rich experience and forward-looking initiatives of the home and together with what’s envisioned by the state government for Penang in the coming years not to mention the goodwill and good intentions of both parties, future collaboration is not impossible as long as the greatest beneficiaries are none other than the people of Penang.
And with this, I thank all of you who have made my visit to St Nicholas’ a meaningful one.
Thank you.