By Nurul Haziqah Abdul Halim & Abd Razak Hussin
Pix Ikhwan Hashim

KAJANG, 21 Apr 2014 – A visit by 45 students from the School of Psychology and Human Development (PPPPM), Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of The National University of  Malaysia (UKM) to the Al-Fikrah Care Centre in Sungai Sekamat here recently had brought cheer to the inmates.

The visit has also raised awareness and consciousness among the students on the importance of managing senior citizens especially the helpless and abandoned.

The care centre which houses nearly 60 residents is managed by a non-governmental organisation chaired by Haji Azmi Md Zain with the help of a handful of volunteers. It receives financial assistance from the government and contributions from some organisations, the public and individuals. It needs about RM30,000 a month to run.

Azmi said managing the elderly especially those with different backgrounds and cultures is not easy. They are mostly single parents, the disabled and those abandoned some with health problems needing regular treatments.

Prof Dr Rohany Nasir, from PPPPM who led the visit hopes the programme can create awareness among students about care for the elderly and enabled them to practice what they learnt in class on psychology. The visit, she said, had brought joy to the elderlies there, some of whom had been left on their own.

The students had also tidied up their rooms and helped to cook lunch for the residents.

Azmi said though quite a number of the seniors still have children, some from large families with eight to 10 children they still ended up at the centre.

The Al-Fikrah Care Centre hopes Malaysians will continue to support and provide contributions to such care centres and be volunteers to help run and maintain them.

Haji Azmi also called on children and relatives of the residents to visit them while also helping in giving care and attention while also fulfilling their duties and responsibilities as family members.