Monday May 13, 2013
Paying tribute to mum Mothers showered with attention on their special day
By DERRICK VINESH, JOSEPHINE JALLEH and KIATISAK CHUA
north@thestar.com.my
Photos by CHIN CHENG YEANG, ASRI ABDUL GHANI and LIM BENG TATT
A mother's pride and joy: LPPKN and Penang Women Development DEpartment staff (in purple) admiring three-month-old Muhammad Harith with his mother Siti Sarah Ilyani, 28 (earing chequered tudung)during a Mother's Day walkabout in Seberang Jaya. SOME 300 mothers shopping at a mall in Penang were pleasantly surprised when they were each given a cupcake as a gesture of appreciation for Mother’s Day.
The mothers were randomly picked at the mall by some 20 employees of the Penang National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) and Penang Women Development Department.
Penang LPPKN medical officer Dr Azura Abdullah said the programme to distribute cupcakes was an initiative by both bodies which came under the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.
Floral tribute: Lau (in red) and Teh (in yellow) distributing daisies to the female patrons at Cecil Street Market. She said similar programmes were simultaneously carried out in every other state, including Sabah and Sarawak where some mothers were given roses instead of cupcakes.
“Many of the mothers were initially shocked when we presented them with the cupcakes but their faces soon lit up with smiles.
“We ordered the cupcakes from a single mother who runs a small-scale bakery to make ends meet,” she said when met during the cupcake distribution at Tesco Extra Seberang Jaya yesterday.
She said the programme’s objective was also in tandem with the ministry’s theme ‘Respect Women’ which was aimed at improving the role of women, including mothers, to a higher level in society.
Dr Azura said the employees also took the opportunity to encourage women to undergo subsidised pap smear tests by registering with the Penang LPPKN’s Klinik Nur Sejahtera in Kepala Batas, Seberang Jaya and Burma Road, George Town.
“Upon receiving a referral letter from our LPPKN office, the applicants can visit any of the participating six private hospitals and two clinical centres to have their pap smear tests done.
“The pap smear test is offered for free to those with a household income of below RM5,000, while those with a household in-come of above RM5,000 need pay only RM50, instead of the actual cost of RM100,” she said.
The test is available at Penang Adventist Hospital, Gleneagles Medical Centre, Lam Wah Ee Hospital, LohGuanLye Hospital, Mount Miriam Hospital, KPJ Medical Centre Bukit Mertajam, Pusat Wanita Toh Puan Datin Khadijah in Komtar and Pusat Diagnotik Anda at the LPPKN headquarters, Kepala Batas.
For further details, contact Penang LPPKN office at 04-5780577 or Dr Haniza at 012-4800032.
Over at the Silver Jubilee Home for the Aged, old folk there were feted with a sumptuous lunch and enjoyed entertainment for Mother’s Day.
The event was organised by the Malaysian Red Crescent Society’s Voluntary Aid Detach-ment 21 unit.
Unit commander Alex Lim said the event was part of the society’s annual charity work and it was coincidental that this year, it fell on Mother’s Day.
Lim said the home’s residents were treated to an eight-course lunch.
He said they also gave another group of old folk from the Relau Rumah Charis a treat.
Silver Jubilee Home’s finance officer Lam Tat Chor said the event brought some joy to the residents because some of them felt lonely.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, accompanied by Bagan Jermal assemblyman Lim Hock Seng and Sungai Puyu assemblyman Phee Boon Poh, also distributed carnations to mothers at the Apollo Market yesterday.
Meanwhile, 100 people participated in the ‘Mummy and Me’ Photo Moment event at Queensbay Mall yesterday.
Among them were Lim Poh Kooi, 57, and her two daughters Teoh Chin Ying, 29, and Chin Hong, 31.
The event, held in conjunction with Mother’s Day, aimed to get 100 mothers and their children to pose for pictures after which the mall would donate RM2,000 to the Women’s Centre for Change.
Associate graphic designer Tan Cheng Cheng, 26, her sister Cheng Siew, 23, and their mother Jenny Saw, 59, were out for a Mother’s Day lunch at the mall when they chanced upon the event.
“We wanted to take a picture together to make this a memorable day,” Cheng Cheng said, adding that her mother was a selfless person.
Meanwhile, Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Lau Keng Ee and Komtar assemblyman Teh Lai Heng distributed 1,000 gerbera daisies to several mothers at the Cecil Street Market yesterday.
- Day-care centre Tasputra Perkim in a bind
- MPSJ takes action on illegal outlets
- A taste of pure luxury
- Insurance agent dies in 18-storey fall
- A colourful story of perseverance
- Fundraiser in support of leukaemia patients
- Barca to hold training camp for Malaysian kids
- Flying 41,000km in 50 days
- A sight to behold
- Celebrities join the media and bloggers in Mother’s Day cooking competition
- Tug-of-war with queenfish Despite the myth, this species is a popular game fish among anglers
- Romancing nature’s wild side Kiwi lensman hopes to raise awareness on vanishing habitats
- Another narrow defeat for Kedah President Cup contenders go down 0-1 to TMI again in second encounter
- ‘Person of interest’ held Cops get big break in Customs deputy D-G’s murder case
- A colourful story of perseverance
- Insurance agent dies in 18-storey fall
- A fashion for giving Celebs parade down catwalk for a good cause
- Cousins keen to join walk
- Turning the spotlight on mum Local celebrities share their plans for Mother’s Day
- Special tribute to young voters Kit Siang and Guan Eng receive applause from sea of supporters
RSS
