Blind Leading the Blind walk organised by MAB and Lions Club of Petaling Jaya in Brickfields. — Photos: IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
Members of the public learned to empathise with the visually impaired community at the 14th Blind Leading the Blind (BLB) charity walk that kicked off at MAB Complex in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.
The 2.5km-walk, jointly organised by Lions Club of Petaling Jaya and Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB), was aimed at raising funds for Lions Club of Petaling Jaya’s vision care projects.
Mikhalai School of Destiny student Roulina Kallai, 15, said she was now more concerned about the visually impaired community.
“I was blindfolded, and my partner led me throughout the walk.
“Now I understand their hardship,” she said, adding that she felt insecure having to navigate in darkness.
Participants were required to walk in pairs, with one sighted person accompanying another who was either visually impaired or blindfolded.
The sighted ones learned to lead the visually impaired folk, while the blindfolded ones experienced the navigation difficulties faced by the community.
The charity walk involves the visually challenged as well as participants who are blindfolded.
Another participant, Preakshalaghan Alaghan, 48, was happy to gain a “brand new experience” in interacting with the visually impaired.
Event organising chairman Ronnie Wong said BLB 2023 had around 300 participants, about 100 of whom were visually impaired.
“This is actually way below of our target of 1,000 participants.
“The participation was low because some schools were unable to send their delegations, which they did in the past, due to the current examination period,” he told StarMetro.
Wong said the charity walk had so far raised about RM20,000, far short of its RM300,000 target.
“Most corporations would have exhausted their funds for corporate social responsibility initiatives towards the end of the year. Therefore, they could not donate much to us,” he said.
“Nevertheless, I am still satisfied with the event’s outcome, especially when almost one-third of participants are from the visually impaired community.”
He added that the donation channels were still open until March 10, 2024.
Those wishing to donate can do so via bank transfer to Lions Club of Petaling Jaya (CIMB: 8009372316) with “Lions Club of Petaling Jaya” as the recipient.
Those wanting to donate more than RM500 can transfer the money to a separate account (CIMB: 8003566383), with the recipient being “Petaling Jaya Lions Charity Foundation.”
A tax exemption receipt will be issued to donors giving more than RM500.
Then Communications and Digital minister Fahmi Fadzil launched the charity walk and flagged off the participants.
In his speech, Fahmi said the BLB charity walk could shed light on the visually impaired community who was “often overlooked”.
“Besides raising funds, I hope this event will remind us not to leave anyone behind,” he said.
Fahmi suggested BLB 2024 be organised in Putrajaya so that the government could provide more support.
Also present were MAB president Tan Sri Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar, Lions District 308 B2 governor Alan Thoo Sia Kit, MAB deputy president Datin Fauziah Mohd Ramly, chief executive officer Datuk George Thomas and council members.
