Year End Bonus

Many of us right now at this time of year will think of getting a fat or not so fat bonus from our employers. Sometimes it is hard to even think about it as we might get a very disappointing bonus amount especially at these economic trying times.

Well for us at APOH, we are really thankful to all ultimate supportive donors out there that has given a very very fat ‘bonus’ to Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat (PKKIHL). This ‘bonus’ came in a form of an over the top unexpected donations received for APOH 2011 Chapter 5. Look below at the mock cheque amount imprinted…

YES you are right! The final total donation amount received is RM220,987.69. What an astonishing satisfaction for PKKIHL when they saw this amount in their bank account as at 30^th November 2011. This has made their building fund raising effort easier as they can settle their loans earlier with this amount received.

As for us at APOH, we are indeed humbled by the support given by ALL donors this year in order to achieve this amount. This has given us more ‘juice’ to continue our efforts next year for APOH 2012 Chapter 6. The success of APOH each year can not only be attributed to the committee members but also to YOU donors which has made a little ‘piece’ difference in the lives of these underprivileged children.

Cheers and a very Happy New Year to all!

Photos courtesy of Mr. Mok JS

The Ultimate 'Mountain' has been CONQUERED

A great news to all!

PKKI president has just informed me that they have reached

RM 203,391

in donations collection. An early surprise for them as well as for us. In merely 4 1/2 months of our donation drive, our target of RM 200,000 have been fulfilled. This is our largest donation collected so far out of our 5 years A Piece Hope Hope Mt. Kinabalu charity climb.

Thanks to all of our generous donors and a special BIG THANK YOU to Mr. Foo Jong Wee for his unwavering support and assistance in being the main 'pusher' for donations.

We still got until year end before formal closure of our APOH 2011 donation drive. If you are still soliciting donations, please don't stop there just because we have reached our target. Carry on.....

Thank you.

A Piece Of Hope CHAPTER 6 : 2012 is now OPEN for booking

We are pleased to announce that A Piece Of Hope (APOH) CHAPTER 6 : 2012 is now OPEN for booking until 31^st December 2011.

The charity climb will happen from 14 – 18 July 2012. This time we are also allocating 200 pax. The cost per person is RM1,000 (including RM200 compulsory donation to NGO). Air ticket is not included as this you have to buy on your own. Whoever is interested, please follow the steps below:

1. Email to Jimmy Lim at jimmylim@malton.com.my
2. Once got firm reply, please proceed to buy your air ticket arriving Kota Kinabalu airport on 14^th July 2012 on or before 11.15am (Please ensure that you adhere to this time as this is our bus pick-up times. If you arrive after 11.15am, you will have to arrange your own transport to Kinabalu Park).
3. Next, proceed to bank-in non-refundable deposit of RM300 to Jimmy Lim’s bank account. Please download the ‘Climb Booking Form 2012’ to get Jimmy Lim’s bank account details (link to download this form is on the right hand side of this page).
4. After you have done the above, please email to Jimmy Lim:

a) copy of air ticket itinerary

b) copy of non-refundable deposit bank-in slip

c) fully completed ‘Climb Booking Form 2012’

5. Once we have received all of the above, your booking is CONFIRMED.

(FYI, Jimmy Lim is our climb coordinator head whom have been organizing this since 2000)

Below are some FAQs to facilitate your understanding of this charity climb.

Q1) What is the brief itinerary for A Piece Of Hope (APOH) CHAPTER 6 : 2012?

A1) Day 1 (14^th July) – fly into KK, bus to Kinabalu Park, stay Kinabalu Park;

Day 2 (15^th July) – trek up Mt K, stay at Laban Rata;

Day 3 (16^th July) – trek up to summit and trek down to Kinabalu Park, stay at Zen Resort Kundasang;

Day 4 (17^th July) – bus to KK, stay at Sutera Harbour;

Day 5 (18^th July) – fly back home.

Q2) Can I fly into KK a day earlier, say on the 13^th July and get onto the bus transfer to Kinabalu Park on 14^th July?

A2) Yes you can fly into KK a day or two earlier. The extra hotel stays earlier will not be covered in the RM1,000 and you have to arrange these on your own. Please meet the bus transfer at One Borneo at 12.30pm on 14^th July.

Q3) I am flying MAS and it lands in Terminal 1 KK airport. Do your bus pick up there?

A3) Our bus transfer picks up at Terminal 1 & 2 from 9.30 – 11.30am. If you missed the bus, you might have to take a taxi to One Borneo to meet us.

Q4) Whom shall I contact when I touch down at KK airport to go to the bus transfer?

A4) You can contact Ryan Chong at 019-8628688 or Jimmy Lim at 012-2020511.

Q5) I don’t want to stay at Sutera Harbour. Can I get a discount since I don’t stay at Sutera Harbour? Can I book my flight out from KK on 17^th July then?

A5) The cost of the climb is fixed at RM1,000 even if you choose not to stay at Sutera Harbour. We book everything in a massive group of 200pax, so we don’t cater for special personal request like this (even tour agents don’t cater to this).

Q6) I heard that for the past 2 years, the climb group has been divided up into two. Can you explain this?

A6) Since 2010, we have massive groups of between 150 – 200pax. Mt Kinabalu can only cater up to 146 climbers at any one time due to constraints of accommodation at Laban Rata. So we have to divide the climb into two groups. Next year, the 1^st group of 100 climbers will start their climb on Day 2 (come down Mt K on Day 3) and 2^nd group of 100 climbers will start climb on Day 3 (come down Mt K on Day 4). We will ascertain based on committee’s discretion who goes into which group when we have the finalized list of climbers. We are sorry that you can’t choose the days.

Q7) My children wants to climb also, so how much do they pay?

A7) Children age 12 and below pays RM800 (they are exempted from paying the non-refundable deposit). If they do not climb but just want to tag along for the trip, they still pay RM800. Children age 6 and below are free.

Q8) My mom wants to come along with me but do not want to climb, how much does she pays?

A8) Non-climbers from age of 13 – 99 pays the same as climbers which is RM1,000 (non-climbers have to pay the RM300 non-refundable deposit also).

Q9) If I pull out after paying the RM300 non-refundable deposit, where does this money go?

A9) The RM300 will go to the children NGO that we will adopt next year to raise fund for.

Q10) Do I need to raise a certain amount of money for this charity climb?

A10) No, you don’t have to but we RECOMMEND that you participate in this noble cause to help raise funds for the children NGOs. Just imagine, if all 200 climbers raise RM1,000 each, the NGO would have RM200,000! Approximately in early June 2012, please check our website for the official donation letter and form to help you collect donations.

Please be reminded that we are no tour agent. We are just a ‘bunch of crazy’ Mt. Kinabalu climbing enthusiast whom have found a way to help charitable children NGOs every year since 2007. We do not take a CENT out of this event as a profit. In fact, all committee members pay the same climbing cost. We are all into this to raise funds for charitable children NGOs and so far we have helped raise closed to RM750,000 since 2007.

Have a great day and hope to see you in APOH 2012!

(click on this link to download this post)

We are getting there

This is an update for those who are following the total donation amount collected so far by Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat (PKKI). As of end August, the bank statement shows:

If you haven't got your calculator with you, we are only shy of RM 19,165.00. Most of the donations are from corporate sector in which to show that our corporate people are a generous lot. In today's (27th September 2011) Star newspaper, we can see that also happening as a Community Chest (CC) was setup by business tycoons of Malaysia to help vernacular and mission schools. These schools can apply for funding from the CC if they ever need to.

Our donation collection period has still until the year end to reach the targeted RM 200,000. It is a mountain yet to be conquered but is possible!

The 7 distress events that painted our 7 rainbow colours of the climb

Rainbows are usually acquainted with happy moments. You might see photos of jovial children playing in an open field amidst a huge rainbow in the background. In our case, it was 7 distress events that were dancing amidst a colourful rainbow. I will explain these events later in my blog.

This year we had 200 registered climbers but only 192 made the climb and it is our biggest group ever! We had to break the group into 2 days climb like last year. Day 1, 10^th July, 100 climbers and Day 2, 11^th July, 92 climbers. Apart from climbers there were also non-climbers who tagged along just for the fun of it and they numbered approximately 20. To transfer the groups from KK airport to Kinabalu Park, we had to hire 5 buses.

This year we had a corporate product sponsor, Fusion Excel. They contributed products for sale in which all proceed goes to Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat. There were also lucky draw prizes for climbers. Demonstration of these products were conducted by Mr. Willy Toh of Fusion Excel which got many climbers excited and awe. A rough indication of total product sales was told to me as amounting to RM19,000. Wow! A good job well done by Fusion Excel.

Unlike previous years, the climb up Mt. Kinabalu this year was exceptionally blessed with tremendously good weather. The sky was clear, wind conditions were mild and rain hold its bank till late in the afternoon for 3 days of the climb. Our 192 climbers with various fitness level, age and race could not have asked for anything more.

Now here is the interesting part of my blog in which I will detail it out the major distress events that happened using the 7 colours of the rainbow:

1. RED: Jimmy and committee members AirAsia flight got delayed 3 hours in KL due to airplane’s technical fault. They were promised free lunch upon landing (hooray!) but later got only Tiger biscuit and a pack of drink (what a cheapskate!).
2. ORANGE: Zen Resort had a landslide recently rendering some of the units unusable and some collapsed. This caused the 2^nd batch climbers to be housed in 3 separate hotels in Kundasang, namely Zen Resort, Kinabalu Pine Resorts and Perkasa Hotel. It was a long day for them as some of them had to checked-in as late as 10pm.
3. YELLOW: In the 1^st day climb, a man climber misunderstood instructions and used Mesilau route to climb down Mt. Kinabalu. This is the 1^st time in 12 years of our climb that this grave mistake happened.
4. GREEN: In the 1^st day climb, a senior couple and their friend, all from Singapore, arrived at Timpohon gate almost midnight. This is the ‘super’ latest on our record however they reached the peak!
5. BLUE: In the 2^nd day climb, a man climber had his leg muscles severely stressed and thus injured it got to be brought down to Timpohon gate by stretcher which cost him RM1,300.
6. INDIGO: In the 2^nd day climb, a lady climber in the midst of rush forgotten to collect her baggage at Kinabalu Park which she was to collect upon coming down Mt. Kinabalu. Ryan (Zen Resort boss) then had it arranged to send to her the next day.
7. VIOLET: One of the committee members left his bag in KK airport. He flew back to KL without that bag. The fate of the bag is uncertain.

VITAL STATISTICS:

Total no. of climbers: 192

Timpohon climbers: 55 (day 1) + 56 (day 2) = 111

Mesilau climbers: 45 (day 1) + 36 (day 2) = 81

Percentage of climbers that reached summit: 75%

Earliest time reached summit: 4.27am

Latest time reached summit: approx. 8.30am

Total donation collected (as of 25^th July): approx. RM70,000

2nd newspaper article

New Straits Times has carried our news on 1st July 2011. You can read this article on our website @ www.apieceofhope.blogspot.com. Just look to the right of the main page and scroll down until you find it. Click on it to enlarge and download.

We will keep you posted on more press coverage in time to come.

As of today, total donation collected in PKKI’s bank account is RM20,100. So, lets all push harder to solicit as much donation as possible.

How to reach Mt. Kinabalu summit effortlessly

Ever wondered how you could increase your stamina or strength or even get that nasty pain in the knee or back to heal quickly without taking any medication or rub any ointment?

Well, here is your answer. Rexy Mainaky (World Champion Olympic Badminton Gold Medalist) is a testament to this unique product. Read an excerpt of his experience below:

FusionExcel's Quantum Pendant has helped me with my job as the Malaysian National Badminton Doubles Coach. After I wore FusionExcel's Quantum Pendant for a week I can feel the difference. I wasn't feeling tired and fatigue at all when I sparred with my players. Usually I can only play 1 set but now I can play 3 or 4 sets without rest! I feel more energetic. A week before the 2008 Beijing Olympics I hurt my calf muscle. After wearing FusionExcel's Quantum Bracelet and drinking the charged water from FusionExcel's Quantum flask, the pain was gone in 2 days when usually it would take longer! I highly recommend everyone to use FusionExcel's Quantum Science products. It worked for me and I am sure it would work for you as well!
(taken from FusionExcel website)

Fusion Excel has so kindly donated a lot of these products for sale during our charity climb (all proceeds will go to PKKI). These products comprises of pendants, bracelets, flask and etc. They will be sold at a very SPECIAL PRICE well below market price. So please bring some cash to buy these unique products. It’s a once in a lifetime chance to get your hands on them. REMEMBER: how much you pay for these products will all go to PKKI as donation. Staff of Fusion Excel will be with us during our climb to demonstrate and explain their products.

For more information head on to http://www.fusionexcel.com/.

1st newspaper article

China Press has carried our news today, 15th June 2011. For those who can read chinese, you can find this article on our website @ www.apieceofhope.blogspot.com. Look to the right of the main page and scroll down until you find it. Click on it to enlarge.

We will keep you posted on more press coverage.

The Show Must Go On!

Last Saturday 11^th June @ 10am, A Piece Of Hope together with PKKI held a press conference for the Mt. Kinabalu charity climb in July. It has always been an uphill battle each year when comes to inviting the press to cover our event. This year it is no difference.

Press invitations were sent out by PKKI to various newspaper companies such as Oriental Daily, Star Metro, China Press, New Straits Times, Sin Chew, etc. To our surprise this year, we had New Straits Times confirming their attendance well in advance. As the days nearing to the press conference, surprisingly no other press indicated their attendance even though attempts were made by calling them as well.

The show must go on! That was our motto with just one press coming. NST reporter Mr. Chung Hoo arrived 20 minutes before time. With all the time in hand, he had a swell time interviewing APOH committee members and PKKI’s president, Ms. Shirley Tan. He told us that he will write our article different from our press release which is mundane. In that, we can’t wait to see his ‘interesting’ article.

Our press conference started with an introduction of PKKI’s organization by Ms. Shirley Tan followed by myself with a brief background of APOH’s past efforts and role in this year’s charity climb. Following this, a mock cheque presentation to PKKI for RM10,000 was carried out for the RM50/pax amount collected from all 200 climbers. To PKKI’s surprise, Mr. Woon (one of APOH committee member) also presented a personal cheque amounting to RM5,000.

So far, a total of RM20,000 has been collected for our A Piece Of Hope Chapter 5 Mt. Kinabalu Climb. With one firmed newspaper article in the works and a few others on the way, we hope that these publicity will help in one way or another reach our targeted amount of RM200,000.

RM200,000 here we come!

Achievable or not? Yes, I think it is and will be in our means, that is if all our 200 trekkers each collect RM1,000 from their friends, colleagues and relatives. Our humble beginnings of A Piece Of Hope (APOH) charity trek started with just 66 trekkers in 2007 and now grown to 200. This is the 5th chapter and we aim to be the best and most challenging of all.

Helping the less fortunate has been the heart beat of APOH and it will always be. Without it, climbing this mountain for the 12th time expecially for Jimmy Lim (our climb organiser), will have just stopped due to no purpose. This time around Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat (PKKI) is the beneficiary of this charity trek. This is not a home but a centre that helps children with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities including cerebral palsy, hyperactivity, autism, blindness, down syndrome, global development delay, etc.

Agree with me or not, all of us got a soft spot for NGOs as they are self-reliant for their own expenses. Getting these funds in to support the running of it is tough. Even tougher is getting it on time to fund it. As they climb their 'mountain', we at APOH will climb ours. Which is easier? You can only answer it yourself.

With only 1 and 1/2 months to go before we ascend the mountain, we must utilise it wisely for maximum impact. No matter how much we can collect, may it be RM10 or RM10,000, we have at the least did something meaningful for PKKI.

An email detailing how the donation collection is to be done will be send out. In it a covering letter from PKKI and donation forms are attached as pictured above. If for any reason some of you did not receive these, please inform Jimmy or myself (apieceofhope@gmail.com) and we will gladly email you again. You can also download it by clicking the picture above.

Happy Soliciting Donation!

Recce visit to Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat (PKKI) on 30th March 2011 @ 3pm

This time of the year again has brought us to make a recce visit to a beneficiary NGO. The location of this NGO was fairly difficult to find as it is located in the older part of Taman Cuepacs Cheras. The 'A Piece Of Hope' (APOH) committee members comprising of Jimmy, Engu, Foo Weng, Tat Boon and myself (Ted), all arrived at the center between 3 to 3.30pm with some directional help of Ms. Shirley Tan (PKKI's president).

The center was setup by Mrs. Aimee Chan in 1995 with a pioneering group of parents and their children who suffers multiple disabilities. They were compelled to start their own training center due to the government schools and institutions not allowing admission to their children because of the severity of their conditions. Presently, the center help children with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities including cerebral palsy, hyperactivity, autism, blindness, down syndrome, global developmental delay, etc. The center now operates from 3 terrace houses and one of which is a corner house where main activities are conducted.

Ms. Shirley mentioned that they help children from all walks of life. The children now numbers around 90 pax and there is a growing need to expand the center's premises. She showed us that they have bought a piece of land for future development of the center. At the moment, they do not have the finances to build a building on the land. Fund raising efforts are in placed to do just that.

As a mother to a child who suffers a physical disability since birth (but since passed away in 2010), Ms. Shirley could understand and feel the needs of parents to train and equip their children to be independent. She mentioned that without this center, many parents are so helpless in bringing up their disabled child. Some of these parents who come to the center could not even afford the minimal fee. Thus, her fervent and undying passion to spearhead the center to the next level needs assistance from outsiders in terms of finances.

The visit to PKKI was a successful recce that concluded in an agreement to help them raise funds. APOH has set a monumental figure of RM200,000 as the target for this year's Mt. Kinabalu trek happening from 9 to 13 July 2011.