BY LOH FOON FONG
Founder of Koko Minda Food Industries (M) Sdn Bhd Salim Salleh.
SERDANG: Blind entrepreneur Salim Salleh was all smiles when he received a trophy, certificate of appreciation and a bouquet of flowers from the Government for providing jobs to the disabled.
While most disabled persons beg for jobs, Salim, 56, decided to be an employer.
Salim, who became blind in 2008 because of diabetes went on early retirement from the Anti-drug Agency and started a business producing cocoa drink with added herbs and fruits the following year.
He started his company Koko Minda Food Industries (M) Sdn Bhd and began mixing the products manually and produce 1,000 boxes (15 powder sachets per box) of the drink a month but now with mixer provided by the Department, he could produce 1,000 boxes a day.
“I did not expect to receive this recognition on a National and International Day of People with Disability,” said the elated Salim after the National Day of People with Disability yesterday.
He said that those with disabilities could compete with able bodied people and he hoped that his achievement would motivate others with disabilities to use their talent for the country.
Being a diabetic, Salim wanted to create something healthy for people and liked the cocoa drink, which contains high anti-oxidants.
He decided to mix cocoa with ginkgo biloba and brought it to the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) and Sirim for advice.
Mardi then advised him to add in the pegaga leaves (pennywort), dates, raisins and honey.
“I took their advice and I made the concoction and fed it to my four-year-old son and was surprised that he began to be more attentive, learned quickly, talk more and even read,” he said.
That motivated him to start developing the business with assistance provided the Human Resource Department and the Small and Medium Enterprise Corporations.
He said that when he left the Government service, he was earning RM4,000 a month but now earns RM30,000 a month, something which he did not expect.
Salim said that the Department had offered assistance to him with the agreement that he would hire other disabled people and he agreed.
He said that he pays the workers RM900 as minimum wage and more if they could be as efficient or almost as efficient as a normal bodied person.
“We pay according to their abilities and the hours they want or is able to work,” he said.
He said that the Department would be helping him order another RM500,000 mixer to increase productivity and export the products to Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Salim said that customers had told him that the nutritious drink had helped them with their health in one way or another.
A recipient on academic excellence award, wheel-chair bound Loh Xin Yee, 13, who received 7As for her UPSR in 2012 said, “If we put our minds to the things we want to achieve, it can be done,” she said who received a trophy, certificate, a bouquet of flowers and RM300.
Her mother beautician Susan Ng, 33, said that her daughter was an intelligent and dertermine child and would work towards her goals.
In her speech, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim urged employers to offer employment opportunities and provide suitable amenities to the disabled.
“People with disabilities should not be seen as a weak group or often expecting sympathy from people but as people with potentials that could be built and polished,” she said.
She said the Human Resource Department’s records in the Peninsular Malaysia showed that from 1990 to August 2013 as many as 13,973 people with disabilities had registered for job opportunities in the private sector through the People with Disabilities Job System.
From the numbers, 9,176 (66%) people with disabilities had managed to get jobs and were placed in various sectors.
The Public Services Department showed that there were 1,754 public servants with disabilities working in various ministries, departments and government agencies, she said.
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