JOHOR BARU: SEVENTEEN general managers from the Hilton Worldwide group recently shed their suits to lend a helping hand to the Johor Area Rehabilitation Organisation (Jaro).
The general managers of Hilton and Conrad properties in Southeast Asia, including DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru, who were in Johor Baru, for a meeting took part in the corporate social responsibility programme.
They chose to help Jaro, a registered charity founded by Dr Beryl Wilberforce-Smith in 1952 to rehabilitate tuberculosis patients. The organisation also holds workshops to equip the disabled with handicraft skills so that they can earn a living.
Today, Jaro has established itself as a rehabilitation centre that caters for the needs of the physically and intellectually disabled, chronically ill and those who for personal reasons face difficulty getting regular employment.
Many disabled employees have benefited from the opportunities provided in the bookbinding, basketry, tailoring and handicraft sheltered workshops. Some who have been trained have also found employment elsewhere.
Jaro is now a household name for quality rattan, paper and fabrics among Johor folk, foreign visitors and expatriates.
After a brief introduction to Jaro by chairman Datuk Jimmy Low Boon Hong, the visitors were divided into three groups and taken on a tour of the organisation.
In the tailoring department, committee member Datin Patricia Lim explained how disabled artisans were trained to sew and create useful fashion and household items like shopping and toiletry bags from batik fabric.
She said the handsewn sets of batu Seremban, a traditional game of five stones, that Jaro makes with batik and green beans, are among the popular items.
The two other groups of visitors were escorted to the workshop to observe the disabled artisans working in the basketry and book-binding departments.
They were able to witness how the artisans created the products for sale in their showroom.
In the book-binding department, notebooks in A4 and A6 sizes were made from paper produced from farmed trees, and memo paper made from excess cuts of recycled paper. The artisans also demonstrated how the cotton fabric covers were custom-embossed to order.
DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru general manager Simon McGrath, who was the host of the group of visitors, had recently placed orders for the cotton fabric photo frames, each embossed with the hotel logo and the names of the visiting general managers for them to take home as mementos.
Into each frame went the photo of the visiting general manager, dressed in a Malay costume.
At the end of the tour, the visitors were able to appreciate how buying a Jaro product helped support the local cultures and native craft as well as empower the disabled.
Shopping in Jaro helps to sustain the workshops for the disabled artisans and safeguarded the local ecology and heritage.
After the tour, visitors donned gloves, hats and aprons and armed themselves with roller brushes to paint the walls of the book-binding department.
Dressed in black T-shirts with the words “We care” written on the back, the general managers tackled the task with enthusiasm.
“We believe that it is the little things we do that make the biggest impact and impression,” said McGrath, adding that the activity was in line with Hilton Worldwide’s vision to “fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality”.
He looked forward to continued partnership between DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru and Jaro to empower the disabled community in JB.
Jaro is located in Jalan Sungai Chat, between Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar and the Johor Heritage Foundation Complex. It has retail outlets in City Square and Holiday Plaza.
The showroom is open from 8.30am to 5.30pm from Sunday to Thursday. It is closed on Friday, Saturday and public holidays