04/03/2025

TUESDAY | MAR 4, 2025

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o NGO rallies public compassion to swiftly raise RM1.2m for urgent treatment in Singapore for leukaemia stricken girl Seven-hour miracle provides lifeline brother, Grace showed signs of recovery. However, at the end of the 100-day observation period post transplant, the cancer had returned.” He said his family had exhausted all savings for previous treatments, that amounted to about RM900,000. That was when he started to look for financial assistance through

countries. We even had to shut down operations for a month due to supply shortages. “This is our main challenge because the raw ingredients are unavailable in Malaysia, except for black pepper, which I source from Sarawak and recently from Pasir Puteh in Kelantan,” she said. However, these challenges have not dampened her spirit. With strong support from her husband, Mohd Rais Mat Jusoh, 40, Norhazimah is now planning to expand her spice processing factory to meet rising demand. – Bernama One Hope Charity founder and chairman Datuk Chua Sui Hau said the organisation, established in 2002, had provided more than RM10 million in Covid-19 aid contributions during the pandemic. “From 2019 to 2024, we helped 1,058 people overcome financial difficulties, especially those with medical complications, and raised RM69.9 million in total. “We also helped with 3,604 cases of funeral and burial assistance, 675 cases of sheltering old folk and special needs children, 175,204 cases of essential items contribution, 6,463 cases of medical equipment contribution and 15,500 cases of free health screening. “Grace’s case is genuine, and we are happy that we are able to help give her a second chance at life,” he said. On the organisation’s record on fundraising, Chua said they once raised RM9 million in just under eight days for a 17-month-old girl with spinal muscular atrophy. For further information on One Hope Charity, please establish contact via 019-232 2192 or 018-911 4192, or visit its website at www.onehopecharity.org/ Donors will receive a tax exemption receipt that is approved by the Inland Revenue Board.

Ű BY T.C. KHOR newsdesk@thesundaily.com

“She is back in Subang Jaya Medical Centre to continue with her treatment,” her father Jason J.S. Lim told theSun . He said according to the doctors in Singapore, CAR-T therapy modifies the patient’s own T cells to better target and destroy cancer cells, with a recovery rate of 80%. “I am very grateful to everyone who supported and donated to help my daughter,” said Lim, a 45 year-old sales executive from Kota Damansara in Selangor. He said in Nov 2019, Grace began experiencing recurrent high fever. A blood test revealed an abnormally high white blood cell count and she was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a type of blood cancer. “She underwent a year and a half of chemotherapy, and her condition was under control for a while. “In early 2023, she had a relapse. After receiving a bone marrow transplant from her six-year-old “At the time, the country was still under the movement control order. I was completely lost as I had never managed a factory before, and all staff were unable to work as usual. “Fortunately, my mother-in-law provided continuous guidance and support. From selecting raw spices to packaging and marketing, I had to learn everything from scratch.” She said Kari Selising products, which were previously sold only in local markets and grocery stores, have now penetrated international markets, including Thailand, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, England, the United

Kingdom and Singapore. Norhazimah, in business, information technology and accounting from Mara Polytechnic College, said the Halal MeSTI certification obtained at the end of last year helped tremendously in expansion of her market reach. “The certification has given us confidence to enter larger markets. We are also working on new packaging to meet supermarket standards,” she said. Starting with just 150kg of spices per day, her small factory in Selising, Pasir Puteh, now produces over a graduate crowdfunding on online platforms. But her photos were used by unscrupulous parties to solicit donations from the public. The scammers stole online images and posted her plight on a Facebook page known as “Shanyi Foundation” on Jan 20 and 26, with a quick response (QR) code for collection. “The QR code displayed on the Facebook page asking for donations leads to a person named Lee Sook Kim. We do not know who she is, nor is she related to us in any way,” said Lim, adding that he traced the account holder to an address in Semenyih, Selangor. Lim said he first discovered the fraudulent activities on Facebook through his mother-in-law a day after it was posted. Upon discovering their fundraising efforts were hijacked, Lim ceased all private fundraising efforts and entrusted One Hope Charity with managing donations.

BUKIT MERTAJAM: An NGO has managed to raise RM1.2 million in seven hours and 28 minutes for a nine-year-old girl who needed to undergo chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy for leukaemia in Singapore. Penang-based One Hope Charity organised a fundraising campaign online for Grace Lim Jiay Hwey on Feb 19 and received RM1,211,440.02 from 6,928 parties. The organisation also allocated RM30,000 from its emergency medical and contingency fund to support her case. She was discharged from the Subang Jaya Medical Centre on Feb 20, her 9th birthday, and left the next day to begin treatment at the National University Hospital in Singapore. Grace, who has suffered a relapse twice, underwent tests on Feb 26 and later had T cells samples extracted. Norhazimah Ab Rahman, 40, never imagined that stepping in to help her mother-in-law run a spice factory during the Covid-19 pandemic would open a new chapter in her life. The mother of two has since succeeded in continuing her family’s legacy while generating a monthly income exceeding five figures. It all began in 2020 when her mother-in-law, Siti Mariam Ab Aziz, 75, fell ill. With no prior experience, Norhazimah had to take charge of Kari Selising, a spice brand established in 1975.

According to doctors, the therapy could provide Grace with an 80% recovery rate. – PIC COURTESY OF ONE HOPE CHARITY

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300kg daily. The factory produces 11 types of cooking spices, including curry powder, kurma, kerutuk, dalca , eggplant curry, gulai darat , turmeric powder and ground pepper with the help of five full-time employees. Norhazimah said her factory relies entirely on imported spices from India, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Guatemala. “Any disruption in supply from these countries could affect our operations. There have been times when spice stocks were difficult to obtain due to crises in the exporting