ONE-TWO-JUICE - More Than Just A Healthy Juice Stall - CSR Backup

ONE-TWO-JUICE - More Than Just A Healthy Juice Stall

SDB’s Under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, SDB financed the setting up of the Juice Stall – named ONE-TWO-JUICE – as its main CSR project, to give individuals with Learning Disabilities the opportunity to learn a new skill that they can use later on to find employment elsewhere or even start their own small businesses. But since few companies are prepared to offer them a job, most of them have no opportunities to cultivate the skills to start out on their own.

One such individual is Ong Theng Yee. She had found a job packing baking ingredients, but her employer put a lot of pressure on her to work at a faster pace and to take on more tasks. In the end she had to leave because she could not keep up.

Fortunately for Theng Yee, an opportunity for a less demanding yet more rewarding employment came her way in 2011, when she started working at a Juice Stall.

The ONE-TWO-JUICE Stall, located in the courtyard of Wisma Selangor Dredging on Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, sells a variety of fruit and vegetable smoothies to suit different blood types. In just over a year since it was set up in August 2011, many individuals have been given the opportunity to work at the Juice Stall.

Some of them, such as Theng Yee, Rudy Chong, Chong Choong Jian, Tan Mei Yee, and Lim Qi Han, have learned some new skills, from handling the cash register to dealing with customers, and in the process gained a lot of self-confidence as well.

The ONE-TWO-JUICE project has also brought some other benefits. For instance, some of the individuals such as Rudi have learned to take public transport by themselves. Some of them may not have the luxury of having a parent or relative to send them to Wisma Selangor Dredging, so to participate in the project on a regular basis they have to learn how to get to work on their own.

The participants have also learned to interact with customers with confidence. One person who has gained a lot in this area is Theng Yee. As her mother Cindy Lim observes, Theng Yee used to be a very shy girl, but after a year at ONE-TWO-JUICE, she has become more confident and outgoing, and happy to chat with customers.

or some people who work in SDB, the CSR project is also very personal. Some also have a child or sibling with special needs or a learning disability so the project is very close to their hearts. But for individuals such as Theng Yee, Rudy Chong, Chong Choong Jian, Tan Mei Yee, and Lim Qi Han, it is the opportunity that they have finally been given that counts for more.

As Theng Yee says it: “I can handle everything by myself now. I am so much happier and I feel good when I talk to customers.”

That, for SDB, is what matters.