Guardian Malaysia and La Gourmet's collaboration to support NASOM

Autism is a mental condition, said to be present from early childhood, characterized by great difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts... (sometimes I do wonder if I could be a little autistic too....if that was the case... hahaha)

People with high-functioning autism often have an average or above-average IQ. High-functioning autism comes with high levels of creativity and thinking outside the box; it also endows the autistic individual with high levels of focus, often verging on obsessive behaviour. You might think that this is a bad thing, but actually this kind of obsession within a creative realm is actually what that makes some people stand out and excel over their peers.

The main difficulty for these autistic people would be being social. They find it hard to read cues and also read people’s reactions. They might stand too close, without realising that the other person is uncomfortable. They may not be comfortable with eye contact, or understand how important it is. People on the autism spectrum may tend to be very literal, and often misunderstand sarcasm. Thus, those with autism are too often misunderstood and even looked down on.

Anyway, autistic people can be very talented, some of the well known people who are autistic are Mozart, Tim Burton, Andy Warhol, Lewis Carrol... and maybe even Steve Jobs...

Anyway, yours truly was over at the Hornbill Cafe at the KL Bird Park to witness and see Guardian Malaysia pitching in to support autism with their special range of La Gourmet thermal ware that are printed with birds sketched by local autistic talent, Muhammad Akhtar bin Ismail (Akhtar for short, or Johnny as he preferred to be called)

And in the case of Johnny/Akhtar, he painstakingly created his animal drawings on paper, computer and using plasticine/clay.

 And he is also very particular on the features of his creations and according to his mother, the spelling of this animals and dinosaurs and Johnny/ Akhtar can even tell you the name of the animal in English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin!!

This beautiful and special range of merchandise, is only available exclusively at Guardian Malaysia, and can be redeemed under a loyalty programme rolled out today. 

  

Unveiling the programme, at the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park, today, Ms Christina Low, Marketing Director of Guardian Health and Beauty Sdn Bhd said: “The programme has been inspired by a special group in our community. It is driven by our goal of giving back to the community; to our customers and especially those in need. In this regard, we will be allocating RM200,000 from this programme as contribution to the Skill Development Fund, managed by The National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM).”

Sharing an insight into Guardian Malaysia’s philosophy on corporate responsibility, she said: “We recognise that as the leader in the pharmacy, health and beauty retailing sector, we are uniquely placed to harness the charitable nature of Malaysians, to contribute to worthy causes.

“With over 400 stores across the country serving a huge customer base, and the support of a wide network of business partners, Guardian provides a far greater reach than most other retailers.  And it has been our policy   to use this reach to help raise funds for as many charitable causes as possible.”

“This programme, will similarly leverage on Guardian’s reach to raise   funds for NASOM’s skills development programme with the aim of training autistic children to be gainfully employed.  In the process, we also aim to raise awareness of the special needs of this group in our community,” she added.

The fact that the product showcases Malaysian birds as part of the series, and also supports a local autistic talent, and raise awareness their special need should receive favourable response from shoppers

This Bird Series Thermal Ware merchandise is exclusive to Guardian’s customers.  On top of that, they get to enjoy savings of 62% on the retail price of the items, such as tumblers, lunch boxes and thermal cups.

DETAILS OF LOYALTY PROGRAMME

La Gourmet, a brand which has committed to producing products that promote a healthy lifestyle and presenting the environment, has produced 3 different Bird Series, for this collaboration.  Guardian is making one series available each month, for the duration of the programme, from now to 31 December, 2016.

Consumers only need to make a purchase of RM20 to receive one stamp. Once they have collected 5 stamps, they can redeem purchase any of the merchandises at prices which gives them a savings of 62% from the usual retail prices.

Grab this chance to get these collectible range of high quality merchandise, at these amazingly affordable prices now

For more information, please visit www.guardian.com.my