If you add comedy, good food, and autism, what do you get? A big heart. And that’s what the celebrity comedian cum foodpreneur, Nigel Ng aka Uncle Roger, presented on Wednesday when he hosted the Autism Cafe Project community to a Fuiyoh! lunch in conjunction with Hari Raya and World Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month.
PETALING JAYA – Today we saw a different facet of funnyman Uncle Roger when he hosted the Autism Community from the Autism Cafe Project (ACP) at his new restaurant branch at IPC Damansara called, what else, Fuiyoh! It’s Uncle Roger, of course.
Garbed in his signature orange polo tshirt and THAT white Good Morning towel, Uncle Roger, despite his busy schedule, gave such a sweet smile and no customary tough words which put everyone, especially the special needs guests, at ease.
Quietly, since October 2024, ACP Founder Adli Yahya has been working tirelessly with Uncle Roger’s team to facilitate the recruitment of these special young adults to work at the Fuiyoh! cafes, beginning with discussions at their flagship outlet in Pavilion Bukit Bintang.
Long story short, Fuiyoh! now has four branches with more sprouting in the near future, and out of these, one of the branches – I-City Shah Alam – has three special needs young adults from ACP working there.
Celebrating Diversity in Autism
As April is widely accepted as World Autism month and ACP, together with Fuiyoh! It’s Uncle Roger, highlight their focus on the beautiful diversity in autism.
“It is critical to understand them individually, as each and every one of them has different abilities.
“After all, Autism affects people from all racial and socio-economic standings. As there seems to be an increase in the autism prevalence rate in Malaysia, there is therefore an urgent need to focus on proper therapy for the young ones and a concrete plan for those approaching adulthood and beyond,” explained Adli.
“Our collaboration with Uncle Roger focuses on constructing a safe and conducive working environment for them. The results have so far been simply fantastic. Our autistic staff, Luqman, Adrian and Adeeb, are simply thriving beautifully at their respective workplaces.”
Adli added that these truly special young adults are functioning as normally as can be expected of them within these win-win working conditions.
Fuiyoh! Is Serious
Uncle Roger appears to take this collaboration seriously and has encouraged staff participation as well.
“We’re honoured to be working alongside Autism Cafe Project to provide job opportunities for the autistic community and help them feel seen and supported,” said Nigel Ng, the man behind the popular Uncle Roger character.
According to Mel Azman, a parent of an autistic young adult, Alif, she felt so touched by the respect and care by the Uncle Roger’s team in providing opportunities for these autism young adults to work.
“There seems to be quite a number of autism young adults who are unemployed because prospective employees are hesitant about employing them.
Salute
“So what Adli and Nigel have done, plus all other employers who have taken in Alif’s peers to work, I salute them and thank them for giving this opportunity,” added Mel.
Certainly, employers who provide an opportunity to special needs young adults to work in their corporations and encourage their staff to guide the latter should be lauded for taking this bold step.
“Not everyone is willing to take extra time and effort to provide training, coupled with empathy, to develop our special kids to adjust to the corporate world. And for many of these employers who have approached us with their willingness, I respect and thank them,” said Adli. – NMH
Editor’s Note: In conjunction with World Autism Awareness Month, NMH will be publishing a series of articles on job opportunities for the special needs. As a mum with two autism young adults, I am continuously looking at opportunities to feature those who go the extra mile to help them reach normality in a world that sometimes fail to understand them. That’s why I was thrilled to bits to meet Nigel and his team at the Fuiyoh! luncheon on Wednesday. Thanks Adli for including us in the invite.
Datin Hasnah is the co-founder and CEO of New Malaysia Herald based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
With an extensive background in mass communication and journalism, she works on building up New Malaysia Herald and it’s partner sites. A tireless and passionate evangalist, she champions autism studies and support groups.
Datin Hasnah is also the Editor in Chief of New Malaysia Herald.
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