The Johor Bahru Welfare Centre for Children with Disabilities (Pertubuhan Kebajikan Insan Istimewa Johor Bahru, PKIIJB) was established on 15th May 2008, as a legally registered non-profit welfare organization (Registration Number: PPM-014-01-15052008).
Over the past 17 years, the centre has cared for more than 200 individuals with special needs. It currently offers long-term care to 43 individuals (aged 8 to 54) with conditions including intellectual disabilities, autism, delays in development, brain injuries, mobility impairments, and lack of self-care abilities.
For these children, the centre is not merely a place to live—it is their most stable, secure, and understanding “second home.”
Serena Chua Si Ning, 14, has lived with a heart defect and learning disabilities since childhood. When she first arrived at the centre at 4, she struggled to stand upright, gasping for breath after just a few steps and unable to clearly communicate her needs.
The Centre’s teachers and therapists accompanied her daily through foundational training, including assisted standing, foot movement, hand-foot coordination, and balance exercises. These seemingly simple movements took her years to gradually master.
Today, she can walk independently and participates in the centre’s “Imperfect Beauty” painting programme, using colours to express her emotions. “We were all deeply moved the first time she picked up a paintbrush on her own,” shared one of her teachers.
Serena’s transformation epitomizes the centre’s long-term care and rehabilitation training. Many more children within the centre similarly require ongoing support and specialised training.
The centre operates on a 24-hour residential care model, where children require caregivers’ assistance for meals, hygiene, supply changes, toileting, medication administration, and emotional support. Some children cannot clearly express their needs, requiring staff to carefully assess their situations based on experience.
With rising costs and increased consumption of rehabilitation supplies, the centre’s basic monthly operational expenses have approached RM60,000, primarily covering daily diet and nutrition, diapers, cleaning supplies, and daily necessities, medical and rehabilitation training materials, therapist and caregiver staffing and utility and environmental maintenance costs.
To ensure uninterrupted care, the centre anticipates that its basic operational needs for the next six months will exceed RM300,000, posing an ongoing challenge for a non-profit organisation.
The centre states that children with special needs cannot choose their birth or abilities; yet they deserve a dignified, stable, and secure environment for growth.
The centre invites the public to learn more about the actual care provided to these children. For additional information, to arrange a visit, or to explore ways to support, please contact them directly via the following:
Pertubuhan Kebajikan Insan Istimewa Johor Bahru (PKIIJB)
Address: 40 & 40A, Jalan Sultanah Rogayah,
Taman Iskandar, 80050 Johor Bahru
Visiting Hours: Daily 9:30 AM – 5:30 PM
Registration No: PPM-014-01-15052008
Office: 07-333 8044
WhatsApp: 016-2467062
