Special GRIT chair for Muhammad Amirul

Eight-year old Muhammad Amirul Fikri Mohamad Fazir’s face lit up with joy upon receiving a specially-designed chair called GRIT Chair that was made by a group of Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) students and lecturers from Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.

Amirul, a Year Two pupil at Sekolah Kebangsaan Indera Shahbandar Pekan, has Achondroplasia - bone growth disorder that causes disproportionate dwarfism.

His father, Mohammad Fazir Osman said he was very pleased and grateful to UMP and the school for creating the chair suitable for his son’s condition.

“The chair will provide some comfort to Amirul when in class. I really appreciate the support and help given to Amirul. The teachers have been very helpful too.

"Prior to this, the teachers had to modify the table for Amirul’s use but it is lower than the rest of the tables in the class,” he added.

By using GRIT Chair, Amirul could now sit comfortably and use the same tables like his classmates, he said, adding, the chair had a foot rest.

Also present at the event were programme Head and Advisor, Dr. Daing Mohamad Nafiz Daing Idris, Dr. Saiful Anwar Che Ghani, Muhammad Hadi Hassan, the school’s Senior Assistant Teacher (Administration), Nor Yanti Mohd Radzuan and the special education class teacher.

Dr. Daing Mohamad Nafiz said the idea for the chair came about following discussion between the university and school on finding ways to help Amirul who was facing difficulties using the table and chair provided by the school.

He said in two months, the GRIT Chair was completed by four students - Muhammad Syakir Mohd Isa, Nur Syafiq Azman, Muhammad Isyraf Hadi Mohamad Rozulan and Muhammad Syazwan Sahimi.

“The chair was designed by using wood and stainless steel.  It uses a simple mechanical concept, the jackscrew to adjust the height of the sea, depending on the user. The design also took into consideration the aspects of safety and mishap.

“We believe the chair can be used by Amirul until he is 12 and probably beyond that age,” he added.

Dr. Daing Mohamad Nafiz lauded the efforts taken by the students who made the chair and hope that students pursuing engineering courses were inspired to think about ways to make contributions to the community.

Nor Yanti also said she was pleased with the cooperation forged with UMP and hoped that more cooperation would be carried out that would benefit the students.