By KUALA LUMPUR| nstsport@nstp.com.my 

Former Liverpool star John Barnes and former Manchester United star Paul Parker recently visited SM Pendidikan Khas Cacat Penglihatan in Setapak, a special school for the visually impaired children.

The visit was organised by the Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia as part of its "Seeing is Believing" global community initiative to help tackle avoidable blindness and is held in conjunction with the upcoming Standard Chartered EPL Masters Malaysia Cup.

The ex-EPL stars, along with staff from Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia, helped conduct a coaching clinic for over 50 students.

Norliza Kamaruddin, Country Head, Corporate Affairs Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia, said: "We believe in providing the disabled with the same opportunities as everyone else so they can function as productive members of society.

"Facilitating their development in sports has been a big part of our agenda."

The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity enabled the children, who are ardent football fans, to rub shoulders with Barnes and Parker.

"They are really good, they showed us new skills and tricks and they are funny too," said one of the students.

"Every year, I look forward to the events Standard Chartered is organising for us. I enjoyed the clinic although it was quite tiring," quipped another.

Standard Chartered has been supporting the school, among others, by involving its students in its big sporting events such as the Standard Chartered KL Marathon, Standard Chartered Fun Run, Liverpool FC Asia Tour and Standard Chartered EPL Masters Malaysia tournament.

Fifty visually impaired runners took part in the Kuala Lumpur Marathon last year with the aid of the bank's staff as running guides while another 50 experienced walking on the stadium pitch with the Liverpool Masters squad during the opening of the Standard Chartered EPL Masters Malaysia's tournament at Stadium Putra in Bukit Jalil last year.

This year, Standard Chartered EPL Masters Malaysia will take place on April 22 at Stadium Malawati in Shah Alam.

Four teams competing in  the tournament will be Liverpool Masters, Manchester United Masters, EPL All-Stars and the Malaysian Masters.