16 February 2012 | last updated at 11:49pm

Suhakam sets up task force for disabled

By NURADILLA NOORAZAM
KUALA LUMPUR
news@nst.com.my 

Commission seeks improvement in public services for people with disabilities

  THE Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has initiated a task force to come up with a  system to monitor  public facilities and policies for the disabled with the aim of providing a better living and working environment for them.

  Suhakam commissioner James Deva Nayagam said the task force would look into public transport services, facilities in buildings,  healthcare and education to ensure that the rights of the disabled were taken care of.

"More needs to be done to raise awareness of society on the rights of the disabled community and the problems that they face in their daily lives.

  "Basic facilities in buildings and other amenities are still lacking. Many still face problems in securing jobs. Some even have problem in renting and buying properties.

  "This has resulted in some of them preferring to stay at home," he said after a meeting organised by Suhakam with government agencies and the disabled community here yesterday.

   Nayagam said despite the establishment of the Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, the law was still not fully enforced.

   For example, he said the disabled were not entitled to insurance.

   "How do we go about protecting them and their families when there is an emergency?" asked another Su-hakam commissioner Muammad Sha'ani Abdullah.

   He said although there was a quota in the workforce for person with disabilities, employers were still reluctant to hire them.

   Nayagam said the task force needed to get feedback from the public and also from the disabled community.

   "We need their perspectives to understand their situation better."

   Nayagam said the task force would come up with a report on the monitoring system, which was expected to be completed next month.

On the bright side of things

Thursday February 9, 2012 

On the bright side of things 

What may come across as a stroke of bad luck might be a blessing in disguise.

IT’S often said that true love has a sure way of finding you – no matter where you are or what you do.

Recently, I discovered how marvellously true this saying is.

And best of all, it doesn’t matter if you happen to be a person with a disability.

I had the pleasure of meeting an inspiring gentleman by the name of Theeban Vengadesh recently.

For six years, Theeban was in a happy relationship with a girl who had agreed to marry him. He worked as a lorry assistant and driver and took every opportunity to visit his sweetheart whenever he passed her way on his job routes around the country. They had met each other’s parents and everything had been set for their big day.

Music man: Theeban Vengadesh (foreground) lost the use of his legs in a terrible accident, but he has not lost his zest for life.

Testing faith

Then something horrible happened that changed everything.

Two years ago, Theeban was fixing the canvas on his lorry when a forklift driven by another worker crashed into his lorry. The impact was so great that it caused Theeban to be thrown off the lorry. He flew several feet in the air and landed on his back.

The dazed Theeban recalled being helped by his co-workers, but when they attempted to lift the young man off the ground, Theeban heard his spinal cord snap and he passed out.

When he finally woke up, he was in hospital surrounded by health professionals. The doctors broke the hard news to him that he would not be able to walk again.

That was hard to accept, but he did not expect the reaction of his fiancée.

“She visited me only once in the hospital,” said Theeban.

“When she discovered that I was paralysed, she stopped coming. She refused to take my calls. Her family’s reaction towards me also soured,” Theeban added.

Even his doctors felt sorry for their patient. They thought that he would not be able to pull through his depression.

However, after a failed suicide attempt the young man bounced back. He decided to give life all he had.

Theeban went through gruelling physiotherapy at the hospital for nearly nine months and learnt to live again.

It was during this time that he met his new girlfriend, a nurse named Anu, who turned his life around.

“It wasn’t a typical ‘love at first sight’ encounter,” Theeban laughed, when I asked him about it.

“I was about to cross the road to get to the hospital when I noticed this kind nurse who was looking at me.

“I beckoned to her for help. And that was the start of a whole new world for me, as well as for her.

“She looks after me as no one possibly can. I love her deeply and care for her tremendously.
“Anu and I go about almost anywhere,” said Theeban. “She is never shy or afraid to take me out in her car.”

In fact, when people stop to stare at the couple, Anu or Theeban just smile at them and say they are very much in love – and that the date for their wedding is being discussed.

Both sides of the family are delighted by the latest developments.

For both Anu and Theeban, it is a life that neither had expected.

Theeban has organised a surprise outing for Anu on Valentine’s Day on Tuesday.

When I tried to get some hints on what he was planning to do, Theeban was completely tight-lipped about it.

Zest for life

All he was willing to say was how foolish he felt for trying to take his life before.

Theeban, who currently lives and trains at the Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) in Rawang, Selangor, is out to take life as it comes his way.

“What initially seemed to be a stroke of bad luck turned out to be a good thing for me,” said a beaming Theeban.

His advice to others in the same position is never to give up on life, no matter what.

“Just when you think that life is not worth living, hang in there for true love will eventually find you,” he concluded.

Theeban is currently learning social skills, and how to use the computer and ride a motorcycle at the ILTC.

He and his future wife intend to adopt a toy dog as a pet.

Thursday February 2, 2012

Quietude amid the revelry

Festive occasions are a good time to reflect on what’s important in life.

LAST week’s Chinese New Year (CNY) celebrations may have gone down as one of the noisiest and most spectacular occasions for many in recent times. There was no way of snuffing out the flamboyance and magic of the fire-breathing Black Water Dragon even for those who chose to spend the occasion away from the usual revelry.

Retired audio technician Francis Chan from Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, was one of them. Chan, 64, decided to get away from it all and spend the holidays at his sister’s home in Pekan Nanas in Pontian, Johor. His 73-year-old sister is the only surviving member among his five siblings.

“There is plenty of peace and tranquillity in Pekan Nanas compared to the much faster pace in KL,” relates Francis, who became blind nearly 30 years ago. “But unlike in Brickfields, the residents in this sleepy pineapple town have much to learn about the blind. The few people that I met and talked to treated me as if I was an alien. When they saw me using my mobile, they thought I was bluffing when I told them I am blind.”

Chan discovered that the blind in Pekan Nanas are hardly seen in public; most of them spend their time at home.

“This attitude needs to be changed through counselling which can best be offered by NGOs working with the blind,” says Chan who works part-time as a masseur.

M. Murugan, 31, from Rasah Jaya in Seremban, Negri Sembilan, had a most unusual CNY this year. Instead of joining his handicapped friends in visiting open houses in Rawang, Selangor, he decided to stay behind at the training centre for the disabled to look after the place.

Murugan, who became a paraplegic following a motorcycle accident in 2010, enrolled at the centre last November. He was at a loss as to how to continue his new life in a wheelchair. He joined the disabled centre because he wanted to meet others who are in a similar situation.

Murugan said the quiet time he spent during the holidays helped him greatly. It gave him time to think about what’s important in life. Now he has the confidence to face the challenges ahead.

Murugan recalled his nightmare two years ago when he woke up in the hospital bed to find both his legs amputated. Now he has comes to terms with his disability. “Life goes on even if you are in a wheelchair!” Murugan adds.

For seasoned wheelchair-user Chong Tuck Meng, there is so much more that needs to be done by the relevant authorities for the disabled community in the country. Chong, 50, who hails from Bentong in Pahang, feels that the disabled should be part and parcel of any festive celebration.

“Always be prepared to go the extra mile,” urges Chong, who is president of five NGOs working for the handicapped. Quite an accomplishment, considering that Chong is unable to feed or dress himself as he is paralysed from the neck down following a motorcycle accident three decades ago.

Chong reminds those who invite the disabled to functions, to look into their transportation needs.

Born in the Year of the Ox, Chong says he is taking the opportunity of the Dragon’s irrepressible and free spirit to champion and speak up more for the rights and concerns of the disabled over the next 12 months.

“Society needs to be reminded that people with disabilities are part of the community. The disabled should be our chief concern and we should lend them a helping hand. We must never forget that one day, we could very well become disabled, too!” Chong adds.

Progress Report: Updates - Photos of Construction Progress at ILTC Project on 02/02/2012

PROGRESS REPORT: Updates - Photos of Construction Progress at ILTC Project on 02/02/2012 

News - Malaysia Nanban Daily 1-2-2012

Shared the celebration of a bountiful harvest with ILTC Members

For the first time, ILTC Malaysia organized a small scale “Ponggal Celebration 2012” which was successfully held on 15th January 2012 at the Independent Living & Training Centre Malaysia with the cooperation of Mr. M.B. Raja.

 Friendly gesture: Some of the people who attended the Ponggal celebration.

Chinese New Years 2012

ILTC Malaysia, Wish wealth happiness and prosperity on Chinese New Years 2012 


to all our Chinese Brothers and Sisters.........


May god bless you always. 

Thursday January 12, 2012

Lots more can be done

New year starters which can make life easier for the disabled.

FOR most people, celebrating a birthday may mean having a generally good time with friends.

For Chong Tuck Meng who hails from Bentong, Pahang, there was much soul-searching to do when he turned 50 on Dec 22 last year.

“Hitting the big 5-0 is a major milestone, especially when you are disabled,” says Chong, the founder of Perwira K9, an association for people with spinal cord injuries.

‘Let’s see the disabled as special citizens rather than people with less ability,’ says Chong Tuck Meng.

Chong, a wheelchair user, says he is lucky to be alive today, following an accident which left him paralysed from the neck down, and killed his best friend.

“I can’t believe how I’ve managed to get this far after being paralysed for 30 years,” says Chong. “I have to depend on others for assistance in virtually everything in my life.”

Chong, who has undergone nearly 30 operations, needs help from the moment he wakes up until he retires for the night.

He needs assistance to sit up, get from his bed to his wheelchair, go to the bathroom and put on his clothes.

Despite his hardship, Chong harbours no bitterness and is even inspired to help others who are in a similar situation. He coaches basketball and rugby players who are wheelchair-users.

What he finds really difficult to handle are prejudiced thinking from the public, an unfriendly environment for wheelchairs and the lack of public transportation for the physically handicapped.

“The Government can clearly do much more to make the lives of the disabled easier,” says Chong.

The following are Chong’s suggestions on ways to improve the lot of the disabled:

National budgets

Goodies for the disabled should get better with each passing year. As it is, the proposals look good in some years, but lacklustre in others. “In 2012, I hope to see budgets that can help raise the quality of lives of all disabled Malaysians,” says Chong.

New mindset

Instead of seeing the disabled as “people with less ability” (OKU, ororang kurang upaya), let’s see them as “special citizens” (warga istimewa). Changing the negative perceptions about disabled Malaysians to positive ones should start with our television channels.

A voice in Parliament

Please choose the right person who knows what suffering is like, instead of an academician. Remember, even doctors have no idea what our lives are like unless they are in our shoes!

Involve the disabled

Please include the disabled in all matters that affect them. We have seen too many events organised for the disabled but without their participation at the decision-making level. The results have often been disastrous: irrelevant issues and inaccessible venues. Nothing about the disabled without the disabled!

Add bite to the Disability Act

Disabled Malaysians are unable to use the Act to protect themselves or take action against people who refuse to employ them or misuse facilities meant for them. What is the point of being a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities if disabled Malaysians’ rights and privileges are not protected?

Focus on the disabled

This is important because disabled persons are the most vulnerable and neglected among the marginalised communities. More funds should be channelled to help the disabled. Each disabled person should be given a monthly allowance of RM500 to help meet daily expenses and medical costs.

Telecommunication

The Government should encourage all telco and Internet service providers to exercise their corporate social responsibility by giving out better and more affordable packages for subscribers with disabilities. This will ensure that many handicapped Malaysians are able to work from home.