Friday December 3, 2010

The role of local councils to create a disabled-friendly society

By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

As the country celebrates International Day of Persons with Disabilities today, we look at the role of local councils in the making of a disabled-friendly society.

THIS year’s celebration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities is cause for double joy for me as a person who has lived with a disability all my life. This is because I turned 50 last month on Nov 21.

Turning 50 is a big achievement for anybody, especially when they have been told they would never make it that far. The doctors told my parents that because of my congenital condition known as spina bifida, I would not make it past adolescence. Well, here I am, proving those clueless doctors wrong.

More bad luck struck when I was 10 years old. I was forced to go for a leg operation to straighten my knee so that I could use callipers to walk. However, it made my legs worse as I lost whatever sensations I had earlier.

Again, some bad doctors were clearly using me as a guinea pig in the hope of becoming famous, if the operation was a success.

I had to stop schooling at Standard Four because the school authorities said they my wheelchair could not fit in the classrooms and toilets. And I couldn’t get out of my house because the whole environment was hostile to my wheelchair.

There were no pavements in Klang, Selangor, where I lived; and if there were, I couldn’t get my wheelchair on it. Once a car grazed the side of my wheelchair and damaged the wheel. I was about 10 years old then, and my grandmother was pushing my wheelchair. It was a terrifying experience for both of us.

Thoughtful move: There are ample parking lots for the disabled at Sunway Carnival Mall Seberang Jaya.

During my teenage years I moved to Petaling Jaya. However, the situation was worse in the neighbourhood’s public park.

I couldn’t access it for years because the local council kept the gates closed except to their official vehicles. There were no kerb cuts in the pavements. Even if someone carried my wheelchair on it, it was of no use. The pathway would suddenly narrow down to a point where only one person could get through, or a lamp post or some other hindrance would appear right in front of you.

Despite the fact that many of the shops were near my house, I could not access any of them because of the many steps and uneven floor levels in the buildings. All these made me very depressed. However, I soon discovered that all these negative thoughts that society was feeding into my mind was really a big lie.

My break came when I took part in an exchange programme and went to live in the city of Eugene in Oregon, the United States, for a month. It was a wheelchair heaven for people with disabilities. I took my first bus ride there. The buses were equipped with wheelchair lifts. These amazing gizmos would magically unfold from the vehicles at the push of a button.

The pavements were fully accessible to wheelchairs. I could go into supermarkets and virtually every public building; doors would open automatically when I approached or at the push of a button. Some were even voice-activated. Wheelchair-accessible toilets and proper ramps were available everywhere.

Although most Americans were always ready to lend a hand to anyone in a wheelchair, there was no need for it because of the accessibility all around.

The biggest thing that I learnt from my stay in Eugene was that I was not the problem – society was! This was because society failed to provide the necessary facilities for all its citizens. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I was appointed as a councillor in the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).

My first task was to get an active disability team into the council in order to provide vital information regarding their many needs.

The MBPJ’s special committee today has representatives with a wide range of disabilities. We have the blind, Deaf, people with learning disabilities, stroke patients and even those with mental illness. These people would be in the best position to articulate their needs. We have also included caregivers of disabled persons.

One of the unique things we have considered is building shelters for car parks for the disabled so that users can be protected from the elements, considering the extra time they need to get in and out of their vehicles.

All new buildings will have to come to our committee first for approval of their disabled-friendly facilities before they get the green light to proceed with their projects from a higher committee.

The MBPJ is also making a special effort to ensure that homes for the disabled and elderly are fully equipped with proper features for the benefit of every user.

One of our proudest achievements is a 500m stretch of pavement along Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya, that is universally-designed. It is 90% complete. Once it is ready, everybody – from the elderly with walking difficulties to mothers with prams, children and the blind – will stand to benefit from it.

However, there were some opposition to the project, with some saying that it was a waste of money. Some of these complainants are more than 60 years old. Don’t they realise that they are growing older by the day and could very well become disabled, too, following a heart attack, stroke or some other condition?

It is high time that all of us realise that disabilities are increasing rather than decreasing, and that it is a natural aspect of the human condition. Rather than pretending that it doesn’t exist through fear or ignorance, all councils should start planning for the aging citizens in society. To do that, it is vital for all the departments in the councils to coordinate their efforts to see each and every project through.

As a disabled activist, I used to think that the answer towards creating a disabled-friendly world lay with the welfare ministry or even the Prime Minister. Now I realise the answer lies with each and every local government. It is these institutions which hold the keys to a better future for all disabled Malaysians.

And the first step towards bringing about effective change is to involve the disabled community in consultation with the local councils.

My wish today is that every local council in the country will set up a disabled committee of their own with active participation from the handicapped community to bring about a better future for the latter