Saturday, 1 October 2011

Losing their way

The blind struggle to navigate Brickfields after traders take up sidewalk space

Friday, September 30th, 2011 11:52:00

BARRIER: The visually-impaired fighting for space with stalls at the Jalan Tun Sambathan sidewalk — Pic: SAMSUL SAID

KUALA LUMPUR: Brickfields — for so long the home of the visually-impaired — has now become a "no man's land" for the blind.

It used to be a walk in the park to and from the Malaysian Association of the Blind (MAB) headquarters but had since become almost impossible to navigate after traders were allowed to park their stalls on the Jalan Tun Sambanthan sidewalk to ply their Deepavali wares.

Fully-blind George Wong, 75, now faces a hellish situation during his weekly visits to the MAB. The Semenyih resident is at a loss when attempting to locate the KL Monorail station, his "landmark" to get to KL Sentral to catch his bus home.

As the walkway in front of the station has been taken over by the stalls, he has to gingerly make his way around. "This scares me as the sidewalk is close to the busy road.

"Sometimes, I go the wrong way and have to make the long way back to MAB to start over."

Mohd Haris Fadzilah Ahmad, 32, said a friend was not as lucky, as his walking stick was almost hit by a car before he fell down, injuring himself.

"Are the authorities waiting for someone to die before acting?" said the partially-blind masseuse who commutes to Brickfields daily.

Blind student Afendi Adlun, 20, said he almost fell on the road while on his way to MAB recently. "I can normally walk unaccompanied but with the traders on the pavement, I missed my mark, missed a step and almost tripped on the road."

MAB's Zalina Hassan, 37, said complaints to City Hall had fallen on deaf ears.

"The blind having no proper facilities is not something new here. Our needs are constantly being put on hold."

She said at the corner of a bus stop in front of the YMCA building in Jalan Thambipillay, there used to be a pole to stop the blind from using the route. "Some of my friends were hurt badly after bumping into the pole, which was only removed much later."

Partially-blind Mohd Zuhairi Abdul Hamid said indiscriminate motorcycle parking on pavements designated for the visually-impaired was also another headache.

"Besides expanding the pavements, the authorities should make clearer signs for the public to identify areas meant for the blind."

KL mayor asks for tolerance in Brickfields

HAMZAH NAZARI

Friday, September 30th, 2011 12:11:00

KUALA LUMPUR: KL mayor Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad Ismail said stalls in Brickfields would be allowed to continue operating for another month.

He was responding to a query by The Malay Mail on traders in Brickfields hogging walkways along Jalan Tun Sambathan, making it difficult for pedestrians, especially the blind, to move around the area.

He said while he understood the plight of pedestrians, traders should also be given a chance to do business.
“Give them a month. Give them a chance to work," he said.

He said tourists and locals flock to Little India in Brickfields, especially during Deepavali, and that City Hall had to allow the traders to set up stalls there.

“We allow this at other places during the Ramadan month and if we don’t do the same during Deepavali, people will complain and say we are being unfair.”

The walkways around Brickfields are marked extensively with raised lines and dots for the blind.

The Malay Mail had also received calls from the public claiming stalls in the area were causing traffic congestion as unloading of goods were done by the roadside.

Shahrizat: Show the blind some respect

T.K. LETCHUMY TAMBOO

Friday, September 30th, 2011 12:14:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil will sit with City Hall to discuss how to tackle the issue of petty traders taking up walkways in front of shop lots in Brickfields, a norm when Deepavali is just around the corner.

"City Hall must take necessary action on this matter and we will inform them about this," she said.

Shahrizat expressed her disappointment with Malaysians when it comes to respecting the disabled community.

"It is important everybody is aware of this. Traders cannot do this. That's why advocacy is important. I am disappointed Malaysians are not considerate enough about the disabled.

"Ordinary citizens must have respect and consideration for the disabled as we want to be a barrier-free country.

"There needs to be more advocacy and awareness. Mindsets must change."

Welfare benefit for all visually-impaired

T.K. LETCHUMY TAMBOO

Friday, September 30th, 2011 12:11:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Beginning tomorrow, individuals who are blind in one eye will be classified as a disabled person and can receive privileges under the Social Welfare Department.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the decision was made at a meeting of the National Council for the Disabled.

"This will enable the people who fall under this category to get the same privileges enjoyed by other disabled people when they register with the Social Welfare Department," she said at a Press conference after launching the 60th Anniversary of the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB), yesterday.

Shahrizat added local authorities throughout the nation are required to include a representative from the disabled community in their planning and development committee.

"This is part of the ministry's effort to mainstream the disabled community's issues into the development of the nation towards ensuring that Malaysia is a barrier free country."

Local authorities will be required to set up an audit access unit to ensure all public facilities are properly monitored and maintained.

Mixed reactions by disabled-friendly NGOs

THE Women, Family and Community Development Ministry's move to classify individuals who are blind in one eye under the disabled (OKU) category, requiring local authorities to elect a disabled representative to sit in their planning and development committee and to set up an audit access unit, received mixed reactions from several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) championing the cause.

Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) president Datuk Dr Abdullah Malim Baginda said categorising those blind in one eye as OKU would help them tremendously, especially if they are poor.

"They will receive OKU cards and get discounts for medical treatments and free medical check-ups," he said.
Dr Abdullah Malim said electing an OKU representative to sit in local authorities' planning and development committee would ensure the needs of their community were met.

"At the moment, we do sit in committee meetings but only informally. Sometimes, we also get called in for audit checks by several companies," he said.

One such company he cited was Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad, to which he tested their disabled-friendly facilities two weeks ago.

For Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) president Francis Siva, he opined the move should have been done 15 years ago.

"We also need to know who will monitor the committee and ensure this policy is carried out. There has to be a proper mechanism," he said.

However, Francis felt the efforts would not solve all problems faced by the disabled community unless "a disabled person is elected as a councilor in every local council.

"This would be more effective as our suggestions can be discussed at full board meetings and have a budget allocated for it."

Persatuan Kurang Upaya Anggota Melayu Malaysia (Permata) president Suhairi Abdullah, was unhappy those blind in one eye were categorised as OKU.

"Why does the government want to help people who are still able-bodied? They are not completely blind.

"If this is the case, soon, people who are deaf in one ear or people who do not have one leg will also be under the disabled category," he said.

"Currently, OKUs with a salary of RM1,200 are eligible to receive a monthly disabled worker allowance of RM300. If the partially-blind are considered OKUs, the government might have to fork out more."

Thursday, 29 September 2011

Bernama - Disabled people category extended to those 'blind in one eye'

Published: Thursday September 29, 2011 MYT 3:02:00 PM
Updated: Thursday September 29, 2011 MYT 4:21:45 PM

Disabled people category extended to those 'blind in one eye'

KUALA LUMPUR: Individuals who are blind in only one eye will be classified under the disabled people category from Saturday.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the decision was made at a meeting of the National Council for the Disabled on Tuesday to enable this category of people to receive the same privileges as other disabled persons when they register with the Social Welfare Department.

In addition, she said, local authorities throughout the nation were required to include a representative from the disabled community in their planning and development committee. Bernama