Show of support for disabled councillor

IN DEFENCE: NGOs say Anthony Sivabalan Thanasayan has contributed to the welfare of the disabled

Francis Siva (seated, fourth from left) and other NGO representatives at the Selangor state government office in Shah Alam. Pic by Azhar Ramli

SHAH ALAM: A GROUP of non-governmental organisations and residents' associations are urging the state government to reappoint Anthony Sivabalan Thanasayan as a Petaling Jaya   councillor.  

Independent Living and Training Centre president Francis Siva, who represented the group, submitted a memorandum  in support of the disabled councillor  to the state authorities on Monday.

 He handed the letter to  state government media officer Tuan Nazuri Tuan Ismail  as Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was in Parliament.

Nazuri said he would forward the letter to the MB's office.

 "We appeal to the state government to reinstate Anthony and not to give in to  parties who want him out, based on the councillor's experience and contribution to the disabled community,  in PJ and Selangor.

 "Let him serve for another term and finish what he  started, before deciding on his future," he added.

 He said the fact that the PJ City Council had won special awards for disabled-friendly facilities from the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the state government  was an indication of the weight of Anthony's contribution.

  The letter was endorsed the Independent Living and Training Centre, Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association, Persatuan Warga Istimewa & Rehabilitasi Anggota K9, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Perwira K9 Malaysia, Community Services for the Deaf, Dyslexia Association of Malaysia and other NGOs.

 Also present were centre secretary Gurdip Kaur, Malaysian Association for the Blind's Cyber Club chairman Yam Tong Woo, Section 6 Rukun Tetangga chairman Rajesh Mansukhlal, animal activist Pamela Lim and Friends of Kota Damansara chairman Jeffrey Phang.

 This  follows a protest last week by a group who said the wheelchair-bound Anthony was not fit to be a councillor.

 It was reported that the swearing-in of PJ councillors was postponed as there was disagreement over the list of candidates.

 Sources said the postponement was due to the retraction of three names -- Anthony, Harmony Ghani Ismail and Tang Fuie Koh.

 "The Petaling Jaya City Council has yet to receive a directive on the matter.

"It will hold its swearing-in ceremony once everything is sorted out," said the source.

 Two NGOs, Warga OKU PJ and Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better, had protested against Anthony's reappointment.

They claimed that he had "discredited their efforts for animal welfare and that he had interfered in canine welfare advocacy work, propagation of euthanasia and attempts of commercialising dog catching in Selangor".

Read more: Show of support for disabled councillor - Central - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/streets/central/show-of-support-for-disabled-councillor-1.60396#ixzz1p5l97tca

Pahang To Increase Monthly Allowance For OKUs

March 13, 2012 16:16 PM

Pahang To Increase Monthly Allowance For OKUs

TEMERLOH, March 13 (Bernama) -- The Pahang government has agreed to increase the monthly allowance RM70 per month given to 4,000 Persons With Disabilities (OKUs) to RM300.

Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob said with the assistance could help them cope with the higher cost of living.

He told this to reporters after opening Pahang's OKU Day celebration, which was attended by more than 2,000 OKUs at Tun Abdul Razak Hall, here today.

Adnan said the new payment was expected to be made in April or May together with the arrears, which would be calculated from January.

He said, however, the payments would only be given to OKUd who were really not able to do any job.

-- BERNAMA

Keep disabled man as PJ councillor, S'gor urged

Keep Thanasayan As MBPJ Councillor Says Strongman Chong

 

Koh Jun Lin
11:21AM Mar 13, 2012

Keep disabled man as PJ councillor, S'gor urged

Five NGOs involved in the welfare of disabled people have handed over a memorandum to the Selangor government in support of embattled Petaling Jaya city councillor Anthony Siva Balan Thanasayan.

The delegation of about 20 arrived at the state government headquarters in Shah Alam about 11am yesterday to submit the memorandum to Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and the exco member in charge of local government Ronnie Liu.

Persatuan Warga Istimewa dan Rehabilitasi Anggota K9 (Perwira K9) founding chairperson Chong Tuck Meng told Malaysiakini the memo, among others, calls for Anthony to be allowed to continue his work for disabled people.

“He is doing a very good and professional job in areas such as accessibility issues at car parks and toilets for wheelchair-bound persons. He dares to challenge other councillors to make things right,” Chong said.

Other groups present were the Dyslexia Association of Malaysia, Malaysian Animal-assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive), Community Services for the Deaf and Independent Living and Training Centre.

Petition against Anthony

The memo also calls on the state to form a ‘technical committee for the disabled’ and to ensure that disabled persons are represented in local councils, including those other than the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).

“They are the ones who know what to expect, what to change and what to modify to suit our needs,” said Chong.

English daily New Straits Times reported last Thursday that two NGOs, one for disabled persons and the other for animal welfare, were opposing Anthony’s reappointment as MBPJ councillor.

It quoted Warga OKU PJ vice-president Azlan Elias as saying that Anthony had failed in his duty because few places in Petaling Jaya have facilities for the disabled, while a Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better spokesperson complained that he interfered with their animal welfare efforts.

The second group is also collecting signatures against Anthony, garnering 1,254 signatures as of 7.15pm yesterday.

End or article

Meanwhile, here is the memo that was sent to the Menteri Besar:

MEMORANDUM

Y.A.B. TAN SRI DATO` ABD KHALID BIN IBRAHIM
DATO` MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR

PEJABAT DATO` MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR
TINGKAT 21, BANGUNAN SSAAS

40503 SHAH ALAM

SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN

Y.B. TUAN RONNIE LIU TIAN KHIEW
 PENGERUSI JAWATANKUASA TETAP KERAJAAN TEMPATAN, KAJIAN DAN PENYELIDIKAN

PEJABAT AHLI MAJLIS MESYUARAT KERAJAAN NEGERI SELANGOR

TINGKAT 15, BANGUNAN SSAAS

40503 SHAH ALAM

SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN

We, representatives of nationally registered societies for the disabled in the country are alarmed and dismayed by the recent attempts by some quarter’s criticism to try and stop Anthony Siva Balan Thanasayan from becoming councillor of the city of Petaling Jaya.

Thanasayan had already been selected to serve the 2012/2013 term and we deeply regret that the personal attacks by a disgruntled few have resulted in his delay in being appointed as councillor.

As such, we would like to strongly urge the Menteri Besar not to be influenced by the baseless allegations made by the some individuals.

Rather we would like Tan Sri Khalid to immediately reappoint Thanasayan as councillor as planned and judge him by his impeccable performance. 

Thanasayan was responsible to bring not one, but two outstanding OKU awards for MBPJ during his tenure.

The first one is called Anugerah Khas Kemudahan OKU 2009/2010 untuk Anugerah Alam Sekitar Bandar Lestari Anjuran KPKT. The second one is Anugerah Khas Kemudahan OKU 2010/2011 Anjuran SUK.

In addition to that, we want Thanasayan back for the following key reasons:

• To complete all the projects and programmes that Thanasayan pioneered for the benefit for people with disabilities and the elderly in Petaling Jaya. These include never before covered car parks for the handicapped, outreach programmes to renovate toilets and living conditions for the disabled and elderly in poorer parts of PJ such as Taman Medan and PPR flats in Kota Damansara.
• Thanasayan also pioneered the State to set up disability committees in all 12 of its councils. Thanasayan was assigned with his special committee by YB Ronnie Liu to follow up with each councils with visits and support to ensure that the special committees are up and running. The setting up of such committees in each PBT is vital to ensure that the needs of the disabled especially in accessibility is met.
• Thanasayan has also been working with a broad group of people with disabilities – not only with people in wheelchairs but the blind, Deaf, little people, people with stroke, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and even people with mental illness.
• We urge the Selangor State Government to appoint more disabled councillors in the PBT’s. The disabled communities hereby would like to highlight there are no new disabled councillors appointed for the new term’s.      

The abovementioned statement is endorsed by:

1. Independent Living and Training Centre Malaysia
2. Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive) 
3. Persatuan Warga Istimewa & Rehabilitasi Anggota K9, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Perwira K9 Malaysia
4. Community Services for the Deaf
5. Dyslexia Association of Malaysia
6. Friends of Kota Damansara.