Disabled senator: Best wishes from PM, criticism from community

November 19, 2013

Physically challenged translator K Bathmavathi's appointment as a senator yesterday saw some leaders of the disabled community questioning the criteria used to pick her.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has sent greetings to K Bathmavathi, a physically challenged translator who took oath as senator yesterday.

“Selamat berkhidmat,” Najib said in his latest tweet attached with a message of the Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim on the appointment.

Rohani in her Twitter account this morning thanked Najib for selecting Bathmavathi to represent people with disabilities in Malaysia.

Bathmavathi, 59, a member of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (OKU) as well as is a writer and a freelance translator was appointed as OKU Senator to replace visually-impaired economist Prof Dr Ismail Md Salleh who died of a heart attack in 2009.

However other disabled community leaders were less forthcoming in welcoming Bathmavathi’s appointment.

Anthony Thanasayan, an MBPJ councillor, questioned Bathmavathi’s contributions towards the disabled community.

“It is a wrong choice made by the ministry to have her in as a representative for the disabled as she has poor track record in helping the disabled,” he told FMT.

“What is the criteria for the selection? Who did the ministry consult before making the appointment?” asked Thanasayan

Another disabled activist, Francis Siva, said his disabled group was not consulted while making the decision for the community’s representative in parliament.

“The government did not work with the grassroots people for the selection and it is the community which is suffering due to this,” said the president of Independent Living and Training Centre for the Disabled.

He added that the disabled community needed a representative in the parliament who can work at a grassroots level.