13 June 2013| last updated at 11:53PM

MPS hits brakes on cable-car project

By HALIM SAID | streets@nstp.com.my 

REGULATIONS: The Batu Caves temple management has been issued a stop-work order for failing to submit building plans to the council for approval

BATU CAVES: THE Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) has issued a stop-work order on the cable car project initiated by the Batu Caves Temple management.

This followed the recent Selangor Economic Action Council meeting to resolve issues of illegal buildings within the temple's compounds.

The temple committee is alleged to have failed to submit the building plans for structures built in the temple complex.

According to MPS president Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain the State government had given him six months to solve the issue of building structures which had not been approved by the council. This included the 42.7m high Lord Murugan statue.

The statue, which cost RM2.5 million, was unveiled in 2006 during the Thaipusam celebration. Construction of the statue took three years to complete.

Azizi said 20 buildings and some idols in the temple area were deemed to be illegal structures as no building plans were submitted to the council although the structures had already been built many years earlier.

Azizi said the temple management had to submit building plans to comply with the regulations before the council could lift the stop-work order on the cable-car project.

"The cable-car project was given the green light early this year but was stalled due to building discrepancies involving safety which had to be resolved first," he said.

He said the council is still waiting for the temple management to submit the building plans which it requested early this year.

"In order for the cable car project to resume, they need to submit the building plans for reasons of public safety," he said.

Azizi said the order to submit building plans was not only served to the Batu Caves temple management but also to the Seni Silat Lincah organisation, YTL batching plant and Dolomite Properties Sdn Bhd.

"All of these organisations did not submit their building plans and we want them to do so or MPS will be issuing them compounds for building illegal structures," he said.

The Sri Maha Mariamman Devasthanam temple management, which is the caretaker of the Batu Caves' temples and complex facilities, had in an earlier report said that it planned to complete the cable car project by the next Thaipusam.

Temple committee chairman Datuk R. Nadarajah said the cable-car project would benefit the elderly and disabled who are unable to climb the 272 steps leading to the cave temple.

At press time, the temple management could not be contacted for comments.

Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain says the temple management has to comply with the council’s regulations

Thursday June 13, 2013

Bundle of joy for dad

Wheel Power
By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

THERE is no greater joy for a man than this: to become a first-time father of a child. And the feeling of jubilation is heightened if you happen to be a disabled dad.

As Father’s Day approaches this Sunday, Jeyaraj Santraju is feeling on top of the world.

“After years of waiting for a child, God gave my wife and I, a beautiful baby boy last month – just in time for Father’s Day!” says Jeyaraj, 35, who resides in Rawang, Selangor.

Jeyaraj, a paraplegic, is married to 38-year-old Bavani who is non-disabled. The couple fell in love and married six years ago.

“Having little Phavickneyaraj in our lives elicited mixed feelings for me,” says Jeyaraj. “I feel extremely proud and happy to become a father. Yet, I’m a little nervous as to whether I can live up to my boy’s expectations and be a great father to him, with my wheelchair and all. Being a father comes with a huge responsibility.”

Jeyaraj was working as a technician in Singapore when he was involved in an industrial accident in 2006. The doctors told him that he would be bedridden for life, but he surprised them when he started sitting up in his bed and wheelchair within a week.

After three months, Jeyaraj was out of the rehabilitation centre and returned to Malaysia to start a new life.

Jeyaraj had been dating Bavani for two years prior to the accident, and he was faced with the nightmare of losing the love of his life. But the disability only made the couple’s love grow stronger for each other. They married a year later.

“I don’t know what a father’s love is because I grew up surrounded by my siblings and my mother,” admits Jeyaraj. “But I would like to bring my son up to accept people, despite their differences. I will be there for him in every situation, even though I am disabled. I can’t wait to see him crawl, utter his first words, and of course, I can’t wait to hear him call me ‘papa’.

“My wheelchair will not stop me from doing everything I can to be my boy’s hero in every sphere, where it involves play, studies or sports.”

Jeyaraj recalls the first time he gingerly picked up his little boy.

“He was so fragile. I was worried that I might drop him. I promised my wife that I would take turns to care for him at night,” shares Jeyaraj.

“I enjoy feeding him, changing his diapers and reading bedtime stories to him. All these chores require me to be extra careful in ensuring that my wheelchair locks are firmly in place.

“I know the day will come when Phavickneyaraj will pop the inevitable question that all wheelchair dads get asked: why are you in a wheelchair? When that happens, I believe I will have the right answer for my little boy.”

In the meantime, Jeyaraj’s wish for Father’s Day is that all local councils will change their mindsets about disabled people.

“Local councils should take steps to make the environment disabled-friendly. As a father who is a wheelchair-user, I would like to take my little boy to the playground, but I worry that it may not be accessible to wheelchairs. In fact, I have dreams of taking my son jungle-trekking, and participating in adventure sports when he is older.

“Becoming a parent is not the dream of the able-bodied only. They are very much the hopes of disabled persons, too, no matter what their handicapping conditions.”