Thursday December 8, 2011

Our day to be loud and proud

INTERNATIONAL Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) took off with a blast in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, last Saturday. More than 150 people took a couple of hours off from their daily routine to join the revelry at a street party in a local neighbourhood.

They came in their wheelchairs, walking sticks and white canes. Virtually nothing could stop them. And I was there, too.

We wanted to be loud and proud on our special day, which is commemorated on Dec 3 by the United Nations each year.

The host was the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ). The mayor, Datuk Roslan Sakiman, was present. And so were the directors of MBPJ’s planning and health departments, along with a couple of the city’s councillors.

And in something that isn’t often seen, all the top brass of the PJ council stayed back right to the very end of the event. And it wasn’t difficult to see why.

Whether they were handicapped by a physical condition, blind or deaf, each of the participants under the canopy wore a bright smile. Their smiles were so infectious that it spread to the able-bodied, too, who were made up of caregivers, volunteers and MBPJ staff.

The morning began with a couple of speeches. Datuk Roslan said that Petaling Jaya was privileged and proud to commemorate International Disabled Day. His remark drew smiles, nods and claps from the disabled participants.

He reminded everyone, especially the able-bodied, that disability was everybody’s concern.

“We are all growing older every day and will one day have disabilities of our own, so we had better get used to it,” he quipped. “Thus building a Petaling Jaya city that is friendly to everyone is certainly a forward thinking move.”

The mayor then led a band of disabled activists and residents up a newly-built wheelchair ramp to the nearby shoplots. It was one of MBPJ’s best disabled-friendly designs. The gradient was as gentle as possible so that even the weakest wheelchair-user could access it.

A wheelchair-friendly covered car park was also provided next to the ramp. This was to ensure that drivers with disabilities would be protected from the elements.

The ramp led to scores of shops on the higher floors. There were numerous office lots. A restaurant was located at the far end.

The ramp even led users to a veterinary clinic and a pet food store where the elderly could patronise.

All the wheelchair-users who used the ramp and checked out the car park for the disabled, gave it a resounding thumbs-up. After the launch, the mayor and his team joined the disabled for a good half-hour of music therapy session with pounding drums and shaking tambourines.

A special guest, Ashley Bryant, from Mobility International USA, commented after the event: “I was thrilled to be among so many Malaysians with disabilities and their allies on such an auspicious day as IDPD to create a cacophony of sounds to let the world know what is happening.

“And as the ruckus turned slowly into beautiful rhythms, it was great to find a common pulse with everyone,” said Bryant, who hails from Eugene, Oregon, one of the friendliest cities in the world for persons with disabilities. Bryant was here on a group study exchange programme.

“As a rep from an organisation that has been promoting active participation of disabled people the world over in development and foreign exchange, we were delighted to see such positive changes taking place in the lives of people with disabilities in Petaling Jaya.

“It was great to see Malaysians with disabilities actively working together with the PJ local council to turn the city into a model disabled-friendly environment for all. To accomplish this, people with and without disabilities, as citizens or as policy-makers, need to tune in to one another’s needs. Only then can they really turn up the volume!” added Bryant.

As for the participants, they said they couldn’t recall an event that was so fun and exciting.