Thursday December 15, 2011

PWDs speak up

The disabled made their presence felt at three recent events.

I HAD a most interesting opportunity recently to attend three events for Malaysians with disabilities.

They were very important for the handicapped community, and especially significant as they were all held a week after the International Day of Persons with Disabilities which was observed on Dec 3.

The occasions not only brought about a greater understanding of the struggles that people with disabilities (PWDs) have to needlessly put up with, but also presented plenty of food for thought on how they should be treated in future.

The first was a disabled rights seminar organised by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

The toilets nearest the meeting room were unfortunately inaccessible to wheelchairs. Disabled participants had to wheel themselves quite some distance to an adjacent building of the hotel to ease themselves.

Rolling our wheelchairs with the strength of only our arms all that way, coupled with our weak bladders, made the effort a most excruciating one and tested our mettle to the limits.

The issue was raised several times by PWDs at the seminar and during the breaks. Even able-bodied participants said they would not be able to attend a full-day session without using the loo.

The disabled then said they wanted to see an end to the problem of inaccessible toilets at future seminars. They even went as far as to call for a boycott of such venues – until the outlets provided friendly facilities.

Another pertinent point that was brought up was for more opportunities for the empowerment of PWDs.

Able-bodied people should take a back seat and allow the disabled to articulate their own needs, the forum was told. This includes medical doctors, social workers and those from the government. PWDs no longer wished to be viewed as patients, nor be patronised by anyone.

On its part, Suhakam did well by fully allowing these dissenting views to be expressed at the seminar.

Participants with disabilities requested that Suhakam help organise leadership programmes for them and the commission agreed.

At the second event a few days later, Santa brought good cheer to some of the poorest people in Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya.

The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) built a wheelchair ramp for disabled residents who had been virtually trapped inside their low-cost flats for years! And now, they are able to get out and mingle at the nearby stalls.

MBPJ also levelled and smoothened the pathways in the flat that were hostile to wheelchairs and walking aids.

The local council even went as far as to renovate an elderly woman amputee’s toilet with some basic user-friendly facilities.

The woman, with tears in her eyes and a big smile on her face, told me that life was miserable for her and her elderly caregiver husband until the renovations were made. She said she just could not wait to get out of her flat for a breath of fresh air every morning.

Brand new wheelchairs were given to physically disabled residents to replace their old and rickety ones. The only blind resident in the block got a bright new white cane as a present.

But the non-blind residents were not left out. They too, you might say, received “the gift of sight” that morning when MBPJ restored the lights in their lift and got it working again after it was vandalised for years.

Selangor State Executive Councillor for a Caring Government Dr Xavier Jayakumar launched the goodies with PJ Mayor Datuk Roslan Sakiman and assemblyman for the area Mohd Nasir Hashim.

“There is no more reason or excuse for disabled Malaysians and their families to feel shy about their conditions – they can now mingle and interact with the rest of society,” Dr Jayakumar said.

Later that week, the Transport Ministry held its third and last meeting of the year with all the relevant bodies and NGOs for the disabled.

Some of the issues discussed were that services in airports should be more friendly to disabled and elderly passengers, and that buggies should be made available to those who need them and not serve VIPs alone.

The ministry also announced that a new fleet of “improved” disabled-friendly buses would be in service soon, and the disabled would test them out first.

Because of the important role of the PWDs, it was suggested that more representatives from the disabled be invited to the Transport Ministry’s meetings. These include persons with Parkinson’s and stroke victims, those with profound walking difficulties, neurological conditions as well as parents and caregivers of children and adults with disabilities and little people.