Thursday June 14, 2012

Show of unity

WHEEL POWER 
By ANTHONY THANASAYAN
star2@thestar.com.my

A big show of support gets a disabled elderly couple a low cost flat to stay in.

LAST week was unbelievable! It started on a very happy and positive note. The long and much anticipated swearing-in ceremony of the remaining four city councillors of Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) was finally announced. The solemn event took place on Monday afternoon in the mayor’s office.

My name appeared on the list with three newcomers. I was simply overjoyed to be given another chance to serve the residents of Petaling Jaya.

As it turned out, the three-month wait was a blessing in disguise. It gave me time to do a lot of serious thinking and soul-searching about all that I had done under the council. It also helped me to decide what I want to prioritise and do in future.

The experience not only helped strengthen my resolve as a councillor, but it also enabled me to develop newer strategies for success, in particular, over my two pet projects – disability and animal welfare.

No sooner had I gotten in, I was swamped with congratulatory messages. People also wanted to know when I could start following up on their issues again.

One resident leader, for instance, wanted me to get MBPJ to take action against the illegal hawkers who were causing a nightmare in the neighbourhood with their rubbish, noise and weekend traffic jams.

Another call was about a drain-repair promise that was not fulfilled. A dangerous pothole was also waiting to be fixed.

A chief project on my plate, however, is to work with the engineering department to build a disabled-friendly carpark and wheelchair ramp for a state assemblyperson’s service centre in a poor area of PJ. This will involve making numerous visits to the site to make sure the specifications are followed to the letter.

Last Friday, I had the privilege of being invited by the almost 90-year-old Malaysian Kennel Association (MKA) to join them in an important meeting with the Subang Jaya council (MPSJ) over last month’s dog attack that killed an elderly jogger.

The presentation by the MKA was brilliant. We saw a number of statistical data from other countries where banning dog breeds did not reduce dog attacks. Rather, it was education about responsible pet ownership that eventually brought about positive results.

The highlight of the week, however, was clearly the protest organised by about 30 wheelchair-users against the Kuala Lumpur city council (DBKL).

I joined them, too. The experience was incredibly eye-opening. We were there to show our dissatisfaction and disgust in the way a 60-year-old wheelchair-user’s plea to City Hall for a unit in a low-cost flat fell on deaf ears for over two years.

The elderly man, who had polio as a child, works as a toilet cleaner and has been forced to sleep in his car in the carpark of the flat all this while.

Even the Welfare Department, according to him, had turned down his request for help only the week before, saying that there was nothing that they could do.

This sad state of affairs prompted the handicapped community to come together and declare that such apathy was totally unacceptable in any government and society.

Even though it took them an hour or two just to get ready, they arrived in their wheelchairs and walking sticks. Several of them had no transport of their own. They took taxis to get there, even though they could ill afford to. Others came in their three-wheeled motorcycles. One or two came in their own cars.

The sight of such strong support from the disabled community made the elderly man and his wife choke back their tears as they poignantly told their story to the press.

We said we would not go back home until the DBKL gave the couple a unit to stay that very day.

Some of us even suggested that until City Hall provided the unit, the gentleman and his wife should be put up in a hotel as the local council’s guests.

We said this because DBKL had given him a letter in early 2011, promising him a unit.

The episode fortunately ended with good news. The top brass instructed that a unit be prepared and given to him within 48 hours.

Despite all the difficulty it took to hold the press conference, all of us were glad that the couple would soon have a proper place to sleep in at night.

But the question that keeps burning in our hearts is: does it have to take such a big show of support for people with special needs for local councils to take notice of them?