Disabled community and meaningless handouts
The best budgets have always been the ones that reached down to ordinary persons like the handicapped who soldier on in a society that is built for them just to live for another day.
The national budget is upon us once again.
On Oct 25, the prime minister will, sometime in the late afternoon, walk up to the podium in Parliament House in Kuala Lumpur and reveal the “goodies” to the nation ‘live’ on nationwide radio and television.
Watching the most important minister in the country deliver his time-long and lengthy speech – only to be interrupted with a glass of water from time to time to soothe his hoarse and parched throat – used to be an eagerly sought after tradition by waiting at the TV sets for me and many of my disabled chums.
Unfortunately, until recently, annual budget speeches are no longer a top 10 item anymore.
That’s because the past few ones have been one of the worst for the disabled community.
Sure, the “disabled” gets mentioned in almost every budget speeches without fail.
But nowadays what was once “good news for the handicapped” only ends up to being nothing more than tokenisms and meaningless handouts giving the impression to the unknowing public that the handicapped are still considered “special” in our society.
One of the best budgets wheelchair users, in particular, enjoyed was the very last one that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad delivered before he left office.
He announced free road taxes for cars for the disabled. This was to encourage more disabled Malaysians to get cars in order to become financially independent.
It was originally intended to include all disabled persons such as the blind and the deaf but over time, bureaucrats changed it to only mean the physically handicapped.
Why it became so is anyone’s guess. And why it can’t include disabled persons of all categories is also baffling as having ensured that the entire community benefits from free road taxes (unless of course, one didn’t possess a car) would have told the world how great our country is to think of our truly disadvantaged community.
Dr M’s budget also raised the ceiling for those qualified for employment allowance from RM250 to RM750.
I was there when it happened. A group of us in wheelchairs suggested it to Dr M himself – who was also Finance Minister – during a pre-budget meeting.
As soon as the meeting was over, Mahathir came over to us and shook our hands warmly and quipped, “Make sure you guys don’t speed on the roads after this!”
Some suggestions for Najib
The best budgets have always been the ones that reached down to ordinary persons like the handicapped who soldier on in a society that is built for them just to live for another day.
Here are some suggestions for Budget 2014 that can make a meaningful difference in our lives and helps us go a long way:
1. RM500 monthly allowance for all disabled persons with a disabled identification card: Talk about expensive! Living costs in addition to wheelchair costs, repairs, urine bags, medication and others are always spiralling. Although it is said in paper that medication is free, most wheelchair users with wounds end up having to buy dressing aids and creams in private pharmacies because government hospitals don’t stock such medications.
The situation is exacerbated when the disabled person is unemployed or loses his job after a permanent accident. The monthly aid should be given regardless of whatever other (often very little) aid they may already be getting from the government.
2. The present RM300 aid a month that only workers with disabilities are qualified for should be reviewed and raised to at least RM500.
3. Free telephone and internet charges up to RM200 monthly. Information technology is our way of “getting out” of our homes, learn critical support information about our disabilities (which hospitals rarely tell us), make friends and find opportunities to work from our homes.
4. Rebate on utility bills: For bedridden patients, especially those who have bedsores need to have air conditioning or electric beds and special air mattresses which consume high electricity bills.
5. Fuel subsidy and free toll: These help the disabled save every sen in order to use it for other necessary and emergency expenses related to their handicaps in order to raise our quality of lives.
6. Personal Care Attendants: These are specially trained men or women helpers paid by the government to assist profoundly disabled persons with our daily chores which we can’t perform by ourselves. These include daily living skills like dressing up, transferring from the bed to the wheelchair, bathing, eating and other basic needs to assist all our yet undiscovered Malaysian ‘Stephen Hawking’s’ in our society.
With an increasing ageing population all over the world, governments including those in Asia are beginning to look at Personal Care Attendants to take care of the disabled and elderly in the future.
With old age comes disability. This is a true fact that our society needs to face squarely instead of trying to sweep in under the carpet.
Looking into such needs and services are not an option but a must. And it is high time that Budget 2014 starts to address these issues.
What plans does our nation currently have in preparing for an older society of Malaysians and persons with disabilities?
Anthony SB Thanasayan is a wheelchair and animal activist. He is also a city councillor.
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