Mercedes-Benz Malaysia and Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP) hosted over 150 children and 20 wheelchair-bound individuals to a fun-filled afternoon of musical delights celebrating famous heroic tales at the ‘Heroes and Heroines’ Open Rehearsal by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) conducted by Matthew Coorey and presented by Kevin Hathway.
The ‘Heroes and Heroines’Open Rehearsal was held especially for underprivileged children and wheelchair-bound individuals giving them the chance to enjoy a concert experience in a world-class hall. 
The experience also provided an exclusive look into the working sessions of an orchestra.
We all know the kind of nightmarish encounters such a task would, more often than not, entail. Un-flushed toilet bowls, broken or missing taps and toilet seats, tissues that are nowhere in sight; you get the picture.
However, fortunately there was a special twist in our particular mission.
We were – thank heavens – to only look out for disabled-friendly loos.
Our target: some of the most important government buildings that the members of the public frequent.
And so an unlikely pair of journalists – a writer by the name of Priya Menon and Munirah Muzamer, a photographer – together with another wheelchair user like me, Francis Siva, we took off to our destinations.
Francis and I made a sort of a perfect combination between us because he was paralysed from his neck down and I, from the waist below.
Our feedback towards the exercise would be more comprehensive with our varied and specific needs, we thought. 
As council members of the city of Petaling Jaya’s (MBPJ) disability technical committee, our first stop was naturally at the PJ Civic Centre.
Needless to say the architects who designed this landmark building in its original form had obviously never dreamt of disabled and elderly people patronising the building.
And although years later a ramp was constructed outside and inside the building, no attention was given to the restroom even though a wider cubicle of sorts that can squeeze in wheelchairs are available both at the men’s and women’s section.
To access the restrooms, however, one had to contend with a step with his or her wheelchair until recently, when a ramp was installed.
But sad to say the ramp is still not suitable because of its steepness.
The good news, however, is that planning has already been underway at MBPJ over the past several months to overcome all the challenges presented by the older designs.
The Civic centre will be undergoing some major renovations very soon where all the facilities will be revised to become more user-friendly.
For the first time in the building’s history, a special place in one of the best spots in the auditorium where performances are held has been specially reserved so that at least two wheelchairs can be “parked” there.
Our second stop at the Kelana Jaya Swimming Pool was most frustrating as wheelchairs had to be carried up and down a flight of steep steps to get to the pool area.
Once inside, there were more steps to the changing rooms and toilets.
What is ironical is that I am told that a few disabled swimming championships have been held at the very pool where makeshift ramps and other alternatives were included to facilitate wheelchair-using athletes.
It is high time that MBPJ took up the challenge to overcome the various obstacles in the building to incorporate permanent structures so that even the ordinary disabled member of the public can use the pool without difficulty.
For those who are unfamiliar, people who are paralysed in their legs can still swim with their hands. It is not only an excellent all-rounder exercise for them but it also provides a great source of therapy by allowing them to move about in the pool without the need for wheelchairs.
At the national registration and immigration offices in Damansara in Kuala Lumpur, we made the shocking discovery that no handicapped toilets could be found.
The only one that they said was accessible was too far away for us to even try because it was several blocks away. 
But an even bigger horror awaited us at the KL Social Welfare Department which was located at the ninth floor of the Grand Seasons Avenue in Jalan Pahang.
Here is where people in wheelchairs and the elderly frequent to get aid from the government.
We couldn’t believe our eyes when we came across the toilets for disabled men and women in separate sections that used mere shower curtains as a door and to make up one side of the walls. There was no way that a person using it could not expose himself or herself to the able-bodied others in the restrooms.
There was hardly any room to manoeuvre a wheelchair and no grab bars in sight posing an extremely dangerous situation of handicapped users falling down and injuring themselves.
I couldn’t believe that here was an institution that was supposed to be caring and looking into the needs of the disabled – and yet, obviously having no qualms about allowing such a situation to go on for several years. 
When asked, their reply was “they couldn’t do anything about it as the building didn’t belong to them”.
However, as soon as I reached home I received a piece of good news on the telephone from the top management of the building.
They had learnt of our visit at their premise and informed me that a proper toilet will be built for the disabled at both the men’s and women’s section.
The toilets should ready by this week.
The End
ILTC members were invited to witness of the signing ceremony for the RATIFICATION of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development towards protecting the rights of persons with disabilities and for the improvement of the living standards of disabled people in Malaysia
The names are scheduled to be announced at any time now. All councillors lose their post on Tuesday, next week, and the new ones will be sworn-in on Wednesday.
On another note, we are anxiously looking at Selayang to see if a disabled councillor will be appointed there since a disabled councillor was replaced by an able-bodied representative a year ago.
Late Moorthy Maniam is a national hero. He had been a member of the Independent Living & Training Centre (ILTC) and also Malaysian team that had climbed Mount Everest.
In January 2005, Moorthy took part in the Thaipusam festival in Batu Caves by carrying a ‘paalkudam’ (or milk pot) and shaving his hair. He was apparently carried up the 256 steps of the Sri Subramaniar Temple at Batu Caves in his wheelchair by RELA volunteers. 
Easy does it: Guards helping Francis down the stairs after a futile attempt to check toilets for the disabled at the MBPJ swimming pool.
Aghast: Anthony (right) and Francis were livid to find a shower curtain being used as the ‘door’ for a toilet for the disabled at the Social Welfare Department.
“They build toilets with outdated specifications from the Public Works Department. None of them can be used in this day and age,” Anthony said during a spot check to several locations in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur.
The first stop was the Petaling Jaya City Council’s (MBPJ) Civic Centre where the toilets were not up to par, but proved to be better than the rest of the toilets seen that day.
The next stop was the MBPJ Swimming Pool in Kelana Jaya. His first step into the centre proved to be difficult as there were no ramps to assist the wheelchair-bound Francis. The guards and officers had to carry him into the lobby but Francis had to give up on his check after coming to a second set of stairs leading to the pools and the toilets.
“There are no ramps for us to move freely into this building. Swimming is a great therapy for the disabled and yet they have deprived us of this facility,” Francis said.
The team then headed to the Pusat Bandar Damansara National Registration and Immi-gration departments and were shocked to note that no toilet facilities for the disabled could be found. When asked, a cleaner said the disabled toilet was located several blocks away.
Tight squeeze: Francis faced difficulty getting into the toilets at the Civic Centre in PJ.
From there, they moved on to the KL Social Welfare Department at the Grand Seasons Avenue in Jalan Pahang.
Anthony and Francis were livid to find a shower curtain being used as the door of toilet for the disabled. According to an official from the department who declined to be named, they could not renovate the toilets because they were only tenants and proper toilets were available on the ground floor. While this was true, Francis argued that the older generation and the disabled were forced to come down nine floors to use the toilet.
“Toilets for the disabled in Malaysia should have several things, including a sliding door, space, a toilet bowl with the right height, a siren, an emergency bell pull, the mirror at a lower angle and proper flush handles,” added Anthony, who is also an MBPJ councillor.
He added that the toilets should be built after consulting a disabled person who is knowledgeable and the toilets should be built for those with profound disabilities in mind.
Over the years, they have been fed with many excuses and both believe the excuses can no longer be accepted.
“Anyone can become disabled one day. They think it is only a small community but according to research by the United Nations, by the year 2035, 10% of the world population will be the elderly and, by 2040, there will be more elderly than children,” Anthony said.
Francis added that the government needed to look into these facilities, especially in key government offices and areas like hospitals and police stations.
“The planning should be done now for the future in order to accommodate the growing number of disabled and the elderly,” he said.
Golongan sasar diberi perhatian
PETALING JAYA SELATAN - Pejabat Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) Taman Medan dengan kerjasama Jabatan Perancangan Pembangunan Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) akan mengadakan program bantuan berterusan kepada golongan miskin, orang kurang upaya (OKU) dan warga emas di Taman Medan.
MBPJ reaches out to poor 
Thoughtful service: Haniza (middle), Sharipah (right) and Anthony unveiling the van used to transport disabled persons around the city.
Towards disabled-friendly buildings in PJ
At the launch: Puasa (second from left) flanked by MBPJ councillors Richard Yeoh, Puasa and Anthony Thanasayan with Sharipah and Living and Training Centre (ILTC) president Francis Siva.
