Comments on: Five Fruitful Days http://www.petertan.com/blog/2006/06/09/five-fruitful-days/ Living One Day At A Time Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:29:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Elaine http://www.petertan.com/blog/2006/06/09/five-fruitful-days/#comment-9340 Elaine Sun, 11 Jun 2006 06:56:57 +0000 http://www.petertan.com/blog/2006/06/09/five-fruitful-days/#comment-9340 Well said Peter. Both your entry and your reply. I'm behind you as far as standing up for the disabled community is concerned ;) ganbate, peter-san! Anyways, you have anymore other pics from the seminar AND workshop? I'd like to have a look. T'was a very good one indeed, but juz too bad i cudnt stay for the worshop. Keep up the good work yah? ;p <strong>Peter: Most of your photos are in Wuan's camera. I will check with her.</strong> Well said Peter. Both your entry and your reply. I’m behind you as far as standing up for the disabled community is concerned ;) ganbate, peter-san! Anyways, you have anymore other pics from the seminar AND workshop? I’d like to have a look. T’was a very good one indeed, but juz too bad i cudnt stay for the worshop. Keep up the good work yah? ;p

Peter:
Most of your photos are in Wuan’s camera. I will check with her.

]]> By: Samantha http://www.petertan.com/blog/2006/06/09/five-fruitful-days/#comment-9296 Samantha Fri, 09 Jun 2006 11:38:39 +0000 http://www.petertan.com/blog/2006/06/09/five-fruitful-days/#comment-9296 Hi Peter, I've been following your blog for a couple of weeks now. It seems that most people with physical disabilities always tend to feel that people generally discriminate or look down on them. Therefore, I can't blame them for being defensive most of the time. However, whilst it is important to acknowledge that physically-challenged people can perform their duties as well as other people, we gotta take note that there are others who use their disablilities as an excuse to obtain excessive help and sympathy. Your attempts at independent living are to be applauded. One thing I don't quite agree with you is when you say that our minds are our greatest assets. Possessing too much knowledge can be detrimental. Also, thinking that "I'm handicapped and yet I can do so many things. Therefore, I must be better than the average individual, regardless of whether they're disabled or not" is not the right attitude to have. The best asset we can have is to be humble and understanding. Being disabled is not the worst tribulation you can have in life. Everybody has their own troubles. While caring for individuals who are in the same predicament as you are, try to understand that people can be handicapped by circumstances, mental disorders, family feuds, cancer and the like. Just my two cents worth. = ) <strong>Peter: Your first statement is true. I can attest to that from what I went through. Discrimination not only happens but a lot of time it is by family members. They include parents, siblings and relatives. Many times, it has been revealed to me that people tend to see the disability first and were judged based on that rather than what they could really perform.</strong> <strong>It is also true that some disabled persons have used their impairments to garner sympathy. However, the non-disabled have also used various other means to tug at the heartstrings of kind people to achieve malicious means. This is generally a human nature rather than isolated to disabled persons.</strong> <strong>One can never have too much knowledge. Learning is a lifelong process. There is always something new to learn everyday. How you came to the conclusion that disabled people who have achieved more than the non-disabled think that they are better. Perhaps you can enlighten me on that. </strong> <strong>On the other hand, imagine being totally paralysed and having to depend totally on others for all activities of daily living. The only thing left is the mind. If that is not their greatest asset, what else is?</strong> <strong>You are right to say that everybody has their own troubles. However, it is unfortunate that this world was not built to make life easier for disabled persons. From the moment we step out from our homes, we are being discriminated upon in the form of a non-barrier-free environment. Nobody will lose anything in a barrier-free society but this is not being done.</strong> <strong>I do not understand what you were implying by saying that “While caring for individuals who are in the same predicament as you are, try to understand that people can be handicapped by circumstances, mental disorders, family feuds, cancer and the like.” If you are talking about cancer, perhaps you have missed my entries relating to that. I am a staunch supporter of the work done by the Penang Hospice Society and I fully understand what it is like to be afflicted with cancer. </strong> <strong>On top of that, Independent Living for People with Disabilities is a cross-disability movement. We not only advocate for those with physical impairments but also for the blind, deaf, psychiatric disability, intellectual disability and a host of other impairments.</strong> Hi Peter,
I’ve been following your blog for a couple of weeks now. It seems that most people with physical disabilities always tend to feel that people generally discriminate or look down on them. Therefore, I can’t blame them for being defensive most of the time. However, whilst it is important to acknowledge that physically-challenged people can perform their duties as well as other people, we gotta take note that there are others who use their disablilities as an excuse to obtain excessive help and sympathy. Your attempts at independent living are to be applauded. One thing I don’t quite agree with you is when you say that our minds are our greatest assets. Possessing too much knowledge can be detrimental. Also, thinking that “I’m handicapped and yet I can do so many things. Therefore, I must be better than the average individual, regardless of whether they’re disabled or not” is not the right attitude to have. The best asset we can have is to be humble and understanding. Being disabled is not the worst tribulation you can have in life. Everybody has their own troubles. While caring for individuals who are in the same predicament as you are, try to understand that people can be handicapped by circumstances, mental disorders, family feuds, cancer and the like. Just my two cents worth. = )

Peter:
Your first statement is true. I can attest to that from what I went through. Discrimination not only happens but a lot of time it is by family members. They include parents, siblings and relatives. Many times, it has been revealed to me that people tend to see the disability first and were judged based on that rather than what they could really perform.

It is also true that some disabled persons have used their impairments to garner sympathy. However, the non-disabled have also used various other means to tug at the heartstrings of kind people to achieve malicious means. This is generally a human nature rather than isolated to disabled persons.

One can never have too much knowledge. Learning is a lifelong process. There is always something new to learn everyday. How you came to the conclusion that disabled people who have achieved more than the non-disabled think that they are better. Perhaps you can enlighten me on that.

On the other hand, imagine being totally paralysed and having to depend totally on others for all activities of daily living. The only thing left is the mind. If that is not their greatest asset, what else is?

You are right to say that everybody has their own troubles. However, it is unfortunate that this world was not built to make life easier for disabled persons. From the moment we step out from our homes, we are being discriminated upon in the form of a non-barrier-free environment. Nobody will lose anything in a barrier-free society but this is not being done.

I do not understand what you were implying by saying that “While caring for individuals who are in the same predicament as you are, try to understand that people can be handicapped by circumstances, mental disorders, family feuds, cancer and the like.” If you are talking about cancer, perhaps you have missed my entries relating to that. I am a staunch supporter of the work done by the Penang Hospice Society and I fully understand what it is like to be afflicted with cancer.

On top of that, Independent Living for People with Disabilities is a cross-disability movement. We not only advocate for those with physical impairments but also for the blind, deaf, psychiatric disability, intellectual disability and a host of other impairments.

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