Good Cabbie, Bad Cabbie And One Reliable Friend

Wuan accompanied me to Mines Shopping Fair to conduct a seminar last Sunday. The taxi that we took got lost just before the shopping complex and had to circle around the area looking for the correct road. That cost us another fifteen minutes. When we finally arrived, the meter showed RM14.

“I bagi you discount,” the cabbie said, admitting that it was his fault. “You bayar RM10 cukuplah.”

I looked at him and patted his back. I have never met a cabbie more honest than him.

“Tak apalah, ikut meter,” I told him.

There was a noticeable look of appreciation in his face. He deserved it anyway. When he stopped to pick us up earlier, he had helped Wuan load the wheelchair into the boot. Not many cabbies do that. Realising that he had no cord to fasten the boot cover, he put the wheelchair on the back seat instead. What more, he did not even charge us the RM1 that was usually added to the fare for extra luggage.

However, it was the total opposite when we tried to get a cab back after the seminar. There was a row of taxis waiting outside the main entrance of the shopping complex. Their engines were turned off. We knew they were not going to use the meter. When we got near, one cabbie asked us where we wanted to go.

After we told him our intended destination, he thought for a while and said, “RM35.”

Wuan told him that we only paid RM10 for the journey there. The cabbie countered by saying that he had to pay the toll and that was the standard fare they charge for that distance. We did not even want to haggle with him after that. We would have willingly paid RM15 but what he asked for was plain daylight robbery.

Lazy and unscrupulous cabbies like this give the honest and hardworking ones a bad name. Sebab nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga. They would rather loaf for hours to shark one passenger than to drive around and pick up a few more.

Mines Shopping Fair is not the only place where such extortionists roam. Wuan and I have experienced the same outside Suria KLCC and Ikano. On those times, we would usually send out a SOS to William who would come to our rescue, no matter where we were or what time it was. He came to our rescue too this time. Truly, we are blessed with a friend who had time and again retrieved us from sticky situations.

The seminar on Independent Living at the Mines ICT Able Training Institute saw a larger crowd. More than 40 people attended, mostly students from the college. It was broadcasted live over the Internet via a webcam. The seminar this time was co-organised by Sin Chew Daily and Shuang Fu Disabled Independent Living Association in conjunction with Sin Chew Daily’s Wishing Tree programme. The VIP guest for the seminar was Kenji Kuno, JICA Chief Advisor/Expert. He is the person instrumental for initiating Independent Living projects in Malaysia.

Mdm. Shen Chiu Hsiang presenting a speech before the seminar.
Photo by Wuan.

Ling Lee acted as my translator from English to Mandarin.
Photo by Wuan.

Mdm. Shen presenting me with a souvenir after the seminar. Danny Tan is in the background.
Photo by Wuan.

Group photo with the participants after the seminar.

L-r: Peter Tan, Kenji Kuno, Christine Lee and Cheng Sak Hai.
Photo by Wuan.

The entrance to Mines ICT Able Training Institute.
Photo by Wuan.

Related entry:
Sin Chew Daily – Wishing Tree: Seminar On Independent Living

The Star – August 25, 2006: Letters To The Editor

Do be disabled-friendly

EVERY time the Government announces a revamp of the public transport system, the disabled community will wait in anticipation for one that truly serves its needs.

Time and again, we were disappointed. No provisions had been made to accommodate wheelchair users in public buses.

Therefore, it was not surprising that I was filled with cynicism after reading the report on yet another revamp of the public bus system in Penang, “KL bus system for Penang, state’s transport system a failure” (The Star, Aug 24).

Public buses must not only serve people who can climb up the steps to board them.

To all intents and purposes, thought must be put into making them accessible by people who have mobility problems.

These include wheelchair users, the elderly, pregnant women and children.

The elderly have problem boarding the newest RapidKL buses that were put on the road recently. Wheelchair users have no way of getting into these buses.

Over the years, the Penang public bus system has gone from bad to worse. Old and dilapidated buses are still being used.

Should the Government decide to phase out these vehicles, I hope it will consider replacing them with no-step buses.

The height of no-step buses can be lowered to make it convenient for those with mobility impairment to get onto them.

Apart from that, they come with ramps for wheelchairs. This is the kind of public transportation that will serve everyone, including the severely disabled.

We seldom see severely disabled persons out and about here in Malaysia. It takes a tremendous amount of manpower to assist them from wheelchair into vehicles and vice versa.

An accessible and affordable bus system would reduce that hassle and allow them to get out more often.

I hope the Penang government will not only adopt the Kuala Lumpur bus system wholesale but also take into consideration the needs of the disabled community.

PETER TAN,
Pro tem president,
Society for Independent Living, Penang.