Society of the Disabled Persons Penang president Teh Lay Kuan who was spotted with three other association members at the Komtar terminal, said she decided to try out the new bus service after hearing so much about it.
“The service is satisfactory but I hope the state will keep its promise to have disabled-friendly buses and infrastructure like lower curbs and ramps eventually,” she said.
The Star Metro/North – Thursday, August 02, 2007: Rapid Penang bus grinds to a halt
How can the leader of a disabled persons association say that RapidPenang bus service is satisfactory? None of the buses are accessible to wheelchair users. How can she praise a bus company that said boarding wheelchair users will delay bus schedules? Is she not concerned that the group of people that she represents is being openly marginalized by such exclusion?
How can she commend a bus company that said it needed to do a survey first before serving disabled persons but at the same time is willing to run rural routes to serve non-disabled passengers even if the bus usage is very low? Is she not perturbed that disabled persons are being denied the right to accessible public transport which effectively is denying us the right to freedom of movement?
Is she a disabled person feeling the pain of not being able to move around freely and conveniently? Does she even consider herself a disabled person at all? We can make do without such leaders in the disability movement who are not interested in advocating for an inclusive society. We need more effective leaders who are willing to do more than hoping for the government to keep to its promise.
