My plane ticket and that of my personal assistant was delivered to me this afternoon. Looks like it is all systems go for my trip to attend the 7th Disabled People’ International World Assembly in Seoul, South Korea although the organisers have not responded to some of my queries. My hotel booking has not been confirmed yet. Likewise, there is no indication of airport transfer arrangements upon arrival. I will be following up with the organisers on this in the following days. This World Assembly will be held at KINTEX from September 5 - 8.

My plane ticket was sponsored by a benefactor who prefers to remain anonymous while that of my personal assistant will be paid for by the Disabled Peoples’ International World Assembly Korean Organising Committee and the Independent Living Global Summit. I was also informed that my registration fee and accommodation will be covered as well.

Additionally, Associate Professor Tang Hang Wu has generously sponsored my personal assistant’s registration fee and other expenses not covered by the organisers. This has saved me a lot of work looking for sponsors to fund my participation and allowed me to spend more time working on the manuscript and presentation. Thanks Prof.

The title of my presentation is “Independent Living Movement in Malaysia.” Apart from speaking at the World Assembly, I will be attending other meetings on the sidelines of the conference, namely the Asia Pacific Network on Independent Living Centres (APNIL) Meeting and the Independent Living Global Summit. I foresee that it will be a busy four days in Seoul. Hopefully, the food and hectic schedule will not be too taxing on my health.

The proposal by the Ministry of Transport to make it mandatory for passengers to wear rear seat belt in all passenger cars is a good move. How many of us would have driven around without fastening the seat belt had the law not imposed a penalty against drivers and front passengers flouting it? We will never know how many lives were saved by the front seat belts but we know for sure that many lives would have been lost in accidents had it not been for those seat belts.

Rear passengers need to be protected too. It is time we ensure that everyone in the car belts up, including rear passengers. Most cars on the road are now fitted with rear seat belts. These devices are put there with a purpose. Spending 2 seconds wearing the seat belts can save us from potential injury and death. It is already there. Use it! Why take the risk? Think safety first.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi unveiled the Northern Corridor Economic Region blueprint on July 30. The NCER programme is a government initiative to accelerate economic growth and elevate income levels in the north of Peninsular Malaysia, covering Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak. According to Bernama, its key thrusts are to transform and expand the agricultural, manufacturing, tourism and logistics sectors in the region.

Penang was also declared as the logistics and transportation hub for the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) through the implementation of several massive projects namely the expansion of Penang Port and the Penang International Airport, the RM2 billion integrated terminal for rail, road and sea travel known as “Penang Sentral” and the development of the RM18bil Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) project. The initiative to develop the area into a world class economic region by 2015 will certainly bring prosperity to the people in the northern states and to Malaysians in general.

Datuk Seri Abdullah must ensure that all these projects adopt an inclusive policy to make possible for disabled persons to have equal opportunity to benefit from the massive development that is to take place. This consists of making the built environment such as buildings and walkways barrier-free, safe and functional. All public transport including the integrated rail, ferry, monorail in the Penang Sentral must also take into account the needs of people with reduced mobility and disabled persons.

An accessible environment and public transport system provide freedom to disabled persons to move around conveniently and affordably in performing tasks of daily living. This includes going to school, work, socialise, and participate in cultural, religious and political activities. Additionally, such accessibility will also attract tourists with reduced mobility such as senior citizens to visit Malaysia.

Datuk Seri Abdullah must also make sure that disabled persons can benefit from these projects through employment and other economic activities. Many disabled persons are unemployed or unable to get employment due to obstacles in the environment and public transport. Another reason is the perception of society towards disabled persons, thinking that we are inefficient and unable to perform duties entrusted to us. This, of course, is a misconception.

In conclusion, since these projects are planned from ground up there is no reason whatever not to include the needs of disabled persons at the planning stages to guarantee that at the completion of the project we are not left out again. Disabled persons have as much rights as anyone else to reap the windfall from this unprecedented growth in the northern region of Malaysia. Therefore, I humbly remind Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah to not forget or ignore disabled persons anymore. We have suffered for 50 years since our nation’s independence. Please do not let us undergo the same hardships anymore. We want to live independently and have the dignity to make choices and achieve self-determination. We just want to enjoy what non-disabled persons have taken granted for so long. Is that too much to ask for?

Wuan and I made a quick trip to Penang last Friday evening. I needed to sign some legal documents pertaining to my apartment. We started our journey at 11pm. I drove all the way to this island that I used to call home. Somewhere at the Rawang Rest and Service Area, I nearly crashed into a barrel that was resting indiscriminately in the middle of the expressway. The barrel was used as a barrier for upgrading works along many stretches of the expressway and was somehow knocked off the side of the road and rolled into the middle.

We reached Penang safely at 4am on Saturday. Slept at 5am. Woke up at 8am. Met lawyer at 11am. Signed the documents and left Penang at around 2pm - not before we went to Macalister Road for 2 boxes of Ghee Hiang’s tau sah pneah. The tau sah pneah are pastry balls with green bean paste filling. Peter, wife and their grandson hitched a ride with us. They wanted to go to Kajang where Elaine, their daughter, is residing now. We turned into Ipoh town to buy the famous Gunung Rapat beh teh soh - flaky pastry with molasses filling - the best I have eaten so far.

We then had dinner at one of the popular restaurants in Tanjung Malim. The menu was braised tofu with dried shrimps and minced pork gravy, deep-fried pig’s trotter, steamed fish and sitr-fried kangkung sambal belacan. For the price we paid, I would expect the food to taste better. I will not be returning to that place for food anytime soon.

After we dropped Peter and family off at Kajang, we reached home at about 12 midnight. It was one of the most tiring road trips Wuan and I have ever taken. We covered nearly 1,000km in 24 hours. Nevertheless, it was a trip well worth the time because I have accomplished what I was in Penang for - one of the few outstanding issues that I had promised Mum I will clear up shortly before she passed away.

Najib also said that the Transport Ministry was taking steps to address complaints by the disabled community that RapidKL and Rapid Penang buses were not disabled-friendly despite their earlier appeals.

The Star - Thursday August 9, 2007: New, bigger LCCT to be built

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s statement concerning RapidKL and RapidPenang is most welcomed. However, nasi sudah jadi bubur. It is good if the Ministry of Transport make good the statement by Dato’ Seri Najib but I should not be faulted for being cynical. Despite assurances by Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop in the press on March 18, 2007 that RapidPenang’s buses will be “disabled friendly” none were. On top of that RapidKL Chief Operating Officer Mohd. Ali Mohd. Nor informed the Barrier-Free Environment and Accessible Transport Group (BEAT) during a meeting on March 10 that the 150 buses for RapidPenang would be accessible to wheelchair users which obviously was misleading.

Retrofiting the buses already running on the roads in Penang is going to cost a lot more as compared to bringing in non-step buses in the beginning. The reason for not acquiring non-step buses for RapidPenang was given by Penang State Traffic Management Committee Chairman Dato’ Dr. Teng Hock Nan on April 26. He was reported by The Star in Buses for disabled later to have said, “The state government will bring in buses equipped with facilities for wheelchair passengers once the new RapidPenang bus system is running smoothly” because “buses with facilities for wheelchair passengers would have to stop longer for boarding and could disrupt arrival schedules.” I wrote an entry to rebut his baseless and discriminatory statement.

As for RapidKL, 100 non-step buses that they brought in were fitted with ramps and wheelchair docking systems without consultation with disabled persons on whether the fittings would be functional and safe. When BEAT viewed the buses for the first time after they were fitted, we informed Mohd. Ali Mohd. Nor that the ramps were too short and were poorly designed. In later meetings with RapidKL Corporate Communications Division Senior Manager Katherine Chew we were told that the fittings were of international standards. When questioned further what international standards were used, we were told on one occasion that it was the Swedish standards and another occasion the Australian standards. Whatever standards that were used, they certainly did not meet Malaysian disabled persons’ standards as the ramps and docking systems were neither safe nor functional. The accessible buses were to be launched on June 1 has been postponed indefinitely because of those concerns raised by BEAT.

In a meeting on May 25 chaired by the Timbalan Ketua Setiausaha (Perancangan) Kementerian Pengangkutan Malaysia Datuk Long See Wool regarding accessibility in public transport initiated by Minister of Transport Dato’ Seri Chan Kong Choy, BEAT was informed that RapidKL buses do not come under the Ministry of Transport. The Ministry of Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development are responsible for issuing licenses to buses and taxis. Therefore Datuk Seri Najib’s statement that “the Transport Ministry was taking steps to address complaints by the disabled community that RapidKL and Rapid Penang buses were not disabled-friendly despite their earlier appeals” came as a surprise. Which ministry exactly is in-charge of RapidKL? I would also like to know what steps the Ministry of Transport are taking to enable disabled persons, especially wheelchair users, to use public transport. Why was this issue not addressed at the planning stages of RapidPenang especially when BEAT had already handed a recommendation to Dato’ Seri Chan Kong Choy on March 12? The following is an extract from the recommendation:

Pengangkutan Awam Di Pulau Pinang
BEAT mengalu-alukan pengumuman oleh Perdana Menteri pada 20 Februari 2007 bahawa Rapid KL akan menubuhkan satu rangakaian bas awam di Pulau Pinang yang diberi nama RapidPenang. Kami berharap RapidPenang tidak membuat kesilapan sama seperti di Lembah Klang di mana keseluruhan perkhidmatan bas awam adalah tidak mudahcapai dan tidak mesra OKU.

Kami berharap Kementerian Pengangkutan bekerjasama dengan Kementerian Kewangan dan mana-mana kementerian lain yang berkenaan untuk mendapatkan bas non-step untuk kesemua 150 buah bas yang dibeli kelak. Golongan OKU tidak seharusnya menderita disebabkan oleh kesilapan sesetengah pihak yang tidak mengambil kira keperluan OKU dan mereka yang mengalami kesulitan pergerakan yang ingin menggunakan perkhidmatan bas awam.

Pada masa yang sama, rancangan rel bandaraya Pulau Pinang yang telah diluluskan mesti mudahcapai kesuluruhannya apabila beroperasi nanti. Tidak ada sebab yang munasabah mengapa golongan OKU disisihkan lagi dalam projek ini yang sepatutnya memanfaatkan semua lapisan masyarakat.

Dalam pada itu, kami menyeru Kementerian Pengangkutan, Kementerian Kewangan, Rapid KL, RapidPenang dan mana-mana pihak yang mewakili pengurusan projek tersebut untuk berbincang dengan pihak-pihak yang mempunyai kepentingan (stakeholders) dalam perkhidmatan bas awam di Pulau Pinang, khususnya pengguna-pengguna bas dan pertubuhan-pertubuhan OKU untuk menyelami keperluan mereka serta mendapatkan maklumbalas dan keperluan mereka dalam pembangunan yang terbaru ini.

I rest my case.