Spent the whole of today at the bridal studio with Wuan for our wedding album shoot. 11am to 11pm. It was really hard labour. I hope the photos will turn out well. I am going to whack the next person who tells me to smile. Bryan the photographer has been telling us to do just exactly that from the moment we began. 12 hours of listening him telling us the same thing is a little too much. But he had been very patient. I really hope the photos will turn out well.

Click on image for larger version.

Diasbled give thumbs up for first blind senator

VARIOUS quarters gave the thumbs up to Malaysian Asso ciation for the Blind president Professor Datuk Dr Ismail Md Salleh’s recent appointment as a Dewan Negara senator.
Ismail became the first blind person in the nation’s history to be appointed senator.

However, some also indicated that they would love to have someone who is more in touch with those at the grassroots levels.

Kuala Lumpur Centre for Inde pendent Living peer counsellor Peter Tan greeted the news with enthusiasm, stating that it marked an important move by the government, as there has not been a representative for the dis abled community in Parliament for a long time.

Despite calling the move “the first step towards change,” Tan expressed his wish to see someone elected who was more in touch with the grassroots level to better represent the disabled community in the country.

“With due respect to Ismail, I would have preferred a person with mobility impairment, spe cifically a wheelchair user, to rep resent disabled people in the Par liament. As I see it, people with mobility impairments in Malaysia are facing a host of problems that have gone unresolved for dec ades,” Tan said.

He said, Malaysia lacks an ad equate support system which al lows those who are severely dis abled to look after themselves and continue to be marginalised.

Tan added that these are the things which Ismail needs to look into as senator.

“The appointment of a disabled person as senator is a positive move by the government. I sin cerely hope that Ismail will make an effort to truly understand is sues faced by the disabled com munity.

“While issues like education, employment and accessibility are important, Ismail must never forget the plight of people with severe disabilities who are often forgotten by society and even disability advocates. These are the people whom Ismail must represent in the Parliament,” Tan said.

Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association president Anthony Thanasayan echoed Tan’s views in having a senator who was more actively involved with the grassroots.

“We have been waiting for more than 20 years for a rep resentative to be appointed to Dewan Negara and Ismail’s ap pointment came as good news,”

Thanasayan exclaimed, in which he added, “let’s face it, only a disabled person would under stand what another disabled person is going through.”

Scott Rains alerted me to the following news report. It seems that the act of discrimination against wheelchair users is not limited to Malaysia’s AirAsia. The Hindustan Times news titled Airline Displays Callousness in December 19 reported that Sanjiv Sachdeva was asked to sign a bond to absolve Jetlite from all responsibilities should anything happen to him in a flight on December 16. Jetlite is an India-based low cost carrier. Sanjiv has filed a complaint with the Directorate General of Aviation and the Commissioner of Diabilities.

In the same newspaper report, another wheelchair user Mahesh Chandrashekar was subjected to similar conditions by Deccan, India’s first low-fare airline. Mahesh was reported to have said that the language used in the indemnity form sounded prejudiced, embarrassing, derogatory and appeared as if a favour has been doled out to a passenger with disability who is travelling on a fully-paid ticket.

Indemnity forms are worded in such a way that the person who signed it absolves the airline from all blame should anything happen. Too bad if that person dies or is injured as a result of flying with the airline. To add insult to injury, if the airline has to incur additional costs because of that person, the said person has to bear all that. Tell me, where is justice in that? Heads I lose. Tails also I lose. Mana boleh? Unbelievable? Go read the indemnity form that Airsia made me sign.

N E W S

Parliament
Wednesday December 19, 2007

A realistic bill, says Shahrizat

PROVISIONS included in the Persons With Disability Bill 2007 were those which could be implemented for the disabled, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said.

“We do not want to have a bill which is nice to look at but can’t be implemented. This is a realistic bill for the disabled.”

She was replying to points raised during the debate on the bill.

Shahrizat said the Persons With Disability Bill 2007, which was later passed, was the ministry’s way to fulfil its pledge to the disabled.

She said the bill took into account the needs in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Disabled and was also in line with the national policies and action plan to ensure that the disabled lived freely and had equal rights.

She said Malaysia would sign the convention in February.

On the issue of compulsory registration of the disabled, Shahrizat said making it compulsory would be a violation of their rights.

“We respect those who do not wish to register. Perhaps one day they will be comfortable with it and then come forward to do so,” she said in encouraging them to do so.

Up to June, a total of 209,208 persons with disability were registered with the Welfare Department.

On punishment for those who breached a disabled person’s rights, Shahrizat said the bill was not punitive in nature.

“There are by-laws which we can use to take action for non-compliance,” she said.

On whether mentally ill patients were included in the bill, Shahrizat said the ministry was still in discussion with Health Ministry over the matter.

Earlier when debating the bill, Wong Nai Chee (BN – Kota Melaka) expressed disappointment that an anti-discrimination law against the disabled was not included.

“I suggest having another bill for the disabled, namely an anti-discrimination bill to protect their rights,” he said.

The government’s appointment of a disabled person as a Senator is most welcomed. Congratulations to Prof Datuk Dr Ismail Md Salleh. However, with due respect to Dr Salleh, I would have preferred a person with mobility impairment, specifically a wheelchair user, to represent disabled people in the Parliament. As I see it, people with mobility impairments in Malaysia are facing a host of problems that has gone unresolved for decades.

Disabled people need someone who feels their pain to be an effective representative. While I do not deny that people with visual impairment have their own set of problems, the most marginalised group in the disabled community are people with severe physical impairments. They are unable to be part of mainstream society because the environment is fraught with barriers that restrict their independence in every possible way.

Ours is a government that is reactive. It takes a lot of advocacy and activism on the disabled community’s part to move the government. Even then, progress is slow. Look at the advocacy that the Barrier-Free Environment and Accessible Transport Group (BEAT) has been doing for the past year. BEAT has met Datuk Dr. Ng Yen Yen, Dato’ Seri Chan Kong Choy and government officers regarding this issue. Nothing came out of those meetings. Do not be misled by the wheelchair logo on some of the RapidKL buses. These buses are still inaccessible to wheelchair users.

Sometimes, I wonder if the government is serious in wanting to resolve problems faced by disabled people or they are just doing something for the sake of showing that they are doing something. Time and again, disabled people have been disappointed by empty promises. The Uniform Building By-Law 34A that was supposed to make the environment accessible is as worthless as the paper that it was printed on. The built environment is mostly still as inaccessible as it was before the by-law was gazetted in the 90s.

The government must understand that disabled people want equality, not charity. Charity is a temporary measure that does not empower or enable disabled people in the long run. When disabled people advocate, we should not been seen as asking for more from the pie. We are asking because we have been given crumbs. We have been marginalised for so long that we have almost forgotten how good the pie tastes.

Having said all that, the appointment of a disabled person as Senator is a positive move by the government. I sincerely hope that Dr Salleh will make an effort to truly understand issues faced by the disabled community. While issues like education, employment and accessibility are important, Dr Salleh must never forget the plight of people with severe disabilities who are often forgotten by society and even disability advocates. These are the people whom Dr Salleh’s must represent in the Parliament first and foremost.

Note:
Member of Parliament for Seputeh YB Teresa Kok made same pertinent points in her speech during the debate on the Disabled Persons Bill. The speech is available in her blog.