Welcome To Sooka Sentral

Ramp at Sooka Sentral
There is nothing appetizing about this ramp.
File photo dated December 29, 2007.
Photo by Wuan.

Sooka Sentral is one of the newest landmark in Kuala Lumpur. It is located opposite the Stesen Sentral departure entrance. Both Sooka Sentral and Stesen Sentral are part of the Kuala Lumpur Sentral (KL Sentral) project that is being promoted as Malaysia’s largest transit hub.

This is the ramp leading to Sooka Sentral. This is an example of building a ramp for the sake of building a ramp. It does not serve any purpose except to show that there is a ramp leading to the building. No wheelchair user can get himself up that ramp, not even with assistance. Besides, there is no curb ramp from the road to this particular ramp. Wuan had to lift my wheelchair up a six inch curb to get to it.

Author: Peter Tan

Peter Gabriel Tan. Penangite residing in the Klang Valley. Blissfully married to Wuan. A LaSallian through and through. Slave to three cats. Wheelchair user since 1984. End-stage renal disease since 2017. Principal Facilitator at Peter Tan Training specialising in Disability Equality Training. Former columnist of Breaking Barriers with The Borneo Post. This blog chronicles my life, thoughts and opinions. Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook.

9 thoughts on “Welcome To Sooka Sentral”

  1. Peter, that is not a ramp! I think it is for skateboards!

    Peter:
    Haha… or for stuntmen in wheelchairs.

  2. It is a ramp move goods on carts around. I don’t think it is meant for wheelchair’s user.

    Peter:
    That was the only ramp around. How are wheelchair users going to get into Sooka Sentral if there is no ramp that they can use?

  3. Hi Peter, u used to know me as steelrage i think. its a crying shame to see thing things. i just wish that people would wake up. its just basic ammenities and yet we can’t seem to provide them. and by the way i don’t think that ramp is even fit for moving goods on carts around. even those ramps have a gentler gradient.

    Peter:
    Hi Adry. Of course I know who you are! ;P

    What else can I say? They won’t think about it until they truly need it.

  4. I was referring to your sentence: “It does not serve any purpose except to show that there is a ramp leading to the building.”

    The ramp does have a purpose: to allow goods to be transported on carts.

    It is not meant for wheelchair users (which admittedly does reflect badly on the building management/designer).

    Peter:
    I would like to see goods transported on carts go up that ramp.

  5. The ramp just too steep, even for carts. It is also hazardous to roll carts down the ramp. The ramp should be lowered by 15 degrees.

    Peter:
    If the ramp was really meant for carts, it will be a glaring example of misplaced priorities, and the exclusion and segregation of disabled people by a major corporation in Malaysia, especially when this is their showcase project.

  6. Then you should be there around 7-10 am weekdays when deliveries are made. There another ramp of the same gradient down the road where the MIDA building is. That one is more heavily used since the MIDA building is occupied, compared to that SOOKA building which just finished construction just months ago.

    Peter:
    That I will do if I am in the vicinity to see how functional that ramp is for delivery carts. And as you said, and I wholly agree, it reflects badly on the people who designed and the people who approved the designs there. I have written to MRCB regarding this matter. The reply was tactful but without a commitment to make amends to the situation.

  7. Hah! I remember that ramp. Hani and I were making sarky comments about how damn pointless it was.

    Peter:
    I asked Wuan if she could walk up that ramp. She did not reply and took the stairs instead. You are right. A ramp that a non-disabled persons cannot use is damn pointless. Somebody should write “Ramp Building for Dummies” for people who think a ramp is a ramp is a ramp…

  8. Well, you know, you could always make a Youtube video for the lulz.

    Mind you, you’d open yourself up to injury. Perhaps a… “stunt double”…

    Peter:
    Do you wanna be my stunt double for that act?

Comments are closed.