“Berdirilah kalau berani! (Stand up if you dare!)”

It is déjà vu all over again on the first session of Malaysia’s Twelfth Parliament. The above was the challenge issued by Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin to Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh. This happened after Karpal called Bung Moktar a bigfoot. Karpal sustained severe cervical injury in a traffic accident in 2005 and is currently using a wheelchair.

While Karpal’s derision was uncalled for, I take offense at Bung Moktar’s retort. Knowing that Karpal is unable to stand and yet using such a low brow challenge just goes on to show how shallow a person Bung Moktar is. I take this as an affront to all wheelchair users. We may not be able to physically stand up but that does not mean we do not have the courage to fight injustices perpetrated against us.

If Bung Moktar’s attitude is a reflection of how the Malaysian society sees disabled people, we should never ever use the word “masyarakat penyayang” again. I truly hope this is not so. If this is how Bung Moktar view disabled people - that because they cannot stand up they lack courage - then I weep for the disabled people who have voted him into Parliament. They would have gotten more respect had they voted for an orang utan or even the bigfoot.

Tags: bigfoot Malaysia, Bung Moktar Radin, Karpal Singh, Malaysia Parliament

Posts that may be related:

• Ibrahim Ali: Hello! Where Is Your Brain?
• Dewan Rakyat: Jerai MP apologises to Karpal: NST- October 30, 2007
• Jerai MP’s remarks not okay with Karpal: The Star - October 26, 2007
• Ibrahim apologises to disabled, but not to Karpal Singh: The Star - May 8, 2008
• Badruddin says sorry to Karpal: The Star - October 30, 2007

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 08:31 and is filed under Disability Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.