Ugly Malaysians

No, I am not talking about the shock most of us experience when we look at the mirror in the morning. The ugly Malaysians here are those inconsiderate few who make life miserable for many disabled people. Their acts have caused a great deal of inconvenience to us, directly and indirectly.

Accessible parking at Lot 10 blocked by a sign
Accessible parking at Lot 10 blocked by a sign.

They park indiscriminately in bays allocated to disabled people, blatantly ignoring the clamp and fine warnings because most times, this ruling is not enforced. To stop such abuse, car park managers barricade these bays with parking cones or chain them up. However, this does not solve the problem at all as the barricades also prevent disabled people from parking in the bays.

Security personnel unlocking chained up accessible parking at Jusco Kinta City Ipoh
Security personnel unlocking chained up accessible parking at Jusco Kinta City Ipoh.

Some car park managers leave a phone number to be called for assistance. Others have security personnels nearby that can be summoned by a honk. The real problems are in car parks that are barely manned, and especially when the disabled driver is unaccompanied. This restricts disabled people driving solo to only a handful of places.

Accessible parking bays at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur blocked by traffic cones
Accessible parking bays at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur blocked by traffic cones.

The act of having to put up warning signs and barricades at accessible parking bays clearly shows the mentality of some drivers. These inconsiderate people would park in one, without a second thought, if they could get away with it, and most of the time they do. This perpetuates the abuse as offenders are emboldened by the lack of enforcement.

Signboard at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur warning against abusing accessible parking
Signboard at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur warning against abusing accessible parking.

As I see it, putting up barricades is not a solution to stem this abuse. Car park managers, including local authorities, must strictly enforce the clamp and fine rule, or tow away offending vehicles. It is only through severe punitive measures that these people will be forced obey the rules and hopefully learn to be more considerate.

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.

6 thoughts on “Ugly Malaysians”

  1. i have seen this in gardens carpark many many times… the disabled parking lot at zone U is quite big, bigger than the usual normal lot. there is a big disabled sign painted in the middle of the lot, in contrasting paints (big & loud enough for even a blind person to see). & i have seen:

    1) 2 cars parking side by side on 1 disabled lot (the lot is horizontal but 2 cars parked vertically on it).

    2) 1 car with no disabled sticker or anything to indicate the driver is physically disabled (maybe this is the breed that thinks mental illness qualifies them to use disabled parking lots) parked smack in the middle of the disabled lot, covering the sign painted on it. perhaps the driver thinks… if i don’t see the sign, nobody else will, & nobody will guess it’s a disabled parking lot.

    & i have seen people dressed like working professionals step out of their cars parked on such lots, & the car will be there from morning till late evening.

    1. That is why I don’t like to park at Zone U. The accessible parkings are very limited and mostly occupied by one or two cars parked perpendicular to the bay. P2 at Zone B has 8 bays next to the travelator and another 2 outside the elevator lobby. The security personnel at The Gardens used to be quite strict. Sadly, they have slackened and have been allowing inconsiderate non-disabled people to park in the accessible bays.

  2. i even took a photo of the 2 cars parked on 1 disabled lot & sent it to the star. sadly, i don’t think it was published.

  3. I have seen non handicapped cars parked on the handicapped parking spots in the US. It is unfortunate that some people are inconsiderate. The fine is $250. I told one woman who parked illegally at the handicapped spot a while back. She responded, “I know” and walked away nonchalantly.

    1. These people just don’t care as long as it is convenient for them. How else can we educate these people other than clamp and fine or tow the vehicle away?

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