Peter Tan – wheelchair user – Tilite ZRA Series 2.

After a few days of looking forlornly at the partially assembled Tilite ZRA Series 2 wheelchair, I got Wuan to spend some time to perform minor adjustments and finally got to use it for a full day yesterday. Most apparent with this new wheelchair is that I am seated higher and my bare feet are very comfortable on the footrest with one piece ABS cover.

I am seated higher due to the very taut seat upholstery and the new two-inch Supracor Stimulite Sport cushion that I got to go with the wheelchair. Although the Stimulite Sport is firm, it is also surprisingly very comfortable. My buttocks have never felt so pampered in a long while.

This wheelchair will take some getting used to. The dynamics are different from the folding ultra lightweight aluminium that I have been using for the past three years. It is very responsive due to it being rigid. Over the next few weeks or even months, there will be minor tweakings to dial it in to give an even better fit.

The Tilite ZRA Series 2 wheelchair with accessories costs US$3100 (RM9920 at time of purchase) plus US$420 (RM1344) for shipping. The Supracor Stimulite Sport is another US$290 (RM928) excluding shipping. For the amount I paid, I earnestly hope this wheelchair will last a long time or at least until I have saved enough to be able to replace it.

In the meantime, I will have the broken cross brace from the aluminium wheelchair disassembled and sent for welding locally. I was quoted JPY24,000 (RM900) for replacing it. That cost excludes shipping from Matsunaga’s factory in Japan and workmanship. I figured the replacement is not worth it as this wheelchair is now relegated to being the spare wheelchair that I will hardly use.

Chinese New Year is only one week away. The excitement is building up, something that I have not felt in a while. This feeling is also partly due to the fact that the wheelchair has arrived but I am not able to use it yet. Some assembling and adjustments are needed first. I am really looking forward to getting on the new chair as the one I am using now creaks every time I shift my weight.

Nevertheless, the sight of new ang pau packets and the cookies that Wuan brought back, and the thought of being able to savour hou si fatt choy and yee sang has certainly put me in a festive mood. In the midst of all these, I reminisce about the times when I was barely a teenager, excitedly anticipating the arrival of the annual celebration. The was always an unmistakeable crispness in the air as I counted down the days, one that put spring in my steps and happiness in my face.

A few weeks before the day, the larder would already be bursting with groceries for the big cookout for the reunion dinner and new year lunch. My favourites were the puffed cream-coloured pieces of fish maw, dried shiitake mushrooms and waxed goose liver sausages; rare commodities reserved for auspicious occasions during those times. Cans of button mushrooms, lychees and longans together with a crate or two of Anchor beer would line the larder top.

Welcoming the new year could also never be complete without the hustle and bustle of spring cleaning. That was then followed by curtains and cushion covers being replaced with fresh and brightly coloured ones. Greeting cards from relatives and friends and my father’s business associates and clients decorated the metal grille in the living room. The garden was spruced up. Unkempt hedges were trimmed. The final task after all that was putting up the “cai”, the red cloth hung above the main entrance, to signify the auspicious celebration.

Those were the best times of the entire year for me as a kid – new clothes, delicious food, lots and lots of ang paus, and not forgetting the hordes of relatives that came visiting, many I only got to meet during that time. Those excitement and anxiety that I felt then is what I am feeling now. I just cannot wait for the first day of the Chinese New Year to arrive.

Cheeky checking out the box with my TiLite ZRA Series 2 wheelchair.

I was informed two Fridays ago that the wheelchair that I ordered with Bike-On had arrived at the shop from TiLite and that it would be sent to the shipper in the morning. Someone from FedEx called me last wednesday to ask what was inside the box for customs declaration at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. I told that him it is a wheelchair. He said he would declare it as such and there should not be any tax.

FedEx Shipment Travel History – Where the wheelchair went before it arrived in Malaysia.

After five nail-biting days wondering about the status of the shipment, it was finally delivered this morning. (I did not have the tracking number to follow the process.) I have installed the brakes and wheels and am now waiting for Wuan to help me with the rest. The backrest angle needs to be adjusted. I specified 95 degrees but this looks like 90 degrees. Other than that, the wheelchair looks good. I cannot wait to get on it and do a few spins around the neighbourhood.