2011 has been a great year. So many good things happened that I can only declare this the most interesting one yet. If only every year could be like this. Never mind that it began by having me to pay nearly RM6,000 including fine, for failing pay tax that I did not realise I had to. Like a good citizen, I promptly paid up to avert being taken to court or get blacklisted and prevented from travelling overseas.

The highlight was certainly getting the Tilite ZRA Series 2 titanium wheelchair. It was the culmination of three months of researching on getting the right measurements and cushion, and seeking advice from the good folks at CareCure Community Forum. To all who had responded, my sincerest gratitude for helping me get my first rigid chair and best one to date. My posture has improved tremendously. I like how my reflection looks now. I also got the FreeWheel which attaches to the footrest and allow the wheelchiar to traverse rough terrains better as compared to the tiny front casters.

Japan was hit by a massive earthquake in March off the pacific coast of Tohoku. A devastating tsunami quickly followed and damaged three reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant and caused a major meltdown. While I grieved for the tens of thousands who lost their lives, are injured, missing and became homeless in the aftermath, I breathed a sigh of relief to be informed that my friends in Tokyo were safe.

April brought sad news of a death in the family. My ah tneoh, husband of the youngest maternal aunt, passed away. Ah Tneoh, Ah Cheng Ee and Eng Keng, my cousin, were as close to me as a family as they ever could be. Among them, I have always felt loved. I am still grieving over his passing. Rest in peace Ah Tneoh.

This is a busy year of facilitating workshops and training on disability. In April and May, I co-facilitated with Dr. Kenji Kuno on Disability Equality Training for Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) and Malaysia counterparts at PLPP Bangi and the Return to Work Section of the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) at Menara PERKESO in Jalan Ampang respectively. In August, I co-facilitated with Dr. Naziaty Yaacob and three others on Access Audit Training for SOCSO for the Return to Work Section at Wisma PERKESO in Jalan Tun Razak.

The Star published an article that I submitted on my experience as a person with spinal cord injury. The piece titled “Moving On” was for the Close to Heart column. I would like to thank Cheng Bee of Star 2 for giving me this opportunity to personally share my life in a mainstream newspaper. Unfortunately, I was unable to submit more stories. Somehow, I could not find the time to gather my thoughts again for another article.

The best gift for this year is undoubtedly from Wuan. She gave me the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone as a birthday present. I like most of the features but the one that I use most often is the 8 megapixel camera. Although I am still learning to capture nice images with it, I created a photoblog called Quick Takes to showcase some of those images.

For five days in October, I commuted to daily to AirAsia Academy in Sepang to co-facilitate as a senior trainer for DET for the DET and DSRT Training the Trainers Programme. The trainers from Thailand and Indonesia would be conducting those trainings for the ground and air crew of AirAsia on disability. I had participated in a one-day mock training at the same venue in September. The training itself was interesting but the daily commuting that took 90 minutes daily truly worn me out at the end of the training. Nevertheless, I am glad I could pass on what I have learnt for the trainers to apply in their own countries.

Healthwise, my kidneys have been holding up pretty well. The renal profiles in March, July and December did not show significant changes. My cholesterol level is a different story though. Due to my sedentary lifestyle they are elevated. I was advised to go on Lipitor to keep it in check. I will be taking it for two months beginning today and then get my blood tested for side effects.

I got to know of Tim Abbott throught Twitter. He is the host “Technical Difficulties”, a radio programme on disability for Resonance 104.44fm which is based in the United Kingdom. Tim invited me to go on the air for a live interview with him in the show in November. That was my first one-on-one live radio show with a station in the United Kingdom. Among the topics we covered were my experience with disability, and the built environment and public transport in Malaysia.

To cap up a year filled with facilitating workshops on disability, the Counselling, Career and Disabled Persons Section of University of Malaya invited me to conduct a workshop on DET for the university’s staff and students on December 29. The infrasturcture of the university itself is generally still inaccessible. However, I am happy to see that the participants were eager to exact change to ensure that disabled people have equal opportunities to study there.

Of all the things that happened this year, I am most thankful that Wuan has been very supportive of my endeavours. Nobody says it better than Anne Murray in her song Nobody Loves Me Like You Do. Wuan, I hope I am as good a companion as you have been to me. I pray that 2012 will bring us many more blessings.

To family and friends offline and online, I thank you for enriching my life. To new friends, I am thankful for you coming into my life. Please know that I cherish your friendship although we may not interact much. One time or another, and especially when I go through the list in my phone and Facebook, I tell myself how blessed I am. Know that you are part of what shapes my outlook in life.

With that, I wrap up my year in review for 2011. My only regret is that I could not blog more often. The irresistible Facebook and Twitter took up much of my online time. If there is anything that I like in 2012, it is to see the government taking more pro-active actions to empower and enable disabled people for us to achieve equality in all areas in society. Happy New Year everyone!

The Seksyen Kaunseling, Kerjaya dan OKU (Counselling, Career and Disabled Persons Section) of Universiti Malaya organised the Bengkel Disability Equality Training (Disability Equality Training Workshop) on December 29. This workshop at the Dewan Perdana 1 at Kompleks Perdanasiswa was to promote awareness of disability issue in the campus. The participants include students, staff from the various faculties, Student Affairs Divisons (Bahagian Hal Ehwal Pelajar), Residential College (Kolej kediaman), library, Examination Section (Seksyen Peperiksaan), security and the Counselling, Career and Disabled Persons Section.

Emcee opening the Disability Equality Workshop (DET) Workshop at University Malaya.
Photo by Wuan.

The two-hour session on DET was conducted using the Facilitated Participatory Learning (FPL) with modules created by Dr. Kunji Kuno and DET Trainers from the United Kingdom. Participants were led through various exercises using images and videos to deepen their understanding on disability and methods to remove barriers using the “open box solution”. Although one session is insufficient for DET, I am glad to note that the participants already had a good grasp of disability issues.

Peter Tan explaining about Disability Equality Training (DET) Workshop at Universiti Malaya.
Photo by Wuan.

I was made to understand that the Seksyen Kaunseling, Kerjaya dan OKU will be organising a follow-up workshop with a longer duration some time next year. This is good news to end the year with where disability matters in Malaysia is concerned. Society is slowly making an effort to understand issues faced by disabled people and also warming up to the notion of making the built environment accessible. I hope the other universities and schools will emulate Universiti Malaya in taking this step in changing attitudes and breaking barriers to make education accessible and available to everyone in Malaysia. A big thank you to Puan Maznah Azis for coordinating this workshop and making sure that everything that I requested were provided for a smooth running of the session.

Participants discussing in groups during one of the DET exercises.
Photo by Wuan.

Group work poster on video analysis for DET Workshop.
Photo by Wuan.

Peter Tan joining in one of the group discussions at the DET Workshop.
Photo by Wuan.

Char koay teow is an institution by itself in Penang. Every decent kopitiam, market, food court and pasar malam (night market) will have at least one stall dishing out greasy portions of this staple to diners from early morning till late night. Char koay teow stalls can easily be identified by the clanging of frying ladles against wok, the unmistakeable aroma and sometimes spicy fumes that could choke nostrils to the extent of inducing bouts of sneezing and coughing.

The basic ingredients are koay teow (flat rice flour noodles), taugeh (bean sprouts), heh (prawns), hum (cockles), koo chai (chives), lap cheong (Chinese waxed sausage), hiam cheo cheoh (chili paste) and eggs. What makes one char koay teow unique from another is the sauce and the add-ons such as crab meat, extra large prawns and mantis prawns. I must say that I am not a fan of extra large prawns in my char koay teow, preferring medium sized prawns with a generous portion of koay teow.

The hawkers have their own secret recipes for the sauce which they jealously guard from their peers. It will take more than a generous amount of money and persuasions, gentle or otherwise, to convince them to part with that secret. Apparently, from what I gathered from years of eating char koay teow, the sauce contains a blend of light soya sauce and fish sauce, among others.

Having said that, the clincher for an irresistible plate of char koay teow is, undoubtedly, how well the hawker is able to control the heat in the wok, which the Chinese calls “tiah khee” or “wok hei”, meaning “Qi of the wok”. Too much and everything in the wok becomes charred; too little will leave the dish with a “half-cooked” essence. Getting the wok to that right temperature is a skill that takes years of practice to perfect.

When I was growing up at Jalan Terengganu in Penang, I used to patronise the char koay teow hawker near the small roundabout at Caunter Hall. It was just down the road from where I lived. We all called him Ah Beng although we never knew for sure if that was his real name.

Ah Beng operated from a tricycle cart parked on the pavement. He used charcoal fire which is believed to make the koay teow more fragrant. Whenever he wanted a bigger flame he would tug on a cord to manually spin a small fan that fed more air into the mouth of the stove, and as a result stirred up sparks and embers that added more drama to his frying antics.

Those days, one could bring an egg or two from home to be added to the koay teow without extra charge even though the hawkers had eggs by the trayful at their stalls. That was exactly what I used to do then to get 20 sen off for a plate of Ah Beng’s char koay teow. Try that now and the hawkers would give you dirty looks and may even refuse to serve you.

I have never had a liking for cockles and chives. My usual order would be “mai hum mai koo chai”. And Ah Beng was always generous with bak eu pok (crispy pork lard) which made it even more palatable. There was little space to sit and enjoy his char koay teow where he plied his trade. I usually ordered take away. He would wrap them in used newspaper lined with a piece of banana leaf.

It has been more than two decades since I last had a taste of Ah Beng’s char koay teow. One day, he just did not open for business. Rumour swirled around on the reasons of his sudden disappearance. I was more concerned with not being able to get char koay teow that I grew up eating anymore. I have since moved on to appreciate char koay teow from other stalls. Like they say, the first is the best. No other char koay teow in Penang can quite compare to Ah Beng’s charcoal fired char koay teow stirred in with an egg brought from home. That was simply delicious beyond words.