2nd Malaysian Conference On Rehabilitation
In a while, I will be going to Bangi to participate in the 2nd Malaysian Conference on Rehabilitation organised by the Malaysian Council for Rehabilitation (MCR). The conference which began yesterday is being held at Pusat Latihan Perindustrian dan Pemulihan Bangi. The theme for this conference is “Towards an Inclusive, Barrier-Free and Rights-Based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Malaysia.”
I will be speaking at the panel session on “Barrier-Free Built-Environment and Universal Design.” The topic of my presentation is “Inclusive Environment in Malaysia: From the Perspective of a Wheelchair User.” I will also be presenting at the concurrent session for special interest groups on “Social Advocacy on Disability Issues” tomorrow. My topic for the con current session is titled “Rights-Based Advocacy on Disability in Malaysia: An Overview and the Way Forward.”
Tags: 2nd Malaysian Conference on Rehabilitation, Malaysian Council for Rehabilitation, MCR, PLPP Bangi, Pusat Latihan Perindustrian dan Pemulihan Bangi, rights of disabled people, rights-based model on disability
400 Non-Step Buses For Singapore
400 more Scania buses ordered: StarMotoring - 5 October 2008
SBS Transit, Singapore’s leading public transport company, has ordered another 400 Scania buses in addition to the 500 units ordered in 2007.
All the buses will have bodywork produced by Gemilang Coachworks in Malaysia. Deliveries will begin early next year.
The buses are of the no-step low-floor type for quick and fast boarding/disembarkation; as well as allowing full wheel-chair access.”
SBS Transit of Singapore announced in 2006 that they are pushing ahead with the plan to make all new public buses low floor and step-free for the convenience of senior citizens and wheelchair users. For that year alone, 150 new non-step buses would be rolled out. Now the bus company is ordering another 400 non-step low floor buses that will be delivered beginning early next year.
Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (SPNB) of Malaysia rolled out 100 low-floor non step buses some time in mid-2007. Until now, wheelchair users are still unable to ride in those buses. The reasons being that most of the bus stops in Klang Valley are not suitable or are inaccessible. No effort has been put in liaise with the municipal councils and other related agencies to renovate all the 4000 bus stops in stages to make them accessible to wheelchair users and suitable for the buses to deploy the ramps.
The thing with Malaysia is that the Ministry of Transport has very little say in legislating land-based public transport. The Ministry of Entrepreneurial And Co-operative Development through the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board issues permits to public transport operators. The Ministry of Finance Inc. owns SPNB. SPNB is the asset owner of RapidKL and Rapid Penang’s buses. All in all, thirteen agencies are involved in one way or another in governing the industry. It is no wonder the public transportation system is such a havoc in Malaysia.
Tags: Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board, CVLB, disabled people Malaysia, low-floor bus, Ministry of Transport Malaysia, non-step bus, rights of disabled people, SBS Transit, SPNB, Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad
Prasarana And Its Disabling Assets
There are two things that disable people. One is attitude, the other is the environment. Of the two, attitude is the most difficult to change yet is the easiest to do. All that is needed is to understand the Social Model of Disability. Nevertheless, people still have the perception that people are disabled by their conditions and therefore are to be blamed if they cannot use public amenities. Furthermore, facilities suited for use by disabled people are often delegated to the lowest of priorities because disabled people are not considered productive citizens worthy of the money spent.
Is it that difficult to see that what is good for disabled people is good for everyone else? Countries like Japan and Australia have already adopted inclusive policies that require that public amenities are accessible to everyone. It was in Tokyo that I experienced real liberation as a wheelchair user for the first time. If that can be done in Japan why then can it not be done here in the spirit of Malaysia Boleh?
Apparently people who are in position to change things are not interested to make Malaysia an inclusive society. They prefer to cling on to their prejudices and cocoon themselves in their own comfort zone. They refuse to lift a finger to improve the situation but prefer to turn a blind eye to the fact that disabled people are in Malaysia are so marginalized that many are living in conditions of abject poverty.
Now I begin to understand why the advocacy for accessible public transport in Malaysia has not moved forward as fast as I had expected. It was naive on my part to think that the situation can be easily resolved by writing a few letters to the authorities concerned and meet with ministers to lay out the problems to them.
I discovered this sad fact at the National Summit on Urban Public Transport organised by Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI) at The Gardens Hotel and Residences last Thursday. Datuk Ong Tee Keat officiated the summit. In his keynote address he said the following among others:
It is also essential to highlight, that a public transport is not an exclusive domain of sections of the population, but must cater for all. The disabled community is an integral part of our communities and I do urge that their needs must be integrated in our public transport planning.
Although I have an inherent mistrust of politicians delivering well crafted speech and not fulfilling it afterwards, I am going to give Datuk Ong the benefit of the doubt and welcome this statement. I believe that he is serious in resolving the transportation woes of disabled people. The only ironic thing about this entire matter is that the Minister of Transport does not have full control over the regulation of public transport in Malaysia. It is being jointly regulated by thirteen agencies with some having overlapping jurisdiction over another.
My main purpose in attending the summit was to see what is being done to make public transport accessible. When Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (Prasarana) Chief Executive Officer Shaipudin Shah Harun spoke during the panel session titled “Towards an Efficient Urban Public Transport System,” I was all ears.
Prasarana is the asset owner of RapidKL. It owns all the RapidKL and Rapid Penang buses, Kelana Jaya Line and Ampang Line light rail transit networks, KL Monorail and the Langkawi Cable Car System. Prasarana in turn is a wholly-owned government company under the Ministry of Finance Inc.
Photo by Wuan.
At the Q&A session afterwards, I asked the following:
When we talk about public transport, why are disabled people left out of the equation? Is Prasarana going to buy non-step buses from now on or continue to put buses with steps on the road?
Below are Shaipudin’s response transcribed from the video recorded by fellow participant Naziaty Yaacob:
The issues of building structures. What good would it do for you to be able to get up a bus which is low floor and then you have pavements which are uneven with manholes uncovered.
The country as a whole must have what you call a real policy on the issue of the OKU.
We try our best. As for the same question, for all the new facilities that we are putting up, the trains and all that, for the new lines, the extension lines, all the needs of the OKUs are being registered and will be taken for but as I said there will not be the end to the answer to your problem.
What happens when you leave our stations? Are the streets friendly enough for you?
This is not a Prasarana question question alone.
The problem here is not only faced by OKU. Even the able people too are having problems. How many walkways do you see along the streets which enable us to walk conveniently?
Photo by Wuan.
My question to Prasarana was actually very straightforward. A simple “yes” or “no” would have sufficed. Instead, Shaipudin gave a discourse on the inaccessible built environment. I do not disagree with his view that disabled people may face problems after getting off the buses. Nevertheless, Prasarana should just concentrate in ensuring that all its buses, trains and terminals are fully accessible. The municipals councils are the parties responsible for the built environment other than those owned by Prasarana and that matter should be left to these municipalities to resolve. If Prasarana is going to wait until the built environment is fully accessible before they change the entire fleet to non-step buses, disabled people may have to wait another ten years or even longer to be able to use public transport.
Shaipudin also argued that non-disabled people are also facing problems with the built environment. It is true that non-disabled people encounter such problems too but that does not usually prevent them from getting to the bus stop to catch a bus. Additionally, it does not take long to add ramps to existing walkways. The 500 meter stretch in Pandan Perdana including the bus stop, although not built to specifications, was made accessible in a period of less than one month.
Non-step bus with the ramp deployed in Seoul, Korea.
Truth be told, I am ignorant of the lifepspan of RapidKL’s buses. Lets guesstimate that these buses are phased out after ten years of service. If the municipal councils are able to make most of the bus stops accessible within two years from now, that means disabled people have to wait at least five more years for the current buses to be replaced with non-step ones. And if Prasarana continues to put new buses with steps into service, how long more before disabled people can ride in public buses?
Prasarana as the asset owners with its hardware paid for from the people’s money via the Ministry of Finance Inc. must ensure that all buses purchased in the future must be accessible to everyone. Non-step buses are most suitable for this purpose. Such buses are widely available and used in major cities in the Asia Pacific countries like Japan, Korea and Australia. These buses are not only convenient for wheelchair users but for senior citizens and people with mobility impairments, pregnant women and children. What is good for disabled people is good for everyone else.
Boarding the non-step bus in my wheelchair in Seoul, Korea.
What I cannot understand is Prasarana’s reluctance in making all their new buses accessible. Is Prasarana going to lose anything by including the transportation needs of disabled people? Everybody benefits if these buses are accessible. The Minister of Transport has already acknowledged that disabled people are an integral of the community. Why then is Prasarana continuing with its disabling policy that marginalizes disabled people?
Without access to public transport, disabled people are unable to achieve a reasonable quality of life. We are unable to go to schools and go to work. We are unable to participate in social, cultural, religious and political activities. Prasarana’s is attitude in this issue is most baffling. It has failed in the task entrusted to it by the government to provide the assets to RapidKL and Rapid Penang to run a public transport service to benefit everyone.
Tags: Ampang Line, Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, ASLI, disabled people Malaysia, discrimination against disabled people, Gardens Hotel and Residences, Kelana Jaya Line, Minister of Transport, Ong Tee Keat, Prasarana CEO, rights of disabled people, Shaipudin Shah Harun, Social Model of Disability, Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad
Can Datuk Seri Jeanne Abdullah Effect Change For Disabled People?
The Star reported that Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah, the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was touched by the disabled-friendly facilities she saw at the Paralympic Games Village when she was in Beijing to visit Malaysian Paralympians. Datuk Seri Jeanne is urging developers to design more disabled friendly housing projects, saying that the nation should do more for disabled people.
I hope this message will not fall on deaf ears. Disabled people in Malaysia have been facing such issues far longer than the 24 years that I have been on a wheelchair. Perhaps Datin Seri Jeanne is not aware that Malaysia already has the Uniform Building By-Law 34A (UBBL 34A) that requires all public buildings to comply with Malaysian Standard MS 1183 and MS 1184. MS 1184 is the Code of Practice on Access for Disabled People to Public Buildings. It specifies how accessible facilities inside buildings should be built. The UBBL 34A has been gazetted by the various states in the mid-1990s.
Sadly, this provision in the UBBL 34A is seldom enforced by local governments. Public buildings are still allowed to be constructed without fulfilling the said requirements. To exacerbate matters, there is no law to ensure that external built environment such as pedestrian walkways are accessible to disabled people although a code of practice in the form of Malaysian Standard MS 1331 has been drawn up for such purposes.
The newspaper report also stated that Datuk Seri Jeanne hoped schools will encourage children to help disabled people if they come across one and that we should change our mindset to be more caring. Although it is heartening to note that she is trying to inculcate a caring attitude in students, it would have been better if we can build a society where disabled people can live independently instead of depending on such ad hoc forms of assistance. At the moment, disabled people, especially those with severe impairments, are unable to practice independent living because of the prejudices against disabled people.
Society still hold on to the view that disabled people cannot do things for themselves and therefore cannot live independently. There is this notion that disabled people need charity to survive. These are all fallacies. People are disabled by the environment and attitudes, and not by their conditions. It is how we build things and how we perceive disabled people that is disabling. Malaysia has to move from the antiquated Medical Model of Disability to the Social Model of Disability in order for disabled people to benefit from a level playing field in society.
Medical Model of Disability sees the disabled person as the problem. It emphasizes the rehabilitation of disabled people to make them fit into society. The focus is on correcting the impairment rather than meeting the needs. Social Model of Disability defines the difference between impairment and disability. Impairment does not necessarily lead to disability. People are disabled by manmade environmental barriers and social prejudices. The Social Model of Disability advocates the restructuring of society to eliminate institutional discrimination. It promotes the establishment of a conducive environment where disabled people can coexist on equal terms with society in general.
In my working trips overseas, I have met people with severe physical impairments in that are living independently in their communities. They are able to achieve this through a social support system that provides personal assistants, peer counselling and independent living skills training, among others. The accessible built environment and public transport system also plays an important role in enabling disabled people to move around conveniently to participate in the activities of the community that they live in.
Disabled people in Malaysia have been screaming themselves hoarse to advocate for similar social support systems to enable us to live independently in the community too. If it can be done in other countries, it can be done here. For one reason or another, issues of disabled people have not been given the attention it deserves. Disabled people are still being marginalized in all areas in society.
Where disability rights advocates have failed, perhaps Datuk Seri Jeanne can whisper into the ear of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to seriously look into the issues affecting disabled people in a holistic manner? Surely a few words from lips of the wife is worth a thousand words of disability rights advocates who have been unsuccessful in impressing the government on the real and urgent needs of disabled people.
The Star
Monday September 8, 2008
Jeanne visits paralympic team
By CELESTE FONGBEIJING: Developers have been urged to design more disabled-friendly housing projects.
Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah, the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was touched by the disabled-friendly facilities she saw at the Paralympic Games Village here, said: “We should do more for the disabled.
“I hope schools will encourage and teach children to help (the disabled) if they see a disabled (person). We should change our mindset to be more caring,” she added.
Pointing at the disabled-friendly ATM machine booth, Jeanne said the facilities in the village showed the level of consideration for the disabled.
She was also awed by the spirit of the paralympians and the courage displayed by them, saying that Malaysians could emulate them.
“This is what we should be doing in our country,” she said, hoping that Malaysians could raise the level of consideration for the disabled.
Jeanne, the patron of the Malaysian Paralympic Council, was accompanied by Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Malaysian Ambassador to China Datuk Syed Norulzaman Kamarulzaman, Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Ab Hakim Borhan and National Sports Council director-general Datuk Zolkples Embong to the games village here.
On the Malaysian paralympians, Jeanne, who met them in the village, said Abdullah had conveyed his best wishes to them.
The Malaysian paralympians will begin their respective events today.
Tags: Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, disabled people Malaysia, discrimination against disabled people, Jeanne Abdullah, Medical Model of Disability, rights of disabled people, Social Model of Disability
Peter Tan Is A Selfish Disabled Person - The Sequel
Read this and this for context before reading on.
How do you tell someone who owns a blog but does not know what copyright laws are to not steal your online images? Using photographs without asking for the owner’s permission is called stealing. Francis seems to think that it is all right since I used the abbreviation “ILTC” without his permission. I think I also cannot use the name Francis Siva because it is copyrighted if we go by his logic. But never mind lar, I curi guna for this one entry. After all, someone did say imitation is the best form of flattery. I hope you are feeling flattered Francis Siva.
As for the images that he stole from my post here with the caption “Peter Tan in his brand, new shiny Honda car” Francis obviously does not understand what “test drive” means. “Test drive” means one goes to a car showroom to um… test drive the car. If every car that I test drive eventually belongs to me, I am going to test drive more than a “lowly” Honda Civic. A BMW or Mercedes Benz would more likely be my choice.
For someone who accuses me for not being able to take criticisms very well, it is obvious from his posts about me who really cannot take criticisms but have to resort to name calling and hitting below the belt to make himself seem like the victor. Francis, you should take your own advice and not be so defensive when someone disagrees with you. Or are you the type of person who cakap tak serupa bikin?
He also asked me to change the title of my post “Peter Tan Is A Selfish Disabled Person” because he said that I distorted it to imply that he said it. Ok, I agree that Francis did not say Peter Tan is a selfish disabled person. He just said, “Peter Tan, don’t be selfish.” That is not supposed to mean Peter Tan is a selfish person. If you say so Francis.
I asked Francis where in the Persons with Disabilities Act and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities say that only “disabled people living in poverty” have the right to public transport while disabled people who own cars are not entitled to that right. Instead of responding to that question he said he does not need the Convention to tell him how he should think and what he should do or not do. Perhaps he does not know that Malaysia is a signatory to the Convention.
Never mind the Convention Francis. Please tell me where in the Persons with Disabilities Act that says only “disabled people living in poverty” have the right to use public transport while disabled people who own cars are not entitled to that right. Or you also do not subscribe to the Persons with Disabilities Act? While you are at it, please also enlighten me on what your ethics are since that overrules everything else which includes denying some disabled people the right to public transport.
Truth be told, I am ignorant of how city councillors in Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya work. Do they each use transport provided by the MPBJ to carry out their official duties like how Anthony Thanasayan does? Actually, I have nothing against Anthony. I mentioned him because you mentioned him in your blog regarding the usage of the van.
All right, I get it now. In your ethical world some disabled people who have cars can use the MBPJ van while others who own cars cannot use it. So Anthony’s official duties takes priority over other disabled people who may need it to go to the hospital or for other pressing matters. So when you said, “The MBPJ van should be at the disposal of DISABLED PEOPLE WITHOUT TRANSPORT!” it does not apply to a disabled city councillor who owns a car. His official duties take priority over hospital appointments and pressing matters of other disabled people living in poverty. I get it now. Thank you for clarifying that.
You asked me if I was jealous of Anthony’s appointment as a city councillor. No actually. I do not envy Anthony. It is a heavy responsibility. I am only an armchair critic giving useless advice. Nevertheless, I am also one that could get you so riled up to the extend of you resorting to calling me names. But you know Francis, I sense jealousy on your part when you said all I have done is go overseas and brush shoulders with VIPs. Please do not be jealous. You too can go overseas and rub shoulders with VIPs when you get invited to present papers on disability issues in Malaysia. Your time will come and when that happens, you can be sure that I will be green with envy too.
A few months back, I had a similar altercation with another disabled advocate who may have been your friend one time or another. He told me that he has been in the disability movement for thirteen years. This is dejavu when I read you saying that you have been running a center for disabled people for ten years and that you have been a disabled activist for fifteen. You veterans sure like to tell people how many years you have been doing this and that. Ok lar. I am only two years old in the disability movement and like you said, I am just an armchair critic who gives useless advice, does not have a registered society and does not command the strength in numbers.
One word: WOW! It must be a great feeling to be running a registered society and be in command of a great number of disabled people. Very boastful words but never mind lar. This is one argument I cannot win. After all, I am just a lone ranger claiming to be a voice for disabled people. What can a lone ranger do? Certainly not much as compared to someone who runs a registered society and command the strength in numbers. For that, I salute you.
Just before I conclude this entry, I am reproducing a comment you left in my blog in December 2007 below. You once encouraged me not to give up our struggle as a disabled person and to keep up the good fight. You also advised me not to allow the setback stop me from speaking up for our rights. You said that we need everyone’s voice to make a difference in Malaysia. I talked about the right of disabled people to accessible public transport and you got all worked up and accuse me of being a proxy to Bathma. Now that I am speaking up, you complain so much about it. Correct me if I am wrong but when you said speaking up, you meant speaking up against other people but not against you, right? But never mind lar. Green horns like me should learn from veterans like you to be innocent as doves and wise like serpents. I am learning. I am learning.
Dear Peter Tan,
Thank you for your wonderful comments. We are sorry to learn that you have been cheated by disabled people that you once trusted. You have unfortunately discovered what we have learn long ago. We at ILTC would like to encourge you not to give up our struggle as disabled person. Please keep up the good fight. Dont allow this setback to stop you from speaking up for our rights. We need everyone’s voices to make a difference in Malaysia. Let us remember to be innocent as doves but wise as serpents. Thanks for exposing the hippocrips among us.
Sincerely,
G. Francis Siva
President ILTC
Woops, did I just expose another hypocrite amongst us? Well, I am just doing what you advised me to do. Take heart that I took your advice seriously. And Francis, please do not address me as your friend. I was never your friend and have no interest to be one. As for you not wanting to respond to my other questions, it is all right. I do get tongue-tied once in a while, especially when I discover that my arguments have no basis. We are, after all, humans.
I am not expecting you to reply to this entry since you said I will not be hearing from you again. I understand. Someone as important as you who has been running a registered society for the past ten years and an activist for the past fifteen have more pressing matters to attend to and and not have time for a nobody like me. Yes, your letter has once again dented my ego. No worries, I will recover. Your apologies accepted.
Just in case your friends overseas would like to know the outcome of our exchanges and since you circulated your previous email to all and sundry, I am taking the liberty to copy this to the same people to let them know what great work you have done for disabled people in Malaysia. I am sure you will not mind. After all, good deeds should be publicly announced so that other people will be in awe of your great contributions towards the well-being of disabled people.
Tags: Anthony Thanasayan, Bathmavathi Krishnan, Convention of the Right of Persons with Disabilities, discrimination against disabled people, Francis Siva, ILTC, image copyright infringement, lift van, Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya, MBPJ, Person with Disabilities Act, rights of disabled people, Transit OKU