USM School of Social Sciences – Peter Tan

Tuesday June 12, 2012
Going the distance for the disabled

THERE may be many disabled-friendly facilities in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) but there is still room for improvement, said USM Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Prof Asma Ismail.

She said there was a special committee to look into accessibility for disabled staff and students in the university.

“But there’s room for improvement.

“We’ll try to have more facilities but it takes time and the budget also comes into consideration,” she said.

She was officiating at the Disability Equality Training workshop at USM’s School of Social Sciences recently.

Prof Asma added that the understanding gained from the workshop would certainly give an accurate picture of the needs of physically challenged students and staff in the university.

“It will enable the university to prepare a plan to improve access for the disabled as much as possible,” she said.

“Although this group is a minority in USM, their presence contributes to the success of the university,” she added.

The workshop was initiated by a disabled undergraduate from the School of Social Sciences, Khu Li Fang, 29.

It was aimed at providing awareness on the facilities required for the disabled.

In his presentation, workshop facilitator Peter Tan Hua Choon said that around 10% of the world’s population or 650 million people lived with a disability.

The workshop also discussed topics such as independent living, approaches and processes, as well as drawing up an action plan to resolve problems faced by disabled people.

Disability Equality Training at Universiti Sains Malaysia

Disability Equality Training Workshop at the School of Social Sciences Conference Room (C06), University Sains Malaysia.
Photo by Wuan.

The Kelab Penyayang of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) organised a Disability Equality Training (DET) Workshop in Penang on May 25. It was held at the School of Social Sciences Conference Room (C06). The participants comprised lecturers from the various faculties, hostel supervisors, staff from the Registrar Department, Rehabilitation Centre, Hospital USM, Sports and Recreation Centre, Student Affairs and Development Section, Doping Control Centre, Sejahtera Centre, Legal Office, and students, among others. Naturally, I felt nervous to be facilitating such a preeminent group of people from the academia for a full day of DET.

Posing for photographs for the USM news report

(L-R) Senior Lecturer Dr. Azlinda Azman, Project Director Zarith Izaini, Acting Dean Dr. Nor Malina Malek, Peter Tan, Siti Shafia Binti Subrai, Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Asma Ismail, Khu Li Fang, Ruvindiran Mohan, Tutor Mr. Ooi Hock Thiam and Mohd Aziz Bin Abidin
Photo by Wuan.

Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Professor Asma Ismail kicked off the workshop with a speech on how USM, being the Apex (Accelerated Programme for Excellence) university, is striving towards making the campus more accessible for disabled students and also staff of the university, namely the main campus, Engineering campus and also the Health campus. At the same time she also acknowledged that there is still room for improvement with regards to accessible facilities within the campus.

(L-R) Peter Tan and the organising team – Khu Li Fang and Zarith Izaini.
Photo by Wuan.

In that one-day DET workshop, participants were facilitated through sessions on perspectives of disability, problem solving, Independent Living, the Social Model of Disability and action plan making. The presentation of the action plans was the most fulfilling session of the workshop as the four groups came out with simple blueprints to make their respective workplaces accessible within six months. Kudos to Project Director Zarith Izaini and her associate Khu Li Fang for initiating this workshop to promote understanding of disability issues and winning over new allies as change agents to make the university more inclusive.