First Step Towards An Accessible Pandan Perdana
The ADUN for Teratai YB Yap Soo Sun, Bendahari Kelab Sukan Komuniti Dun Teratai En. Mohd. Aznam Mohd. Zain, fellow advocate Wang Siew Ming and I went on a walkabout around Pandan Perdana just now. I had copied 2 complaint mails to YB Yap regarding the lamp post in the middle of the walkway that caused Wuan and I to fall onto the road in May last year. Read this, this and this for context.
Wang and I went to see YB Yap in May to follow up with the issue as it was still not resolved one year later. The offending lamp post has since been relocated. Additionally, we proposed to YB Yap to upgrade the commonly used stretch of walkways in Pandan Perdana into an accessible one as this will not only benefit disabled persons but senior citizens, pregnant women and adults with prams as well.
Apart from the walkways, YB Yap has also agreed to build a ramp at the 7-11 store and another at the Hong Leong Bank. He informed us that his application for a grant for this purpose had just been approved. We presented him with a copy of the Malaysian Standard 1331 (1993) Code of Practice for Access for Disabled People Outside Buildings to ensure that the renovations were properly done.
This is a positive development in the advocacy campaign on accessibility. In time, I hope that the entire Pandan Perdana will be fully accessible and eventually all the areas under the jurisdiction of Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya. I look forward to the day when I can move around conveniently around this area without having to risk life and limb.
Tags: DUN Teratai, Pandan Perdana, Yap Soo Sun
Peter Tan Objects To Sending The 2nd Malaysian Astronaut Into Space
As a citizen of Malaysia, I hereby object to the suggestion to send the second astronaut into space at the cost of US$30mil (RM102mil) as reported by The Star (Normal to pick space crew at the last minute, says JJ - Tuesday September 25, 2007).
“If Malaysians want him to be sent to space too, I will raise the matter up with the Cabinet. He is after all, ready and able.
He added that the cost of sending the second Malaysian astronaut was estimated to be US$30mil (RM102mil).
This amount can be better used to improve the lives of thousands, if not millions, of our fellow Malaysians. I speak from the viewpoint of a disabled person. This money can be utilised to make the environment and public transport accessible, and support people with severe disabilities who are practicing independent living. These include providing funds for personal assistants and other support services. RM102mil is a lot of money and it should be used judiciously to benefit the most number of people.
For starters, the people at RapidKL kept saying that they do not have the money to make the public transport system under their management accessible. This RM102mil can go a log way towards achieving that. I have spoken to the State Assemblyman for Teratai YB Yap Soo Sun who said that Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya does not have the funds to upgrade the walkways in Pandan Perdana into accessible ones because of the shortage of funds. RM102mil can do wonders to make all the walkways accessible. These are two examples how the RM102mil can be better spent. Why look so far away into outer space when things that are right before our eyes still need a lot of money and work? Lets get the priorities right here.
Related entry:
Malaysian Going To Outer Space, Disabled Persons Still Stuck At Home
Tags: angkasawan Malaysia, DUN Teratai, MPAJ, Pandan Perdana, Yap Soo Sun
Second Complaint Letter To MPAJ Regarding Inaccessible Pandan Perdana
It is absolutely disappointing that Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ) never responded to my complaint regarding the inaccessible and dangerous walkways around Pandan Perdana. This was despite a letter from the Jabatan Kerajaan Tempatan (Department of Local Government) urging them to respond to my letter of complaint.
To pursue the case further, I have sent a second letter of complaint to MPAJ and copied it to the Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Setiausaha Kerajaan Selangor (Cawangan Kerajaan Tempatan), Menteri Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan, Jabatan Kerajaan Tempatan, Menteri Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga n Masyarakat, Pengarah Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat, ADUN for Teratai and Presiden Persatuan Orang-Orang Cacat Anggota Malaysia. A while ago, I personally handed this letter to ADUN for Teratai YB Yap Soo Soon who has agreed to look into this matter.
Rujukan JKT: KPKT(02)(S)927/5 klt. 49(80)
18 April 2007
Yang Dipertua
Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya
Menara MPAJ
Jalan Pandan Utama
55100 Pandan Indah
Kuala LumpurINACCESSIBLE, DAMAGED AND OBSTRUCTED WALKWAYS AT PANDAN PERDANA A DANGER TO WHEELCHAIR USERS AND PEDESTRIANS
Dengan hormatnya saya merujuk kepada surat aduan saya yang bertarikh 28 Mei 2006 dan surat dari Pengarah Jabatan Kerajaan Tempatan kepada Yang Dipertua Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya yang bertarikh 27 Julai 2006.
2. Saya teramat kecewa dengan sikap MPAJ yang tidak mengendahkan aduan saya serta surat dari pihak Jabatan Kerajaan Tempatan mengenai perkara di atas. Sudah 10 bulan semenjak surat aduan tersebut tetapi MPAJ masih belum lagi memberi sebarang maklumbalas ataupun mengambil tindakan yang nyata.
3. Sebarang alas an yang akan diberi oleh pihak MPAJ atas kelekaannya tidak dapat diterima. Saya terpaksa menggunakan kerusi roda saya di atas jalan raya setiap kali saya hendak pergi ke kedai-kedai yang berdekatan sebab laluan pejalan kaki di Pandan Perdana tidak sesuai untuk digunakan oleh OKU. Sebahagian besar daripada laluan pejalan kaki sudah rosak dan terdapat tiang lampu yang didirikan di tengah-tengah laluan pejalan kaki (aduan surat saya yang bertarikh 28 Mei 206), menjadikan laluan itu terlalu sempit untuk kegunaan saya. Setiap kali saya menggunakan jalan raya dengan kerusi roda, saya berdoa agar tidak dilanggar oleh kenderaan di jalan raya yang sibuk itu.
4. Kenapa OKU mesti menggadai nyawa mereka setiap kali mereka hendak pergi ke mana-mana? Bukankah tanggungjawab MPAJ untuk menyediakan dan memperbaiki kemudahan-kemudahan awam dalam daerah kawalannya termasuk mewujudkan persekitaran yang mesra? Apakah gunanya Undang-Undang Kecil 34A Undang-Undang Kecil Bangunan Seragam 1986 yang telah diwartakan sekiranya MPAJ tidak bersungguh-sungguh untuk menguatkuasakannya?
5. Persekitaran yang mesra OKU bukan sahaja memanfaatkan golongan OKU. Malah persekitaran ini juga memanfaatkan warga emas, ibu mengandung dan mereka yang mengalami kesulitan pergerakan (mobility impairment). Pada amnya persekitaran mesra OKU adalah satu cara utama untuk memastikan golongan yang mempunyai kesulitan pergerakan tidak tersisir dari arus pembangunan negara dan menjaminkan mereka dapat turut serta dalam segala aktiviti masyarakat.
6. Saya berharap Tuan Yang Dipertua akan mengambil berat tentang aduan ini dan mengambil tindakan yang sepatutnya dengan secepat mungkin untuk mengelakkan perkara yang berlaku kepada saya dari berulang lagi atau mengelakkan kemalangan yang melibatkan kecederaan serius atau kehilangan nyawa dari berlaku. Perhatian Tuan dalam perkara ini amat dihargai dan didahului dengan ucapan terima kasih.
Sekian.
Tags: DUN Teratai, MPAJ, Pandan Perdana, Yap Soo Sun
Labour Day Morning With YB Yap Soo Sun
My fellow advocates on disability issues, Wang and Tan, and I have been mulling on a date to meet the State Assemblyman for the area that we are residing in. At 10.00am this morning, we went to meet the ADUN of Teratai YB Yap Soo Sun at his residence. I handed to him a follow-up letter of complaint to the Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ) regarding inaccessible walkways in Pandan Perdana.
He has agreed to look into the matter and made plans to go on a walkabout around Pandan Perdana with us to view the challenges that wheelchair users have to face when moving about in the area. We intimated to him that RapidKL will be launching accessible buses soon but without corresponding accessible walkways and bus stops, wheelchair users are still unable to board the buses. YB Yap said that after understanding the situation better, he will submit a proposal to the state government for funding to upgrade the infrastructure.
We also informed him that we plan to set up a Centre for Independent Living in Pandan Perdana. He was also very supportive of this initiative and promised to assist us in any way within his means as a State Assemblyman. For this matter, we will draw up a proposal and present to him as soon as possible.
This has been a fruitful morning for the three of us although we also know that it may take months, if not years, before any concrete action will be taken by the local authorities and state government. It is a good start for us. And then again, the General Election is coming soon. Anything can happen between now and then.
Tags: DUN Teratai, MPAJ, Pandan Perdana, Yap Soo Sun
Letter To MPAJ
Finally, I have found some time to settle the one issue that has been foremost in my mind recently – the complaint letter to Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ). That letter was addressed to the President of the Municipal Council and copied to the Menteri Besar of Selangor, Setiausaha Sulit Kanan to the Menteri Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan, Setiausaha Sulit Kanan to the Menteri Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat, Ketua Pengarah Kebajikan Masyarakat, Yap Soo Sun, the ADUN for this area and the President of the Persatuan Orang-Orang Cacat Anggota Malaysia (Society of the Orthopaedically Handicapped Malaysia).
Wuan took some photographs of the offending lamppost to illustrate how impossible it was for me to manoeuvre around the lamppost by myself. With some assistance from her, it can be done but that poses an apparent danger as evident from the nasty fall that happened to us the other evening. From the last photograph, we can see how close the vehicle was to the walkway. Picture the time that I lay sprawled on the road. I was in the path of oncoming vehicles. I could have been killed. That could have happened to Wuan as well.
The lack of accessible walkways, together with the lack of accessible transport service, is one of the many reasons why we do not see many wheelchair users out and about in public places. In Tokyo, it was not unusual to see the severely disabled moving around in electric wheelchairs. It was also easy for wheelchair users to board the trains and buses there. As far as I know, Putra LRT is the only accessible public transport in Malaysia, and that was only after disabled persons staged demonstrations to demand for accessible facilities at the stations. It is an uphill battle for us all the way.
May 28, 2006
YB Presiden Via email and post
Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya
Menara MPAJ
Jalan Pandan Utama
55100 Pandan Indah
Kuala LumpurDear Sir,
INACCESSIBLE, DAMAGED AND OBSTRUCTED WALKWAYS AT PANDAN PERDANA A DANGER TO WHEELCHAIR USERS AND PEDESTRIANS
I reside at the address above. Several times a week, I patronise the shops at Jalan Perdana 4/5. I am a wheelchair user. I usually go together with my friend because I need her assistance with my wheelchair. We have two choices to go to the shops. One, I can either push myself on the busy road of Jalan Perdana 3/1 and risk being knocked over by a bus or a car. Two, to avoid that danger, my friend assists me by lifting my wheelchair onto the walkways. The walkways on both sides of Jalan Perdana 3/1 are not accessible. There are no kerb ramps to the walkways.
There is this lamppost at Jalan Perdana 3/1 (opposite the Jalan Perdana 4/5 shops) that stands right in the middle of the walkway. My friend always had difficulty manoeuvring my wheelchair around it because of the narrow space between the lamppost and the edge of the walkway.
While she was trying to manoeuvre my wheelchair around that particular lamppost on May 28, the front caster slipped off the edge of the walkway. We both lost balance and fell onto the road and were injured. All the time as I was lying helpless on the road, I worried that a bus may come and roll over us. Fortunately, three good Samaritans stopped their vehicles and helped me back onto the wheelchair.
The main reason we both fell off the walkway was because of the obstruction caused by the lamppost. It does not make sense to plant a lamppost right in the middle of the walkway. Additionally, many stretches of the walkways are damaged by the indiscriminate parking of buses, lorries and cars. These vehicles also cause obstructions that prevent pedestrians from using the walkways. This endangers our lives as we have no choice but to walk on the road.
As a pedestrian who uses that stretch of walkway often, I respectfully demand that you remove that offending lamppost immediately to prevent similar accidents from happening again. I also request that you make walkways, not only at Pandan Perdana, but in all areas under your jurisdiction accessible by constructing kerb ramps to allow accessibility to wheelchair users, prams and the elderly.
At the same time, the damaged walkways should be repaired without delay. The uneven surface is a danger to all pedestrians. Owners of vehicles that park on these walkways must be penalised. What is the purpose of constructing walkways that cannot be used? Does the MPAJ expect me use my wheelchair on public roads? Does the MPAJ expect pedestrians to risk their lives by walking on the roads?
I would like to remind you that time and again, our government has stressed that Malaysia is a masyarakat penyayang. How can we be a masyarakat penyayang when simple things like public walkways are not accessible to disabled persons and the elderly? The government should take the lead in instituting a caring Malaysian society by addressing, among others, the environmental barriers that are preventing disabled persons from participating in the activities of the community at large. The MPAJ can show its caring aspects by tackling the matters that I have highlighted. Please act now on these blatant examples of a non-masyarakat penyayang and non-pedestrian-friendly walkways before lives are lost.
I look forward to a positive reply from you regarding the resolution of this issue soonest possible.
Thank you.
Tags: DUN Teratai, Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat, Mohamad Khir Toyo, MPAJ, Ong Ka Ting, Pandan Perdana, POCAM, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Yap Soo Sun
