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Opinion
Saturday August 19, 2006
The blind get little help
According to your report, the deputy minister almost immediately came across a passer-by who “helped” him cross the road.
With all due respect to the deputy minister and his well-meant “Courtesy and Noble Values” campaign, our members and many of the visually impaired people that we encounter have painted a different picture and reality about Kuala Lumpur.
They say Kuala Lumpur, in particular, is not what it used to be five or 10 years ago.
They seem to come across an increasing number of sighted people these days who have no time for them and are apathetic towards their needs.
There was a time when the blind would only have to wait a second or two at a junction before someone would come by and ask: “Would you like help?”
In the recent past, the blind could rely on the sighted to help them find the right bus to board.
Taxis do not stop for the visually impaired. Those that do take a “longer route”
to their destinations and make them cough up a hefty fare.
There are others who are afraid to touch the blind. They hold on to the far end of their white canes or the sleeves of the blind men’s shirts or even use their fingertips to “push” the blind forward and “pull” them across the road as if the blind were on a leash.
The dignified way to lead the blind, of course, is to allow him to hold the elbow of the sighted guide.
We believe these issues are not so much about being a “rude” or “friendly” society but rather about being sensitive to the needs of the handicapped.
Such sensitivity can only be instilled through understanding. Knowledge breaks prejudice.
One of the best ways to achieve awareness about the disabled is by carrying courtesy messages through television and radio.
The Government should invite the blind themselves to tell their stories and be featured in such community message services.
ANTHONY THANASAYAN,President, Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association,Kuala Lumpur.
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