Monday, January 08, 2007

Petpositive in Malay Mail Jan 9, 2007

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Don’t ridicule the disabled




DEAR Editor,



I WAS disturbed when I read about Murugan Rajoo’s experience with the Selayang Municipal Council. How could council officers treat a disabled man in such an unjust manner?

It was to me, a bad and disturbing start to the New Year and against our goal of being a caring society.

The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry has done its best to promote the idea of treating the disabled with respect, but it looks like the problem is not with the general public but among those who are there to serve, like employees of local councils.

No matter what he had done, Murugan did not deserve to be ridiculed because of his disability. The Ministry should start an awareness programme for all local councils, because they need to know how to deal with the disabled and the elderly.

Problems like this have happened before and it’s obvious that some people don’t have a flair for handling the disabled and be sensitive to their needs.

So, it’s only fair that we send local council officers for courses on how to deal with the handicapped and the elderly.

Murugan needed a business licence which he had applied for twice, but even after two years, the council failed to attend to his application.

What reason do they have for this? To top it all, instead of giving him a licence, they mistreated him.

They owe him an apology. It is already difficult for the disabled to find work and support themselves so what do we expect them to do when we place obstacles like these in their path.

Let us find ways to be sensitive to the needs of the disabled and support them to be independent and become contributing members of society.



Anthony Sivabalan

President, Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and

Elderly Association


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