QUICK COMMENT: This article appeared in the New Straits Times on Tuesday May 06, 2008.PET+BLOGSPOT
ONE SERIOUS PET BLOG
ANTHONY Thanasayan has been working with all kinds of pets. He taps on their resources and skills to make a difference in the lives of disabled people of all ages and all kinds of disabilities including people with mental illness.
Through his blog Petpositive or The Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association, (http://www.petpositive.blogspot.com), he has a platform to educate the public about animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and how it helps to empower the disabled and elderly in Malaysia to live a higher quality of life.
Thanasayan's blog is also used as a mechanism to reveal the plight of the disabled community.
"In Petpositive, although we are essentially about AAT, we have spoken out on a lot of things. We talked about employment problems, accessibility to public transport, buildings that are wheelchair-friendly and people's negative attitudes towards the handicapped," said Thanasayan, who is also the president of Petpositive.
He considers himself a serious blogger, and one of the main reasons is to help the disabled community's voice to be heard in an alternative way.
"I didn't really see the need for blogging until October last year, where I felt that there were many things that the disabled need to speak up candidly about our issues," he said.
Petpositive has given Thanasayan and AAT a chance to express views in their own words and perspective. "The blog offers the alternative medium. Although the readership is small, you'll get to say what you want and it is there for all to read permanently," he said.
Response-wise, Petpositive has been getting encouraging feedback from the community. "At least 20 per cent of our daily visitors are from overseas and some of them from countries I never even heard of," said Thanasayan.
"We try to keep our blog interactive with polls. There are several places where listeners can express their views, and this is really encouraging. But I guess the best 'response' is still their visits. Recently we had a record number of 1,297 visitors in only one day!" he said.
Every visit to Petpositive is meaningful. "The world reads what I write. I don't have to be an expert, and I learn as I go along. The blog also provides a vital link to disabled people and the elderly who are hidden from the society and at home, and also their caregivers," he said.
For Thanasayan, it's perfectly alright to be different physically. "There's no shame in being who you are. And I can tell that to the world," he said.
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