Chap Goh Mei Joy For The Disabled

CHAP Goh Mei also regarded by many as the Chinese version of Valentines’ Day – and traditionally to mark the end of the recent Snake Year celebrations – took place on Sunday last week.

It was celebrated with lots of reunions and romance in public parks, shopping malls and restaurants across the country.

People with disabilities like Teo Kah Choon, 44, enjoyed the fanfare with his family and friends. The afternoon was spent over a special lunch in a wheelchair-accessible restaurant in Petaling Jaya with his non disabled sibling and parents.

In the evening Teo who works as a data entry computer specialist from his home, chose to spend it with his disabled friends in Kuala Lumpur.

He joined a group of several dozen wheelchair and blind friends at a sumptuous vegetarian dinner in a Chinese Temple.

“It was simply marvellous to be out with my friends and to be able to belt out our favourite yesteryear Chinese songs with the able-bodied and collecting our Ang Pow’s afterwards,” Teo told Wheel Power this week.

  

“The Chap Goh Mei’s in the past that I recall used to be very private before mainly between employers and their staff. Now I’m happy that that more people from religious to business and political groups are not only celebrating the even but the disabled are also actively being included in them,” grinned Teo who has been a resident of PJ all of his life. 

Teo contracted poliomyelitis when he was three years old. He was rushed to the hospital with a persistent high fever and given a jab.  But his legs only got weaker after that episode and even a special trip to China years after for traditional healing didn’t solve a thing.   

Teo decided that the best thing forward was to accept his fate and start using a wheelchair for mobility in 1985. Today he lead a very active life as a disabled activist and is vice president of the Independent Living and Training Centre in Rawang, Selangor.

He travels virtually everywhere with his hand-powered three wheel motorcycle with a side car where his wheelchair is placed.

“I can avoid traffic jams because of the motorcycle lanes, the petrol and maintenance is much more affordable and there’s no need to pay the toll; only RM1.00 for yearly road tax,” Teo pointed out.   

He went on to say that taxis are not only expensive but they won’t stop for wheelchairs because it’s too much work and the guys just want to stay stuck in their seat all the time without needing to get out of the car to help put the wheelchair into the booth.

“Rain doesn’t bother me as my trusty raincoat still gets me to my destinations well ahead of time.” 

Teo says the best part of using a three-wheeler motorbike is that he gets to park it virtually anywhere – of course, never anywhere where it is an obstruction to others.

Most of the enforcement officers in his experience are very understanding to “handicapped bikes” and close one eye to it.

   

The only real worry about travel for Teo is potential robbers on the road. He makes it a point to avoid unfamiliar areas and take the ones he knows well or that is well-lit with people around.  

“There are certainly angels among our midst,” he told me. On a couple of occasions when Teo had breakdowns in the motorcycle lane, strangers rushed to his rescue!

One of these “heavenly beings” even went to the extent of removing Teo’s punctured tyre, go to the nearest service centre and return with a fully functional one – an exercise that took nearly an hour!

On another note, people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers are in for a special treat this Saturday (March 9).

The Kuala Lumpur-based Malaysian Parkinson’s Disease Association (MPDA) will be holding its second public forum on Parkinson’s at the Kompleks Masyarakat Penyayang from 1.30pm – 5pm. The event is free and open to the public.

A specialist on the disease and other movement disorders and other medical experts will be present.

They will be highlighting the very latest developments in Parkinson’s disease and on Deep Brain Surgery treatment for person’s with Parkinson’s.

They will also expound on the psychiatric manifestations that persons with the condition go through.

There will also be lots of opportunities for those interested in the disease to ask questions.

MPDA was set up in 1994 in Kuala Lumpur as the first national support group for people with Parkinson’s, their caregivers and families by the late Mr. Lloyd Tan Pao Chan, a person with Parkinson’s himself.

Its main aim is to provide support and improve the quality of life of people with Parkinson’s and their families.

   

MPDA President Sara Lew, says that one of the objectives of the forum is to start a local support group in the island.

All those interested, please contact MPDA at 03-79806685 or Mr. Looi at 0178871859 (Tuesdays – Saturdays). Website:www.mpda.org.my.

The End.

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