ACCESSIBILITY is very
much the buzz word in the disability community these days.
So it was no wonder why more
than 200 participants jam-packed a training centre’s seminar hall in a special
forum on the subject last week in Kuala Lumpur.
Called “Towards An Accessible
City,” the event was a joint collaboration between the Swedish Embassy –
through its commercial body Business Sweden - and City Hall of KL.
This was the second time that such
an initiative was held by both countries. The first was a similar forum held in
February of last year focusing on Deaf people in the society.
“Only with active participation,
awareness and support from the local authorities and citizens, this idea (of an
accessible city for all) can become a concept that would later lead to a
lifestyle,” noted Mr Bengt G Carlsson, Swedish Ambassador to Malaysia at the
seminar during its opening.
The full-day event comprising
expert speakers from Sweden on disabled-friendly facilities tackled the thorny
but essential issues of how to transform a non-friendly city into an accessible
one.
Sweden then went on to share
their stories of success of how the country started getting in tune with its
disabled residents over the years and providing for their special needs.
It was hoped that the inputs
provided could help Malaysia develop helpful ideas and strategies in building a
barrier-free environment too.
These include coming up with
concepts of making more and more areas wheelchair and white cane friendly.
Other areas include helping
handicapped people to communicate more easily and have access to useful and
vital information about themselves no matter where they came from.
It is also important to ensure
that people with disabilities are treated with respect and dignity – including in
how facilities are made for them, have the same rights to education as non
disabled people and be able to hold jobs successfully in order to support
themselves and their families.
They must also be able to
function normally like any other residents in a city and have access to
recreational facilities like the non disabled all over the country.
Sweden for example has invested
enormously in tourism. This includes where the disabled and the elderly can
also successfully participate in it.
The seminar revealed that extensive
accessibility programmes have been conducted in Stockholm since the beginning
of 2000.
One of the notable success
stories of that initiative was a project in May 2011 called, “Stockholm – A City
For Everyone.”
The city began consciously
creating an environment for people with a wide range of disabilities and not
just strictly for wheelchair users alone.
These include people with communicative
impairments to the elderly who go around the city with a walking frame as an
aid to mobility.
Also persons who use crutches
after an accident, young parents with strollers and even those with a suitcase
on wheels.
It was not surprising why a year
later in December Stockholm’s initiatives went on to become one of the top
three cities that was awarded the European City Award for their extensive work
on accessibility.
Other notable nuggets from the
Swedish experience from the March 5th seminar disclosed how there
was a good structure of the Swedish authorities administration procedure of
responsible implementation, coordination and monitoring of disability policy in
the country.
The availability of assistive
technologies for disabled persons in accordance to the standards laid out by
the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities – which Malaysia is also a proud signatory of – is also
widely available in Sweden.
Many
of these innovative technology and services are not only available in the
public and at work but also in the home environment as well.
The afternoon session was particular
interesting as many of the Swedish companies presented their solutions and
products to greater disability access for facilities for the physically
handicapped to the blind. An all-day exhibition of these technologies was also
provided to curious participants who wanted to know more about them.
A couple of these were from the
company called Scania’s very latest version
of an accessible city bus, Prisma Teknik
“push button” for pedestrian safety as well as safe crossing for blind and low
vision people.
But what was particularly
interesting was the presentation by HAGS. They successfully illustrated how playground
activities can be made accessible for kids and grown-ups in wheelchairs.
Sandpits, for instance, can be
raised to the wheelchair level for disabled kids and planting in the same way
can be accessible to elderly persons with walking difficulties.
Another company Artico showcased
their different lift systems that can be installed in public places, stores,
shopping malls and work places. They can be fitted using very little space and
are also more affordable.
The forum which was opened by the
Mayor of Kuala Lumpur Y.Bhg Dato' Hj. Ahmad Phesal bin Hj. Talib certainly
opened the eyes of many about the limitless possibilities that every can
contribute to provide greater accessibility for an ever increasing disabled
population.
It’s what happens AFTER such
insightful events that really matters. Fingers crossed everyone.
The End.
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