ARCHITECTS, BUILDING DESIGNERS AND DEVELOPERS can look forward to a special liveable city seminar that will be held in Petaling Jaya by the end of the year.
One of the purpose of the event is to ensure the inclusion of proper facilities for citizens with disabilities in public buildings.
The occasion, which is endorsed by the Petaling Jaya City Council, will feature key speakers from around the globe who will include experts on disability infrastructure.
It will coincide with International Day of Disabled Persons which falls on December 3.
PETPOSITIVE will be fully involved in the project. The first planning meeting was held at Mid Valley MegaMall yesterday.
PET+BLOGSPOT is the ONLINE BLOG of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association or Petpositive.
Our stories are CURRENT, ACCURATE and RELIABLE.
We offer both local and foreign news on animals, disability and the elderly.
PET+BLOGSPOT was first established in October 2007. Our hits since then are now 150,000 and ever increasing!
PET+BLOGSPOT is updated daily.
Kindly note that views expressed in PET+BLOGSPOT are not necessarily those of PETPOSITIVE.
You may also visit our Webpage by browsing: www.petpositive.com.my
You can also find us in Facebook under PETPOSITIVE EMPOWERMENT.
Please sign up as a FOLLOWER of this Blog if you haven't done so already in order to show us your kind support for our work. Thank you!
STANISLAUS Anthony and his wife Janet were overjoyed last month when they were told that they were about to go on a surprise overseas trip soon.
The all-expense religious pilgrimage was a gift from one of their sons - 26-year old Joachim – who also decided to tag along with his parents.
It was a right thing to do because his dad and mum were persons with disabilities.
Stanislaus became disabled 12-years ago after he underwent a total hip replacement surgery on his left leg. Although he is able to walk, he can only do so for a very short distance.
He tires very easily and the pain on his leg is often excruciating. When this happens, he resorts to using a wheelchair.
Janet, on the other hand, was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. It is a serious disease in which a person's muscles gradually become weaker until one day walking is no longer possible.
The 10-day journey took the elderly couple to a well-known healing centre in Kochi, Kerala in South India.
They were joined there by as many as 5000 other local and international participants – making it truly an experience of a lifetime for the family.
I caught up with Stanislaus, 60 and Janet, 53, soon after they returned home to Petaling Jaya in Selangor a couple of weeks ago.
However, instead of telling me about difficulties they encountered as disabled persons in a foreign land, they couldn’t stop telling me about all the many problems they had to overcome before even leaving the country.
It was all related with booking their flight and getting in and out of the airport.
When Joachim booked the flight with AirAsia on the Internet, he recalled checking in an empty box on the form that mentioned “Disabled (passenger)”.
Other than that he said no further questions were asked about one’s disability status.
So you can’t blame the eager retirees for thinking that all of their needs for accessibility concerns would be met once they arrived at the airport.
Nothing, however, could have been further from the truth.
When Stanislaus drove to the airport in Sepang he was shocked to find the only disabled car park next to the entrance of the building was occupied by a car belonging to a non disabled driver.
Stanislaus had no choice but to park his specially-adapted car next to the offending vehicle.
Then came his second upset.
Despite the numerous stickers on his car clearly indicating that he was a disabled driver, he was promptly served with a summons for his action.
The real offender, meanwhile, managed to get away scot-free.
However this was nothing compared to the nightmare that was yet to come for the disabled couple.
They were asked to climb up a flight of about 30 steps into the aircraft.
The ambulift – a specially designed contraption to lift wheelchairs into the aeroplane – was out of order, they were told.
After the rest of the passengers had got into the plane, it was their turn.
They did so not only laboriously but also gingerly in case any one of them made a wrong move and slipped.
Stanislaus who had been suffering from frequent hip dislocation episodes over the past year recalled being absolutely terrified as he took each step into the plane. Janet was equally on tenterhooks.
“It wasn’t just us alone who was forced to struggle up the stairs,” Stanislaus pointed out. “We witnessed quite a few senior citizens as well who were negotiating their steps very carefully,” he added.
Once inside, the couple had to walk almost halfway across the length of the plane to get to their seats.
He wondered why AirAsia after realising their handicapped status had not made things easier for the couple and changed their seats to one of the front rows instead. This only happened in India on their return trip.
Here are further points made by the couple:
Accidents/Emergencies: The staff were not only ill-advised about how to help disabled travellers but when the couple were struggling up the aircrafts steps, there was only two small-sized women and one man to help in case of an emergency. The couple did not want to land in hotter soup than they were in already.
Express lane for disabled/elderly passengers: Although this was available in India, none existed in Sepang.
Poor maintenance: The ambulift was still under repairs when the couple returned from India. The wheelchair provided by the airport in Sepang had wheels that wobbled dangerously with the possibility of suddenly coming off. Worst still, Stanislaus was charged RM15.00 for the use of the wheelchair (in India, it was free). No receipt was issued for the wheelchair rentals.
“All this clearly calls for an attitude change from AirAsia and the airport authorities if they really want all people to fly,” said Stanislaus. His wife promptly nodded.
The End
PET+BLOGSPOT is the official online blog of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive).
We take pride in the fact that everything you read in our blog is ACCURATE, RELIABLE and THE LATEST.
Our blog which was first established in October 2007 currently has more than 35,000 hits. PET+BLOGSPOT is updated frequently.
Kindly take note that views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of Petpositive.
You may also visit our Webpage by browsing: www.petpositive.com.my
A group of disabled persons from the Klang Valley got together to push for a representation in a local council on the 17th of last month.
Members of the self-help organisation the Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) in Rawang, Selangor, and the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association or PETPOSITIVE in Kuala Lumpur made their way to the headquarters of the Majlis Perbandaran Selayang (MPS) to demand an equal right to being heard in the local government.
They were met by several key officials from the planning, engineering and building departments.
The two sides had more than two hours of deliberation that ended up on a very positive note.
The MPS agreed to set up a technical council on disability within a month of that meeting.
Names of disabled people and their organisations will be identified within the next 30 days and invited to the first meeting.
This special occasion will be held sometime in March.
Before the historic gathering, MPS will conduct an access survey of their own headquarters to check how handicapped-friendly their building is to its visitors.
These will be evaluated by a team of disability experts from the new committee.
The exercise which is scheduled to take place this Wednesday will give everyone an idea of what kind of challenges that are before them, as well as to how to plan out their immediate goals.
These will include checking the town for wheelchair-friendly facilities to organising social and awareness-raising activities on the handicapped.
The special committee is expected to sit at least once a month when it is established.
Persons with a variety of handicaps will also be invited to sit in the technical group.
Apart from the physically handicapped, they will also include the blind, Deaf and representatives of people with learning disabilities.
Commenting after the meeting Petpositive President Anthony SB Thanasayan said: "People with disabilities and the elderly within the municipality will be able to look forward to a brighter future from now on.
"They can rejoice in the fact that now - and only know - will their needs to be really looked into as the committee itself with NGOs in it will also serve as a monitoring group to check the progress of what's being done from time to time," he added.
As City Councillor for Petaling Jaya (MBPJ), Thanasayan, speaking to PET+BLOGSPOT said he would be happy to work along with other Selangor councils to bring about great access for Malaysians with disabilities in the state.
A preliminary similar effort was initiated by the then disabled local councillor Gurdip Kaur also known as Rina.
The meeting was also attended by Thanasayan and MBPJ's Planning Department Head Puan Sharipah Marhaini.
However, there was no follow-up to that initiative until last month's meeting.
"We are extremely pleased by the positive response that we got from the MPS," said a beaming Francis Siva, President of the ILTC.
"We just can't wait to see things moving positively from here on," he concluded.
A KEY MEETING ON DISABILITY CONCERNS will be held later this morning at the headquarters of the Majlis Perbandaran Selayang (MPS) in Bandar Baru Selayang, Selangor.
A top level representative of the local council's town planning department will be meeting a group of disabled persons to set up a special committee on disability concerns within the MPS.
The special body is expected to be made up of people with disabilities as well as experts from the various key departments of the local council.
In addition to town planning, representatives from the engineering and building concerns will also be involved.
The special committee on disability is expected to sit monthly and offer technical advice on how to make Selayang and Rawang more disabled friendly.
The committee will be fashioned much like the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ)'s Disability Technical Committee that was responsible to bring about much changes in handicapped-friendly facilities in PJ since the middle of 2008.
The disability meeting in MPS was first initiated by the then disabled local councillor Gurdip Kaur and MBPJ's Anthony SB Thanasayan.
A special initiative meeting was held last year in MPS by Puan Sharipah Marhaini, head of planning for MBPJ.
However, there was no follow up after that until a month ago.
Several disabled persons led by Francis Siva, president of the Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) handed over a memorandum to MPS' Yang DiPertua Dato Haji Zainal Abidin demanding that follow up action be carried out to the earlier historic discussion.
The disability NGOs who will be attending this morning's meeting are the ILTC, The Lone OKU and PETPOSITIVE.
Fingers crossed, everyone, for a most positive meeting today.
(Please scroll below for the background story to today's MPS' meeting.)
Note: All file pictures courtesy of ILTC.
PET+BLOGSPOT
Wednesday January 20, 2010
Disabled group wants council to do more By STUART MICHAEL
THE Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) in Rawang handed over a memorandum to the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) recently to build disabled-friendly facilities.
The memorandum asked the council to implement and enforce Local Building By-Laws to make the environment friendly to the disabled. Speaking out: ILTC members gathering outside the council before handing over the memorandum.
According to ILTC president Francis Siva, people with disabilities do not want a welfare-based approach but prefer initiatives based on individual rights.
“In Malaysia, we urgently need significant improvement in our quality of life.
“We are part of the community and deserve equal treatment.
“We are disappointed with the council as there has been no progress and development in the infrastructure for the disabled in Rawang and Selayang.
“They should have taken into account proper accessible walkway pavements, elevators and toilets for the disabled and the elderly,” Siva said.
Siva added that last year, at a MPS full board meeting, the council decided that a lift and a ramp would be built for the disabled at the old MPS building and a Technical Working Committee For The Disabled’s Facilities would be set-up.
“Despite many promises made by the MPS there has been no progress.
“We demand to know if the needs of the disabled will henceforth be included in the planning.
“We will be speaking out on our struggle, plight and challenges and against prejudice of the disabled,” he added.
Twelve disabled members from ILTC were present at the MPS building to hand over the memorandum and voice out their concerns.
PET+BLOGSPOT is the official online blog of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive).
We take pride in the fact that everything you read in our blog is ACCURATE, RELIABLE and THE LATEST.
Our blog which was first established in October 2007 currently has more than 35,000 hits. PET+BLOGSPOT is updated frequently.
Kindly take note that views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of Petpositive.
You may also visit our Webpage by browsing: www.petpositive.com.my
Speaking out: ILTC members gathering outside the council before handing over the memorandum.