Making it easier for disabled people to use disabled car parks

Making life of the disabled easier

Anthony SB Thanasayan

Anthony SB Thanasayan is a wheelchair user who is powered by his service dogs who help him stay on top of life. He is president of Malaysia's first and only animal-assisted therapy society called Petpositive.

Anthony SB Thanasayan

Published: 16 February 2015

 

I read in a news portal last Friday how a local council had towed away a car belonging to a senior disabled citizen.
 

The incident happened in Klang, Selangor.
 

The "bad guys" purportedly were the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) officers. The "victim" was a 65-year-old, who had polio and uses a wheelchair to move about.  

According to the report the incident happened outside the bank. The man's car was duly parked in a handicapped parking slot provided by the municipality.
 

What went wrong was that the car had no wheelchair logo displayed on it. It was apparently driven by the senior man's able-bodied son.
 

Both must have thought that coming to the bank in a wheelchair was enough "physical evidence" to prove one's disability status.
 

But it wasn’t enough.
 

MPK's enforcement unit promptly towed away the car. Even though, according to the story, the son had run out of the bank and tried to explain to the officers that his father was still inside the building.
 

Apparently MPK was unrelenting. The fact that the father had turned up at the office to prove that he was disabled, failed to tug their hearts.
 

As the story went, they ended up paying the fines: RM100 for wrongful parking and RM100 to release the vehicle.
 

As a former councillor of the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) for five years – and as a person who headed the council's disability committee – here are several things which I think could and should have been done to avoid the situation, and brought some amicable solution to the matter.
 

Disabled drivers: please ensure that you use the wheelchair logo signs both in front and the back of your vehicles at all times.
 

We often complain when non-disabled people steal our parking spots (and they are!). We blame local council enforcement officers for "sleeping on the job" and not taking action against them.
 

But how are we helping the situation? How are they to know who is disabled and who is not, if we confuse them by not using the stickers? The situation would not have happened if there was a wheelchair logo displayed on the car.
 

Disabled stickers: these should be made available only from MPK, not the Welfare Department (JKM) and not even the Road Transport Department. This would eliminate fraud such as someone purchasing one from a bookshop.
 

Disabled stickers should be issued only to people who have a disabled identification card. (This is to encourage more handicapped to register.) If they have none, it should be MPK's social and moral responsibility to assist the applicant to get one through JKM.
 

The stickers should be given free of charge to disabled drivers and renewed every three years or so.
 

Disabled stickers should only be given to people with physical disabilities, not the blind, deaf or others. MPK should decide if it is only for drivers with disabilities or those driving around the disabled or elderly.
 

(Keep in mind, if it is opened to the others – who can find alternatives with an able-bodied helper, it may deprive those who truly need the facility, that is, disabled drivers. In such a case, even more disabled parking spots will be required.)
 

Those with temporary disabilities, like in an accident or illness, should also be allowed to apply from the council with a government doctor's letter. It should be renewed monthly and eventually cancelled.
 

Awareness campaigns: in addition to the above, MPK and all councils should educate their non-disabled residents from time to time on how not to abuse disabled drivers' parking spots.
 

The programme should also include going down to residents' associations and seeking out disabled drivers in order to get them registered for the stickers. 

 

Sometimes home visits are necessary instead of expecting the disabled to turn up in offices. Or, even creating a "drive-in" in MPK's office is another extremely helpful method.
 

Note: in the case of the senior citizen, giving a discount will be a compassionate and welcome thing. It is never too late to do so.
Local councils or anyone working to help the disabled must always remember this: the goal is always to make the life of the handicapped easier, never harder. – February 16, 2015.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

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Reviving Taman Medan

Anthony SB Thanasayan

Anthony SB Thanasayan is a wheelchair user who is powered by his service dogs who help him stay on top of life. He is president of Malaysia's first and only animal-assisted therapy society called Petpositive.

Anthony SB Thanasayan

Published: 2 February 2015

 

Little did Haniza Talha realise – eight years ago – while driving on the New Pantai Expressway across Taman Medan in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, something quite unexpected and positive was going to happen to her, as well as for the people living in the area.
 

She recalls being "shocked at that time as to why the surroundings and the residents living there looked so neglected – compared with others living in neighbouring Old Klang Road."
 

And then, approximately a year later, she pleasantly found herself being elevated to be part of the solution to the problem.

Haniza contested in the Taman Medan constituency in 2008 – and won! She succeeded in garnering the seat with a 4,433 majority against the Barisan Nasional candidate to become the state assemblyman under PKR, where she has remained.
 

In May 5, 2013, Haniza was re-elected to her position in the 13th general election.
 

Her victories in the ballot boxes have only given her an impetus to try and change the situation into one which is thriving with economic activities and redevelopment for the residents.
 

"It is certainly not an easy task, especially when you consider it once caught the world's attention for its racial clashes, deaths and scars that can never be erased till this very day," Haniza tells me.
 

"The uphill task for me now as the assemblyman (Adun) is to restore harmony among the majority Malays and Indians in the ex-slump area," she adds, pointing out that the "slump mentality still persists physically", even though it has been wiped out in early 2000.

(The slump mentality is a behavioural problem. Values associated with living in slumps are carried on, such as free services – no bills, no rentals, no proper drainage systems and rubbish collection [disposed of indiscriminately]. Others include low self-esteem issues to illegal construction of houses and extensions.)

Haniza says her manifesto focuses on five major current issues.
These are to raise the levels of infrastructure up to city standards so that facilities such as road access – as well as wider roads – to good building standards, safety and others are adequately provided for in the population ratio.
 

Recreational spots for sports and outdoor activities are another must. The only pockets of these available today are those left after buildings have been constructed.
 

Most are unsuitable and unsafe. As a result, children and youth have nowhere to run and play – except on roads with traffic, which court danger. Without proper recreational spots, youth go elsewhere and end up in unhealthy habits and activities.
 

Another goal is to strengthen the family institution. The family plays an important role in instilling values.
 

"Ways must be found to alleviate some of the burdens of parents who need to work in order to provide for their family and, at the same time, give enough love and care to their children in order to avoid them from getting into social problems," says Haniza.
 

Helping to increase the income of residents is also something the Adun has been trying to do. Most income-earners get RM3,000, or less.
 

This is a toughie for big families. Wives, who look after their children, need to have side incomes to survive.
 

The last, but not least, goal is to encourage knowledge-driven activities. In turn, Haniza says it will improve the levels of education.
 

"This is critical because of their low-level education, most poor families don't have well-paid jobs. So all parties, from parents to children, have to work to make ends meet."
 

Haniza strongly believes that a good education in one sure way to get out of poverty. So support and encouragement from parents and society, to excel in studies through reading, educational trips and others will go a long way in helping individuals to perform well in their studies.
 

"Education is the one thing that can break the vicious cycle around the families in Taman Medan.
 

"Many breadwinners are low-income earners: lorry drivers, despatch persons and construction workers, to name a few.
 

"They get paid RM1,000 or less, some get paid on a daily basis – depending on the work done each day.
 

"Education for their children will in the long run open avenues for changed attitudes, different mindsets and better living standards."
Haniza's office introduced a successful "Child Education Adoption Programme", which ran for two years. Students from Form 4, who were carefully selected, were paired with a student "brother" or "sister" from a nearby university or college.
 

The latter acted as mentors for the less educated students.
They took part in special activities where adoptees received coaching from their mentors. Each activity was designed to build confidence and self-esteem, as well as instil values and change negative mindsets.
 

Even the parents of the young students began seeing changes in their children. Some of the adoptees also went on to receive study offers from at least one of the participating institutions of higher learning. – February 2, 2015.
 

* For information, contact: Pusat Khidmat Rakyat ADUN Taman Medan, No. 25 (Tingkat Bawah), Jalan PJS 1/32, Taman Medan Pejasa, Off Jalan Klang Lama, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Tel: 03-7781 2151; Fax : 03-7781 8704; Email: aduntamanmedan@gmail.com 

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/anthony-sb-thanasayan/article/reviving-taman-medan#sthash.itI4CGIS.dpuf