By VIVIENNE PAL and YIP YOKE TENG

EXITING the Kompleks MAB (Malaysian Association for the Blind) in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, Godfrey Ooi immediately makes his way to the Monorail Tun Sambanthan station. It is a simple route, but Ooi is blind and relies on the yellow tactile blocks under his feet to reach his destination.

The blocks, a common sight in Brickfields, feature raised markings – long lines indicate the direction while dots indicate corners or a certain location.

The tactile blocks should make navigation a breeze, but Ooi is still confronted with challenges. For instance, walking to KL Sentral can be trying as the tactile trail is broken in many places due to obstructions (e.g. electricity cables and lampposts), inconsiderate and shoddy repair works, or the refusal of certain parties to install the blocks within their “area”.

“Brickfields is well-equipped with disabled-friendly facilities and is 90% barrier-free but there are not many barrier-free areas in the Klang Valley that enable the blind to travel conveniently and independently,” said Ooi.

Mobility is a major issue for the wheelchair-bound who often face challenges in the simplest tasks such as going to the hospital, doing their marketing or renewing their drivers’ licences due to the lack (or absence) of disabled-friendly facilities and services.

“We have our OKU (Orang Kurang Upaya) cards, but to renew our drivers licences, we have to personally go to the JPJ at Wangsa Maju – it’s as if we have to prove our disability,” said Francis Siva, who is founder and president of the Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) in Rawang. Francis is paralysed from neck down and has been wheelchair-bound for 20 years.

He recounts his frustration at government departments that have no toilets for the disabled, the impossibility of using public transportation as well as poor accessibility due to the absence of ramps and wheelchair lifts in many places – all this in spite of the existence of uniform building bylaws which stipulate that new buildings must be equipped with facilities for the physically handicapped.

The deaf are able to travel more independently, but they, too, face their share of inconveniences.

According to YMCA Pusat Maju Diri Y’s senior administrator Jessica Mak, there was only sound, but no light on public trains to indicate when the doors are closing, while public buses are not equipped with lights to signal that the bell has been rung, causing the deaf to be scolded for ringing the bell again when another passenger had done so.

Electronic devices that display destinations are helpful for the deaf, but are rarely installed in local public transportation.

Basic facilities such as lifts, toilets, ramps, special seats and the use of Braille are available at LRT-Putra lines but not on the LRT-Star lines. Such facilities are also rare on public buses.

Nonetheless, there is no denying that efforts have been made to integrate the disabled into society. Such efforts are commendable, but sluggish and seem to have reached a plateau.

Amenities and infrastructure for the disabled do not seem to commensurate with the government’s perpetual call for a caring society or the mass media’s repetitive effort in highlighting the plight of the disabled.

For instance, according to Ooi, MAB, SIRIM and Construction Industrial Development Board (CIDB) had come out with Codes of Practice on access for disabled persons to public buildings, but these codes – although gazetted by the government – had not been put into practice in many places, especially in housing estates.

“We appreciate what the government has done for us in Brickfields, but the facilities can serve the blind better if there is coordination among different parties,” said National Council for the Blind, Malaysia assistant executive director Moses Choo Siew Cheong.

Wheelchair-bound Dixon David said accessibility and dissemination of information to the disabled needed to be more efficient.

“The OKU cards have been out for about 10 years, but it is only recently that it has been advertised on the mass media. Why does this have to take so long?” he asked, adding that education, services and facilities for the disabled in countries like Japan, Hong Kong and Australia, were exemplary.

Job placement remains one of the biggest predicaments faced by the handicapped community and the ILTC is lobbying for government agencies to lead the way in allocating more jobs to the disabled.

“Just because we are handicapped does not mean we are less intelligent, skilful or knowledgeable,” said Dixon who, despite losing the function of his upper limbs is a computer whiz via voice activation software.

Ultimately, what the disabled community truly want is their right to be independent in every way – something that can only be achieved if the sense of apathy in society is eradicated.

“Many from among the disabled community do not know their rights. We don’t need sympathy and we don’t want to be compromised.

“What we really want is a change in society’s mindset and attitude. The government can help us by setting an example to the rest of society in protecting the interests of the disabled. Change is achievable if the policy-makers are committed,” said Francis.