Woes of the disabled not heard

The recent abuse of a 15-year old boy in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan shocked Malaysians to the core when they saw photographs of the victim who was just a bag of skin and bones.

Physically and mentally handicapped, he was severely malnourished, naked and filthy when discovered by immigration officers who were doing their routine checks to weed out illegal workers in the area.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim clearly upset and saddened over the incident had promised to do everything she could to ensure that the disabled boy’s rights and welfare would be protected.

Welfare department partly to blame?

Whilst investigations into the real story of what happened to the teenager to cause such an abuse is still ongoing, I can’t help but think about the mother’s initial remarks.

She was reported to have said that she had never neglected her child, claiming that she did not know where to go for support and when she finally approached the welfare department, support and assistance was not forthcoming.

If her claim is true, then this case should send out loud and clear warning sirens to those at the top of our welfare department.

For many of us who work as NGO leaders for the disabled, complaints about the welfare department are common.

Even though the top brass of the welfare department are some of the most sensitive and helpful people we know, this however does not seem to translate the same way when it comes to the downline staff.

This is especially so in the rural area welfare offices where the staff do not give out the required information and some are not even armed with the knowledge.

Then there are the frontline team and local directors who often treat the disabled with disdain and are rude.

These welfare personnel have forgotten the precious role they are supposed to play for the disabled by being rude, patronising and demoralising the very people they are meant to help.

Welfare document not recognised ?

Last week a group of about 40 physically disabled drivers from five NGO’s held a protest in Kuala Lumpur, against the Road Transport Department’s (JPJ) sudden new ruling stating that the renewal of drivers’ licenses now require a government doctor’s letter to confirm their disability.

“Why the need for a doctor’s letter when the Welfare Department has already given us a beautiful identification card (JKM) confirming the very same thing?” a disabled driver asked at the press conference.

“Shouldn’t the objective of the government departments be to make our lives easier and hassle-free instead of putting up red tape which is totally unnecessary?” he concluded.

Another disabled driver had to make several trips to JPJ KL and to JPJ Putrajaya just so he could qualify for the RM30 discount on his driver’s license fee. But he was asked to submit a fresh medical report from a doctor.

In a separate incident, a handicapped Malaysian woman was asked to re-sit a full driving test despite her having had a valid one done some years ago.

“Not only did I have to get a new medical report, but I was forced to pay almost RM1,000 for my lessons and test, money I badly need for my provisions and living expenses.”

“In the end, I had to borrow money and I am still paying back what I owe,” she said.

When we turned up at the Wangsa Maju JPJ office we were not entertained by the staff. We had hoped for JPJ senior officers to meet with us so that we could share our problems with them but that did not happen.

Wheelchair woes

The wheelchair ramps built at various buildings throughout the city are actually unsuitable and dangerous .Wheelchair senator Bathmavathi Krishnan has so far shown no interest and her actions will not make a difference to all the handicapped in the country.

Good news from welfare minister

Some of us had the opportunity to meet with Rohani Abdul Karim last week and she has promised to look into the matter with JPJ and ask them to accept the welfare card (JKM) for driving licence renewals.

Rohani also assured us that she will direct the JKM staff to prepare the renewal cards three months before expiry to ensure no interruptions in the workers’ monthly allowance.

She told us that we are the experts on the needs of the disabled and that she would support and work with us to raise our quality of life for the future.

The NGO’s that took part in the JPJ protest included the Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) Malaysia in Rawang and the Malaysian Spinal Cord Injury Association (MASIA) based in Balakong.



Source : Free Malaysia Today , 25th June 2014