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Thursday May 15, 2008

Stand guard

WHEEL POWER
By ANTHONY THANASAYAN


Disability is much closer to all of us than we think.

THOSE who assume that people in wheelchairs have no excitement in their lives must have second thoughts by now. The attention we got was more than anyone could ask for.

Every media was there. Flashlights were popping with a frenzy that made us dizzy. I am, of course, referring to the memorandum that we handed to the Members of Parliament last Thursday.

About 30 of us – mostly in wheelchairs but all with physical disabilities – from seven NGOs under the banner Malaysians Against Discrimination of the Disabled were there.

We demanded that insults with reference to people with disabilities (PWDs) made by our MPs be stopped immediately. Those failing to do so should be promptly disciplined.

“We do not care what the arguments are between each political party,” we told everyone. “Just respect our condition and leave us out of your personal fights.”

Our frustration arose out of the fact that our needs rarely got the attention it deserved in Parliament.

The victim in the latest incident was Karpal Singh. This was not the first time that the wheelchair-using MP was unkindly teased about his disability.

Last year an able-bodied MP said that God had put him in a wheelchair, meaning that his disability was a punishment from God.

A fortnight ago during a parliamentary session, two non-disabled MPs ridiculed the DAP leader for not being able to stand up like the rest of them to deliver his speech.

When confronted by the media later, they continued to make other hurtful remarks, one of which was that they did not know Karpal Singh is a PWD or that he represents them.

How could anyone expect Karpal Singh to stand up with his paralysis?

We went to Parliament not to support Karpal Singh as a politician. It was also not because he was a DAP member.

We went there to do our duty, to be in solidarity with a man who was suddenly struck by a condition that changed his life forever.

In fact, disability is much closer to all of us than we think. It can strike anyone any time, especially when you are older. I wonder if our MPs realise this.

Karpal Singh was not around when we handed over our memorandum. However, we got a chance to see him when he came to Parliament later in the afternoon.

It took at least three persons to carry him into his wheelchair because he could not do it himself.

However, it inspired us all to see this man, fully dressed in his suit, carrying on his duties for his constituents and his country. This is the kind of role models we need, not only for the disabled but also for the able-bodied.

It is particularly hard for an independent individual to suddenly have to switch roles and lead a life that is dependent on others for assistance. Do our MPs know this?

The design of Parliament House itself was hostile to us. There are no disabled-friendly toilets anywhere. As a result, we were forced to stay away from any liquids for the almost six hours that we were there.

The able-bodied rushed into lifts ahead of us. They had no courtesy to take the stairs instead. We ended up waiting for more than half an hour to get upstairs.

There was not a single disabled-friendly carpark outside. We were made to park quite a distance from the entrance. No one offered to push our wheelchairs as we struggled to wheel ourselves up the steep slope under the unforgiving sun.

And yet we made it to the most important and highest house in our blessed land where our hopes for a better future lay.

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