PETALING JAYA: Despite being wheelchair-bound since the age of six, Ng Bee Kean has overcome the challenge and is now a loving mother, wife and an advocate for other disabled parents.

But more so, Ng, 40, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, has prevailed over discrimination by her family and society.

“Even when I was a child, I rarely went out or explored because I was embarrassed by my disability.

“Day after day, I would just watch television or listen to the radio and 30 years passed me by just like that,” she said, adding that she got weaker and weaker by the day.

But like everyone else, Ng longed to meet new people, travel and hopefully meet someone to eventually settle down with.

However, she always faced criticism and negativity from her family members who constantly suggested that she might never get the opportunity to marry and have children.

“I believed them at that time. Then, I realised that I am just like everyone else.

“Why should I be deprived of the rights to become a mother and a wife?” she asked herself.

Today, she is the deputy president of the Malaysia Disabled Parents with Disabilities Association (MDPDA), a non-governmental association dedicated to helping disabled parents and their families seek better lives.

“Society has to understand that just because a person cannot walk, talk, hear or see like a normal person does, it does not mean that he or she will not be fit to be a parent.”

“We are sick of being discriminated and ostracised. We are disabled but we are also part of society,” she said.

MDPDA, together with the Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled (BGFD), Association of Women with Disabilities (AWWD) and Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), will celebrate Parents’ with Disabilities Day on June 30 as part of the efforts highlighting disabled parents.

The event will be held at Dewan Perpustakaan MBPJ. For more information, call 03-7873 6579 or 019 384 9921.

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