Trying time for the disabled

Saturday October 2, 2010 By JAYAGANDI JAYARAJ

MEMBERS of the Damai Disabled Persons Association are finding it difficult to go the BSN branch in Persiaran Mergastua, Seri Kepong Baru, because there is no ramp for those on wheelchairs.

The disabled go to the bank to collect their monthly disabled persons allowance.
S. Krishnan, 36, said the lack of a ramp made it difficult for some disabled people to be independent because they had to depend on customers who were walking in or out of the bank to get assistance.

On the streets: A bank employee attending to (from left) Krishnan, Mehboob Sulaiman and Murugeswaran outside the bank.

Photo by P. NATHAN

“The bank employees then come to us and the transaction is made outside the bank. It can be dangerous because there is a risk that we could become victims of snatch thieves,” he told reporters at the bank yesterday.

He added that the narrow one-way street also made it hard for both the disabled and other road users.Krishnan said there were at least 50 disabled people in the area from various disabled persons’ associations.

The association president, V. Murugeswaran, said every building should provide disabled-friendly facilities under the Uniform Building By Law.
He added that the disabled also dealt with banks and they should also be treated equally with facilities needed by them.

“We had the same problem with another bank before, but it responded well to our pleas and made it possible for us to access its building. We hope the same can be done here,” he said.

Disabled Unfriendly BSN branch

Seri Kepong Baru

NANYANG SIANG PAU

It’s not a walk in the park to get your welfare aid

FREE MALAYSIA TODAY

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:14

By Patrick Lee

KEPONG: Kuala Lumpur is not a city known for being friendly to the disabled, and this is especially evident in Kepong Baru.

More than 100 disabled persons live in the area, and they each receive RM300 a month from the Social Welfare Department. Like other welfare beneficiaries in Kuala Lumpur, they have to collect the money from Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) by the 20th day of the month.

The trouble is that access to the bank’s Kepong Baru branch is often a challenge to the wheelchair-bound and other disabled persons.The bank is located on the heavily congested Persiaran Margastua, and the nearest ramp is five metres away from its entrance.

It leads not directly to the bank, but into the greasy entrance of a motorcycle workshop. Motorcycles waiting for repairs would often block the already bumpy path.A large sheet blocks the bank from the rest of the walkway, leaving the disabled to wait by the steps leading to the bank.

Disabled businessman David Chrican told FMT these steps were too high and it would be nearly impossible for him to climb them without help.

It can be frustrating to wait around there, with cars and motorcycles honking everywhere and the sight of filthy liquid wastes from a hawkers’ centre flowing into a smelly drain nearby."Can you imagine if it rains?" asked V Murugesan, president of the Damai Disabled Persons Association of Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan.He said many BSN branches were in similar shape.

Officers usually helpfulThere was a small group of disabled persons waiting outside the bank today. An officer got out of the bank to collect their passbooks and MyKads.Murugesan said this too was a concern for the disabled. "Somebody can just snatch our MyKads and run away."Depending on how busy the bank was, he said, the disabled sometimes had to wait for quite a while to receive their money as well get back their passbooks and MyKads.

A Rajoo, a committee member of the Damai association, told FMT that BSN officers were usually quite helpful. "If we are inside, the officers will give us first priority," he said."But if they're busy inside, with a lot of customers, then they cannot. Sometimes we have to tell bank customers to go in and tell the bank officers that we're outside."However, he said, the public tended to ignore people like him.Other disabled persons said they sometimes had to wait up to 30 minutes before any bank officer would notice them.Some just give up and go home.Why still no ramp?

Murugesan also complained about the time limit for collection of the welfare dues. "If we don't collect after 20 days, then we have to go through a difficult process at the welfare office," he said.According to the Uniformed Building By-Laws (UBBL), banks are required to build ramps for the disabled."They know that the disabled come here every month," Murugesan said."As a government-linked bank, BSN should be an example and provide facilities."Why are the disabled people treated like this after 53 years of independence? Why is this still happening?"The manager of BSN’s Kepong Baru branch was not available for comment.

AirAsia launches ambulift for disabled passengers

Sharing one of our success story with AIRASIA

v.murugeswaran and m.manoharan HAD AUDIT ACCESS IN TWO KTM STESEN WITH MOT,KTM AND OTHER NGO'S - part 4

v.murugeswaran and m.manoharan HAD AUDIT ACCESS IN TWO KTM STESEN WITH MOT,KTM AND OTHER NGO'S - part 3

v.murugeswaran and m.manoharan HAD AUDIT ACCESS IN TWO KTM STESEN WITH MOT,KTM AND OTHER NGO'S - part 2

v.murugeswaran and m.manoharan HAD AUDIT ACCESS IN TWO KTM STESEN WITH MOT,KTM AND OTHER NGO'S - part 1

What a Shame !!! Ex-Law keeper breaks the rules

The pictures above speak thousand words

The disabled in this country has been facing so many obstacles in carrying out their daily routine. Despite all that, we try our best to live independently with the minimal facilities being provided for us where ever we go. The above pictures were taken at the car park area reserved for disabled drivers at Sunway Pyramid. It took me more than 30 minutes to find a disabled parking lot. Most of the parking lots reserved for disabled are taken and the most frustrating part is that it is taken by “normal” people. It amazes me how irresponsible human being can be at times.

We always complain that the car park reserved for the disabled are being mis-use, the main reason for all this is due to the lack of enforcement by the relevant authorities in this case is the Sunway Pyramid management. The management should clamp a car parked at the designated parking lots which does not have disabled persons sticker.

I have came across so many occasions where car park designated for OKU being mis-used, but yesterday’ incident was indeed a classic one. If you note, the car parked at the OKU parking lots bears a sticker saying “Bekas Penguatkuasa Polis” (No indication that it’s belongs to a disabled person ). How can ex- police officer mis-use facilities provided for the disabled? It is such a humiliation to the police department. I sincerely believe that when one put such stickers on their car they bear huge responsibilities to act in a best manner and be an example for the public at large.

I have put a very “polite” note on his car, hopefully the next time he has an intention of parking his car at places designated for OKU he will come to think of my note .

IBM helps NGO to reach out to the disabled

The run’s proceeds will go towards Damai’s programmes to reach out to the disabled in rural
PM areas with limited access to its services.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010, 08.07

PETALING JAYA: IBM Malaysia raised RM40,572 for the Damai Disabled Persons Association of Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan (Damai) through its inaugural Smarter Planet Charity Run 2010 recently.

The contribution will help Damai to reach out to disabled people in rural areas with limited access to its services and centres.IBM On Demand Community volunteers have been working closely with the non-governmental organisation (NGO) for the disabled for the past few years on ICT skills training programmes.

The charity run is IBM's continuous corporate responsibility efforts to support Damai's outreach programme.

The run attracted close to 1,500 people and saw the participation of some 800 IBM employees and their families and friends, clients, and business partners. IBM's Smarter Planet Facebook community also showed up. The 5km charity run took place in Bandar Utama in Petaling Jaya.
IBM Malaysia managing director Ramanathan Sathiamutty presented the run's proceeds to Damai president V. Murugeswaran at a cheque presentation ceremony just before its flag-off. "The proceeds from this run will enable us to realise our dream of owning a Mobility Van to promote our services in remote and rural areas," said Murugeswaran.For IBM, the charity run is about making the world a better place to live, building a smarter planet and improving quality of life.

"We are glad that our contributions will help Damai to reach out to, educate and develop those who are in need in areas otherwise not reacheable," said Ramanathan.By a smarter planet, IBM means building cities and infrastructure for better services to the people, excellent public transport that caters to people from all walks of life, and education systems and talent development programmes that will equip Malaysians with the skills to contribute to the country's development.

IBM SMARTER PLANET CHARITY RUN 07/08/2010

Please click on the header above to view the entire album

Venue : Central Park Avenue, Dataran Bandar Utama

We would like to take this opportunity to thank

IBM SMARTER PLANET CHARITY RUN, specifically Li Ern Phang,Low Nate Chee Mun,Roslin Abdul Rahim and their team members

for the hard work in driving more 1000++ participants and made the event a success.We are also would like to record out highest appreciation to Rama Nathan Managing Director, IBM Malaysia and Mr. Eric Wong Director marketing,communications and corporate citizenship & corporate affairs who had approved RM 40,572.00 being the proceeds from the event to enable Damai to fulfill its dream to own a Mobility VAN for the association members .

The van will be utilized to help our members and non-members to do their daily routine such as attending to their medical check-up, attending an interview, going to work and etc.

Secondly the said van will be utilized mainly to promote awareness camping for the disabled individuals in remote and/or rural areas whereby in the present we have difficulties to reach them due to the inaccessible public transportation.

WE TRULY APPLAUD IBM’S SOCIAL CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITIES

Mr. Rama Nathan Managing Director IBM Malaysia Presenting Mock cheque to President of Damai Mr.V.Murugeswaran

MEETING INVITATION BY KETUA PENGARAH DBKL YBhg Datuk Hj Salleh Bin Yusup

PENYERAHAN MEMORANDUM

OLEH AHLI-AHLI JAWATAN KUASA KERJA PERSATUAN DAMAI

MEMINTA DBKL MENYEDIAKAN KEMUDAHAN INFRASTRUKTUR DAN TEMPAT LETAK KERETA UNTUK ORANG KURANG UPAYA (OKU) DI SEMUA KAWASAN YANG BERADA DI BAWAH BIDANGKUASA DBKL

Tarikh : 28 Julai 2010

Kepada : YBhg Datuk Hj Salleh Bin Yusup
Ketua Pengarah DBKL

'Disabled-unfriendly' KL City Hall comes under fire

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:00

By Patrick Lee

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) came under heavy criticism today for its lackadaisical attitude towards providing better access for disabled persons in the city.

Damai Disabled Persons Association of Selangor and Federal Territory president V.Murugeswaran said a recent meeting with DBKL had proved futile.

“They (DBKL) have set up a Disabled Persons Unit (DPU). The officers, however, are all able-bodied people.“At the meeting, they opposed our list of demands which included our request for ramps and modification to roadside curbs.

“They classified our list of demands as ‘short-term projects’ and had a lot of reasons against it,” said Murugeswaran But what shocked wheelchair-bound V.Murugeswaran most was when they asked him to “understand the situation”.“They want me to understand that it is not easy to build a ramp for disabled people!They want us to compromise and wait... but for how long?”

Murugeswaran said it was obvious that the DPU was set up because of “top-level pressure and the unit was not really bothered”.“After several disappointing responses to our letters, we got fed up with DBKL and turned up to see (Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister) Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin. “He (minister) instructed the DBKL officials to speak with me directly,” he said, adding that this was how DPU could have been set up.FMT caught up with V.Murugeswaran, who together

with representatives from Maybank, were at DBKL yesterday evening to hand over a memorandum to DBKL director-general Salleh Yusuf.The memorandum wants DBKL to expedite the installation of disabled friendly facilities.Quest for facilities Murugeswaran's quest to make Kuala Lumpur more disabled-friendly began in 2008 when he found that one of Damai's members had been taken advantage of.

The member, suffering from a near-total paralysis, had lost RM5,000 after being duped by a “friend”.The money was lost when the member allowed his “friend” to use his ATM card on his behalf.Murugewaran believed that the situation might have been averted if disabled individuals had proper bank access.“We need to be present at the banks to get our pensions and allowances. But most banks are not disabled-friendly.”“The only bank which was willing to listen to our grouses was Maybank,” he said.He said Maybank then embarked on a RM16-million nationwide project to make its branches more disabled-friendly in keeping with its corporate social responsibilities.

Murugeswaran added that some Maybank branches built disabled ramps after getting permission from City Hall.But Murugesan, however, maintained that ramps and modifications to road curbs were the responsibility of DBKL and should not be fobbed off onto the private sector.

FREE COMPUTER CLASS - VOLUNTARY SERVICE BY IBM STAFF HEADED BY Wong Ying Keat

The president of Damai - Mr. V. Murugeswaran was interviewed by Mix FM

The president of Damai – Mr. V. Murugeswaran was interviewed by Lite FM and Mix FM on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ( CRPD ) According to him the convention is TOOTHLESS since Malaysia opted not to ratify the optional protocol.

The Person’s with disability Act which was passed in 2007 also can be placed in the same category as no single provisions in the said act which provide for sanction and/or punishment if the rights conferred under the act is not implemented.

In fact there is legislation which was enacted much earlier than the said act which is left redundant i.e Uniform Building By-Laws and The Street and Drainage Act.

It is high time for the Malaysian Government to sign the optional protocol and to draw-up an Anti Discrimination Act to supplement The Person’s with disability Act 2007 which will then be an effective tool to protect the rights of the disabled people in this country

The president of Damai - Mr. V. Murugeswaran was interviewed by Lite FM

Malaysia Signs Convention On Rights Of Persons With Disabilities

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 (Bernama) -- Malaysia on Tuesday signed the instrument to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and withdrew its reservations on several articles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

The signing of the instrument by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil showed the government's commitment to protecting and improving the welfare of the disabled, women and children.Shahrizat said the Convention on the disabled outlined eight common principles, including respect and self-reliance, removing discrimination against the disabled, and their full and effective participation in society."We hope it will bring change to the lives of the disabled in this country," she said at the signing ceremony, here.Shahrizat also handed over the instrument ratifying the Convention to Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Richard Riot Jaem to be sent to the United Nations for further action.

On the withdrawing of Malaysia' reservations on certain articles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Shahrizat said the government would give children the freedom to have their say and the right to form associations and to assemble peacefully.

She said the move was in line with the recognition given to children's rights as they would be the nation's future leaders.Besides that, she added, the government would also fix the minimum age for women to marry and make the marriage registration compulsory, remove prejudices and customs that discriminated against women, and stress on opportunities to be given to women to hold public office.

Shahrizat said when the government agreed to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, it acted by appointing two women as Syariah Court judges recently."This is a positive step in raising the status of women in this country by giving them important decision-making positions," she said.-- BERNAMA

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