LETTER | We strongly disagree with the comments by Ruziah Ghazali from the National Council for the Disabled for alleging that it is because of the negative attitudes of parents of the handicapped towards their children that these children are not progressing in our nation.
We are most shocked that such a remark is coming from a disabled representative meant to give solid advice to the government.
Why would any parent not want to register their children with disabilities - especially if they knew that there are benefits for them?
Stop this disgusting mentality of blaming parents of the orang kurang upaya (OKU, disabled person).
Sure, there might be some who are struggling to deal with the stigma of our society towards the disabled but it is not the parents, for heaven's sake, who are the bad ones here.
In fact, most parents of the disabled are the true backbones of their children's lives and have to bear the brunt of looking after their kids with disabilities with little or no government support.
So, instead of finger-pointing the OKUs' parents, the authorities, including those that claim to look out for them in special committees, should not be blinded by the three other fingers that are pointing back at them.
Disabled Malaysians are under-registered because of the failure of the government to get them registered - and not take the easy and lazy way to blame the victims.
Why don't the welfare officers, for instance, go door-to-door to seek out the OKUs, especially in the poor areas? The Welfare Department should work closely with the local councils to find them and register them.
In fact, this is the very first thing that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her Deputy Minister Hannah Yeoh should have done when they took over from the BN - review all the BN policies to see how effective ineffective they have been.
If they only bother to do so, their efforts would uncover some of the other things why the disabled "failed to register":
- The physically disabled have no transport or find it too costly to get to the welfare office by themselves;
- Even when and if they do somehow get to the Welfare Department, the building isn't accessible to their wheelchairs from the entrance or into the toilets;
- They have no one to accompany them. Even though welfare officers must go to those who can't get out of their houses, this information is rarely disclosed to them;
- The frontline welfare staff/officers are rude to them;
- What kind of counselling services does the Welfare Department provide to "parents with stigma about the disabled children”?;
- The best would be weekly parents' support groups. How many have the Welfare Department and ministers initiated?; and
- What about financial support? It is not uncommon for families to have more than one loved one with disabilities to care for. If they are given some form of aid, is it sufficient to meet their needs?
On a final note, stigma about the disabled is a reality but certainly isn't a major or pressing issue faced by the disabled.
Let's not sidetrack issues but focus on setting our priorities right.
ANTHONY THANASAYAN is president of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive), a nationally registered non-profit society that uses animals to empower the lives of disabled and elderly persons.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
