Mayor to review ruling and issue OKU sticker to caregiver

A WOMAN driver gave the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor a piece of her mind after her car was clamped for being in a parking lot reserved for disabled persons.

Ooi Chee Lin, 40, was ferrying her mother, a wheelchair user, when the incident happened.

She had to pay a fine before council enforcers could unclamp her car.

She faced off against Datuk Maimunah Mohd Sharif at City Hall yesterday.

“When those two officers saw my mother’s condition, at least they could have checked with their boss first before insisting that I had to pay a fine.

“What kind of attitude is this?” Chee Lin asked Maimunah in front of the gathered journalists.

On Monday afternoon, Chee Lin parked her car on a blue parking lot reserved for the disabled. She was driving her mother around.

This is allowed on Penang island but her car did not have thedisabled persons (OKU) sticker and neither did she display on her dashboard an OKU card from the state Social Welfare Department.

Two council enforcers then clamped her car.

When Chee Lin returned to the car with her mother in a wheelchair, the enforcers would not remove the clamp until she paid the fine.

Chee Lin showing the summons issued by the council while Teoh holds the receipt at the press conference. With them is Teck Liang (showing Teoh’s medical report).

An employee of a nearby bank, who knew Chee Lin and her mother, then paid the fine for them.

A video of the incident subsequently went viral.

In the discussion at City Hall, Maimunah explained to Chee Lin that council enforcers could not, at their level, nullify issued compounds.

“We will review the guidelines. There could be room for improvement.

“Yes, the enforcers saw your mother was in a wheelchair.

“However, your car could not be unclamped without the need for payment.

“At the moment, that is not the procedure,” she explained.

Maimunah said MBPP had prepared an OKU parking sticker for Chee Lin and she needed only to complete the verification process that she was a caregiver and next-of-kin of a disabled person.

Earlier, Chee Lin had gone to the Penang MCA Public Complaints and Services Bureau for help.

Bureau chief Ooi Teck Liang called a press conference for her.

After the encounter with Maimunah, Chee Lin explained that she obtained a doctor’s report verifying that her mother, Teoh Ah Hon @ Teoh Ah Hun, 72, had lost the ability to walk about two weeks ago as a result of Parkinson’s disease.

“I am satisfied I was able to give the mayor a piece of my mind. If I don’t voice out, others who are less educated might suffer the same fate and just put up with it.

“All I want is for council enforcers to apply more common sense.

“They could see my frail mother in a wheelchair and for them to be blind to that was just wrong,” she said.