We don’t include the disabled enough

SINCE 1992, the United Nations’ International Day of Persons with Disabilities has been annually observed on Dec 3 around the world. The theme for this year’s day was “Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality”.

How have we, as a nation, tackled the issue of including the disabled? We hear political rhetoric about what the government is doing for disabled people but we don’t see much happening on the ground. We don’t see many disabled people using our roads or being employed in big firms.

Our awareness of persons with disabilities makes a difference in the community.

Let me start with schools. We have Pendidikan Khas, or Special Education classes, in our school system. Do we have experienced special education teachers to teach in these classes? Integrating children with disabilities in mainstream classes has not taken off because principals worry about their schools’ academic performance.

Accessibility for children in wheelchairs is not adequate in schools and these children cannot access school laboratories or libraries. Schools with Pendidikan Khas classes must be made to have ramps or lifts to allow access. Eventually, we hope all new schools will be accessible.

Let’s consider the environment. Are our roads disabled-friendly? Can a blind person walk safely without falling into an open manhole? Even sighted people fall into those! Are our pedestrian walkways wide and smooth enough for wheelchairs?

The operators of trains and the MRT and LRT have to be commended for making these transport systems accessible and on par with international standards. Such cannot be said of other infrastructure. We need to build a township that is totally disabled-friendly and that can be an example to be followed.

We also have to ensure that people have enough knowledge to help the disabled – for instance, we need to know that a disabled person might need to make 10 times the effort to do what a non-disabled person feels is simple.

This then leads to the issue of job opportunities. Although the government gives incentives to companies that employ the disabled, many still discriminate against them – but no action is taken against them.

Disabled people don’t just need empathy, they want respect and tangible infrastructure that enables them to contribute meaningfully to society. Adequate training opportunities to fill better job scopes should be made available to them.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) effort uses “Leaving no one behind” as its rallying cry. The SDG ends in 2030 and if no extra effort is made to narrow the gap between non-disabled people and people with disabilities, we will leave the disabled behind.

If changes in attitude, education, infrastructure and accessibility are not made, Dec 3 will just come and go every year while the gap just gets wider.

As we develop into a so-called developed nation, we have to take care of those who are marginalised in our society – and the disabled are marginalised!

The aim should be to ensure inclusiveness and equality by empowering individuals with disabilities.

We have a long way to go as a nation.

Datuk Dr Zulkifli Ismail

Secretary General, Asia Pacific Paediatric Association and Standing Committee member, International Paediatric Association