ciRcLe oF liFe: When our city lags far behind in disabled-friendly facilities

The city of Kota Kinabalu is still a far cry in terms of providing facilities for the disabled, especially in relation to its public transport system.

Fariz Abd Rani, 33, said despite provision of facilities for the disabled is still lagging in the State and particularly in the city, the situation has however improved and for the better, since 2008.

“Our (the disabled) rights are advocated with the assistance of the Cheshire Home through its ‘Young Voices of Sabah’. This is a local group advocating for the rights of the disabled through which we learn a lot about confidence-building to enable us to help others who have basically given up on life,” he said.

The Ministry of Community Development and Consumer Affairs also lends its voice to speak for the rights of the disabled.

Quoting the launching of a disabled-friendly premises at Wisma Tun Fuad Stephens, Fariz said it was reflective of the ministry’s concern for the disabled.

“The facilities include a special elevator, toilets and doors which facilitate easier access for us to move around in the building,” said Fariz, the receipient of the ‘Anugerah Sukarelawan Kebajikan Muda’ in 2011.

He said the most challenging part is surmounting the non-friendly public transport system towards the disabled in the city.

“It is by no means an easy feat to take a ride on the public transport if no facility for the disabled is provided. The operators feel compelled and burdened just to give us a ride.

“I once experienced an occasion where a taxi driver left my cousin and I to rue only because of my condition as a paraplegic who uses a wheelchair to move about. My cousin is a normal person. When the taxi driver saw I was on a wheelchair, he simply left us to our own device,” he said relating some of the sour moments he has gone through.

“I understand the situation and I am conscious of the fact that the awareness level among the able-bodied people to lend credible assistance to the disabled is sadly still very low indeed,” he lamented.

But there is still a glimmer of hope that facilities for the disabled in the State or for a start, in the city, could be instituted and improved and that more disabled-friendly buildings would be built in the future, he added.

Without any cynicism intended, Fariz stated that it would render irrelevant even if all the buildings were disabled-friendly, if connectivity for the disabled to gain access into those structures remains unresolved.

When he spoke of connectivity, the public transport system has to be essentially equipped with disabled-friendly facilities operated by dignified and understanding able-bodied humans.

A road accident some 14 years ago has left Fariz with a spinal cord injury which rendered him a paraplegic.

“I was then a first-year undergraduate in Applied Physics at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) when it occurred.

“After the accident, I just stayed home without any thought of doing anything at all, for all I did was eat, sleep and watched the TV,” he said.

Three years down the road, he finally came to his senses and decided to continue pursuing for a more meaningful life.

“The first year after the accident was a period of struggle with my own emotion. It was not easy to accept the fact that I had become a disabled person.

“The second year was a period of re-assessment and that was when I started thinking rationally to determine until when would I want to stay at home doing nothing. It wasn’t until the third year after the trauma that it dawned on me that it was more meaningful to come out of my shell and face the real world to start a new life,” he said.

Without the support and love from family members, he would have given up on life.

“Family support is very important. During the three-year period, they were the ones who had to fight their own emotional battles to encourage and help me to continue with my life. They were the ones who gave me unqualified moral support and encouragement. Without them, I would not be where I am now,” he recalled unabashedly.

Fariz is the founder of Syarikat Jasa Bumi Prosthetic, the first Bumiputera company in the State to manufacture prostheses for the hands and legs and the company’s office is located at Central Plaza, Kepayan Ridge.

In order to understand his customers better, Fariz is currently pursuing an academic programme at the Open University Malayisa (OUM) leading to the bachelor’s degree in Psychology.

“I want to reach out to my clients, especially those who give up on life. With a degree in psychology, I will be armed with knowledge that can come in handy.

“Thus far, I rely on my personal experience and journey to motivate others, and I usually tell them that they each have promising futures since they can still work and socialise with people, like me” said Fariz.

Recalling the time he first set foot at OUM, there was no facility provided for the disabled and he took it upon himself to discuss with the power that be and proposed for the installation of facilities to turn the building into one that is disabled-friendly.

“I was fortunate that the principal accepted my proposal and currently there are several disabled people studying in OUM,” he said.

Sharing the same thought and expressing almost similar sentiment, Francis Xavier Kijan, 28, of Penampang, said the public transportation system and building structures in and around the city are not equipped with any facility for the disabled.

Kijan said to have been born as a disabled has made him resolutely strong to carry on with life.

The youngest son of five children, he said his experience working as a mechanic has led him to modify a motorcycle for his own use.

He is currently gainfully employed in a pastry café at Central Plaza, Kepayan Ridge and admitted to facing innumerable challenges in life as a disabled person but for him nothing is impossible.

When he initially started working the people around him were not confident as to his capability and he has a burning desire for success to prove that he can do too whatever able-bodied people can do.

“I worked as a welder for four years and later worked as a mechanic.

“I have an ambition to work in the broadcasting field and the Cheshire Home sent two of us to attend a one-month course in Broadcasting and Film Making in 2010 in Sri Lanka. And that was sufficient to make me possess the experience to venture into this field,” he said with an air of confidence.

** Published on May 10, The Borneo Post (Kota Kinabalu, Sabah)