WHERE do all the Persons with Disabilities (PwD) go after the Paralympics are over? Like everyone else, they go back to their homes and lives, of course.
But, after intense visibility for two weeks, in which the world marvels at just how much of life and living is actually possible despite being disabled (no, you don't need arms to be an excellent swimmer!) the PwD athletes and all the people they indirectly represent seem to disappear from view.
And this, unfortunately, is true for most PwD in this country and around the world. At the start of the Paralympics, the #WeThe15 human rights movement was launched with the aim of using parasports to break down barriers of discrimination against PwD.
Around the world, there are 1.2 billion persons with disabilities, representing 15 per cent of the global population. In Malaysia, disability-rights advocates estimate that there are 4.5 million persons with disabilities, though only half a million are registered. But, if there are so many PwD in this country, how come we don't see so many of them about?
Not all disabilities can be seen or detected through casual contact. And the ones who are obvious to non-disabled people — the physically-disabled — are often not visible because our public infrastructure don't make it easy for them to move about independently.
Despite the Persons with Disabilities Act guaranteeing their rights, and amendments to the Uniform Building By-Laws nearly three decades ago making it mandatory for public infrastructure to be made accessible for PwD, just how many are truly disabled-friendly? Lifts that don't have Braille buttons or verbal cues, wheelchair ramps that are too steep, doorways that are too narrow, swing doors that are heavy and unwieldy, lifts that are always "Out of service", toilets for PwD that are always locked or used as the janitor's office — all these are trivial to the non-disabled person, but crucial for the PwD to live as independently as possible.
If a person with disabilities can get a job with a company, but the building in which the office is located is not disabled-friendly, how is he or she going to get in? And if the lifts at LRT stations are not in service, how can a physically-disabled person get to work, school, university, gym, shops or go sightseeing on a tight budget? And how long can one go without using the toilet? For them, every day is lockdown day. Neurodivergent PwD face worse discrimination because their disability is not obvious or easily understood.
The reason we don't see PwD swirling around us is because we haven't made room for them, even though they are equal members of our Keluarga Malaysia. For instance, yesterday was the International Day of Persons with Disabilities; but it was shoehorned by the newly-minted Malaysia Batik Day.
If the PwD did not face problems with visibility, inclusion and accessibility, they probably wouldn't have minded so much. But, nothing spells invisible quite like having one's special day usurped. The PwD need help so that they can live in this world on an equal footing with the rest of the populace. And lest any non-disabled person needs a selfish reason to help them, here is one: Anyone can become disabled at any time of their lives.