Why Malaysia has work to do for the disabled

Imagine having your ability to walk or sight removed from you when you want to shop in a mall or go about your chores. Not a pleasant thought at all.  

This was the analogy used by a few disabled people who responded to the recent incident involving visually impaired Stevens Chan and his guide dog, Lashawn. Chan, who depended on his Lashawn for support was asked to leave a shopping mall during an exercise to promote the use of guide dogs for the blind community.

National Council for the Blind's executive director Moses Choo is all for guide dogs helping the blind, so long as the environment allows for it to happen.

Animal in, driver out

“We believe that dogs can assist blind people, but it is bit costly at the moment and majority of the blind can't afford it.  The bigger issue here is to get the environment ready, for instance involving the transport department. But I'm not sure how will the public take it.

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“The situation can turn out like this -  where when a cab driver who is so fearful of dogs encounters the animal, to the extent when the dog jumps in (the taxi), the driver jumps out,” he described as a case he witnessed some time ago in a Singapore taxi.

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Similarly, when Chan hailed a taxi home, many drivers were hesitant to ferry him and Lashawn, raising issues on whether guide dogs were allowed on public transport.  SPAD, the Land Public Transport Commission, later announced that guide dogs were allowed on public transport and places.  Chan is the founder of  two non-profit organisations - Malaysia Glaucoma Society and Save Ones Sight Missions Bhd – aimed at educating the public on prevention of blindness and coping with eye disorders.

The cost of owning a guide dog

Choo explained that the idea of guide dogs was good, but finds the visually impaired in Malaysia struggle to even buy a good quality walking cane.  “An expensive cane costs RM3,000 to RM4,000, while many opt for the cheaper versions at about RM20 to RM100.”

Training and owning a guide dog is expected to cost some RM100,000. Using an Australian example, Choo said US$35,000 (or about RM100,000) was needed to train a guide dog, where the animal had to also bond with the owner for the last two months in Australia to build a relationship among them. (See infographic)

“The master has to be trained to work for the dog as well, for example to learn how to discard the animal's waste. The dog makes sure the path along is safe for the blind person and while the animals have limited vocabulary, the dogs bond well with the owner to help him or her.”  

Matters of religion

And, what about religion?  Choo shared an example of how a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur provided service for a visually impaired person and his dog, by first picking up the pair from the airport and sending them to the hotel.  At the hotel, the management had temporarily moved their Muslim staff to another section of the hotel so the staff would not have to encounter the guest and his dog, keeping in mind religious sensitivities.

He added that the issue of religion and guide dogs could be overcome with support and understanding, as reflected in a case in the United Kingdom where the Muslim Law (Shari'ah) Council UK issued a fatwa in 2008 which allowed guide dogs inside mosques but not into prayer rooms.

Society for the Blind administrative officer Noor Izzati Meor Samsudin agrees with Choo.

“We can use guide dogs.  For Muslims we have to know what the religion says about this.  There needs to be courses on how to train Muslims on how to use a guide dog.

“For example, we do not have to hold the animal and instead we can use the leash,” this visually impaired officer pointed out that some Islamic scholars had stated that it was acceptable for blind Muslims to use guide dogs.

“We can't always rely on our friends to help or accompany us, so this may be a solution,” she explained.  She felt that due to the lack of understanding about guide dogs here at the moment, the situation does not encourage Muslims to own guide dogs, adding that perhaps some other animal could be trained to work in animal-assisted therapy for the blind.  

But, Noor Izzati admits that she is open to working with a guide dog herself so long as she has the proper training.

Don't have amenities when maintenance is poor

For Cheryl Mohan (pic), having a guide dog is similar to having a walker to help her move around. The 30-year-old communications specialist's movements is limited as a result of Spastic Cerebral Palsy, which causes motor dysfunctions.

When she read the story about how Chan and Lashawn was barred at a mall, she said the act was equivalent to forbidding her to use her walker in the mall.

“Without my walker I am immobile, for them to ban the dogs, it's the same thing for me.  By saying no to having a dog inside, you are denying a person the right to be in the place. If that person needs a dog to move around and give him accessibility, then they should allow it.” She equates the situation to removing someone's spectacles when they need those tools to see.

Cheryl pointed out that it was not often that a disabled individual has a friend free and willing to helping them move about. Having the equal right of access is important for all - physically disabled and able-bodied persons -  in order to be independent.

She said that while the public amenities have become more disabled friendly over the years, solutions have always been piecemeal.

“There is no holistic approach to making the environment friendly for the disabled.  If buses are disabled-friendly, then you may find that pavements at the bus stop are not,” she says, adding these gaps discourages her from using the public buses, making taxis her choice of public transport.

Cheryl said she could travel independently to places she was familiar with, but for new areas, she would always have to plan ahead as she was unsure if those areas were friendly to her.

She has experienced some improvements, for example at the National Registration Department where both the facilities and staff were friendly. She was given priority service without queuing and suitable ramps were available for her to move around freely.

Commercial buildings have restrooms for the disabled, she said, though sometimes used as store room or were not working properly. “To have a disabled-friendly environment, the mentality of the people must also be disabled-friendly. No point having amenities when the maintenance is poor.”

There needs to be what she called an “A to Z planning”, where all the solutions are thought about as a whole, for the disabled-friendly environment to work. “I have yet to see that happening or being implemented.”