Discrimination against Disability

Okay so today during recess time, I encountered a few baboons Malay guys picking on this Chinese girl who have this minor disability. So they were picking on her and calling her names. I just walked past at first but my conscience somehow pulled me back and I pulled the girl away from those no good baboons of a human.

I don’t understand how could we humans, of the same species and the same from every biological aspect, could possibly be so mean…almost inhumane to another of the same kind. Those baboons of a human really lash out on that poor girl. This is merely an enactment of the real thing that is going on in the Big Bad World.

Discrimination against disability is nothing new in the society. The same old music had been played over and over again. From the notorious Western countries to the subtle Eastern country, discrimination against disability is nothing new to our ears.

There had been measures taken by government and private societies alike to fight this matter. However, this so-called war that is raged against the matter is nothing but a mediocre attempt to bring down the social issue. I’m not sure whether the blame should be put on the society or the lame attempts by certain organizations. I guess you can’t really point your finger at any particular person or organization. You could see this matter through a myriad of point of views.

Most of us are guilty of discriminating and treating the disabled people, whether intentionally or not. Abled people treat people with disabilities patronizingly, as though they are little children and don’t understand the syllables of words that are muttered. People with disabilities are also not taken seriously and never have any freedom of speech. Tell me about respecting the rights of the disabled and democracy again. For instance, a woman in wheelchair may be completely ignored in a coffee shop. Or maybe an incident where the shop helper will ask another particular person this question, “Does she want latte or mocha?” rather than the woman herself will occur.

Another particular situation is in the streets where a Down syndrome boy is stared at in a certain mocking way or either treated like they were invisible by the public. There would also be quite a number of people who will past through them rudely. My point is, disabled people should be treated right and treated equally by the society.

Although most people are unaware of this fact, people with disabilities also have the interest to visit public areas such as the public library, state museum, art galleries and shopping malls. Thus, it is a down right disappointment to them when they found out that certain amenities like ramps and toilets that are specialized for the disabled are not provided. It is here that we are introduced to the lack of concern by government and private organizations. They spent their money on low cost campaigns and advertisements but they forgot (unintentionally or intentionally) to provide the bare necessities for people with disabilities. There is however certain places that provide these amenities and this prove to make life easier for disabled people.

Nowadays, many disabled people manage their life at home perfectly well without another person’s assistance. They might have customized escalators and reasonably roomy room at their apartment. They could fend for themselves with the assistance of a range of specially adapted appliances. It is when they venture outside that their life is made miserable, by the lack of respect by the publics and public amenities.

We need to bear in mind that people with disabilities could be the director of a successful corporate company, people with disabilities could be someone with a PhD in Engineering and people with disabilities could be a mother or a father to a perfectly healthy and happy family. Disabled people are also people with profession and family. In other words, people with disabilities are people.

Some provision is now being made for disabled people, but they need more! They need more facilities and most important of all they need more right and respect! So abled people should respect them and government should do something to further reinforce their rights. We wouldn’t want to be accused of ableism, do we?

As good Malaysians and good inhibitor of the Earth, start easing the lives of people with disabilities. Treat them with respect and treat them right. We are no different from them, so stop displaying our ego. As a normal Malaysian teenager and one of the voices of tomorrow, I do hope that the lives of people with disabilities will be eased by the public and responsible organizations. In fact, I think it doesn’t sound right to me to call people with disabilities “disabled people”. Instead, I will see them as people for bear in mind…we are no different from them.