Disabled or not, we are Singaporeans
Monday, 14 December 2009
Donaldson Tan
About 30 Singaporeans gathered at Speaker’s Corner last
saturday, urging the government and society at large to do more for
disabled Singaporeans. This event is part of MARUAH’s campaign
titled “Me and My Friend”, to raise public awareness of issues
faced by disabled Singaporeans.
The campaign also includes an exhibition at Public Arts Square
(Citylink Mall) from 10 December 2009 to 10 January 2010 and
a free movie screening at Golden
Village (Great World City) on the 14th December
2009.
Former spokeperson of Challengeds’ Alliance Network (CAN), Ravi
Philemon, expressed his disappointment at the lack of progress in
the public campaign for public transport subsidy for the disabled.
Despite the effort of some MPs sending letters to the relevant
agencies, nothing has been achieved, he said.
The first public call for subsidised public transport for the
disabled dates back as long as 10 years. In 2000, public transport
operator SMRT responded by emphasising the need to be “prudent
about extending any travel concessions beyond the present eligible
groups” because “concession fares are cross-subsidised by full-fare
paying passengers with no direct subsidy”.
“This is unfair,” said Mr Philemon. Many disabled Singaporeans
earn very meagre salaries. While they spend as much as S$5 per day,
their monthly individual income can be as low as S$100. Up to 75%
of their salaries is spent on public transport.
The issue of Blind Card was raised by one of the speakers, Mr
Rahmat. His social worker had provided him a Blind Card which helps
him to get free rides on the public transport system. However, this
is not an official scheme, so blind people are at the mercy of
ground staff and bus drivers in the public transport sector.
The unwritten rule of free ride for the blind dates back to the
time when Singapore was a British colony. However, this rule is not
always observed as there are foreigners among public transport
operator’s ground staff and bus drivers who are not familiar with
local customs and practices.
On education, Bramae Mathi of MARUAH said that allowing disabled
students to enrol in the same school as normal-bodied students
enables normal-bodied students to “build up an ability to include
them [the disabled] in our social sphere”. She also expressed her
concern that disabled children are exempted from the Compulsory
Education Act.
According to Wong U-Wen of the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing
Federation (DHHF), many Singaporeans have little knowledge of deaf
issues. In the USA, the deaf are allowed to drive cars but they are
not allowed to drive cars in Singapore. For some reason, the public
appears to be more sympathetic to the transport needs of the blind
than that of the deaf.
He also expressed his frustration on employment discrimination
in Singapore. Despite 20-years of experience as a mental health and
social worker in the USA, he found that his perspective employers
were more concerned about his loss of hearing than his ability to
work. “I have deaf friends in the USA who are lawyers, doctors and
university academics,” he said.