Accessibility for people with disabilities (OKU) remains an issue in Malaysia. The challenges faced by the OKU community are more than just mobility issues but they also face challenges on a systemic scale.
TRP has reached out to Hasbeemasputra Abu Bakar, Siuman’s Community Engagement & Lived Experience Advocate, to find out what the OKU community finds challenging and what they need.
Siuman (the Malay word for “sane”) is an organisation of persons with disabilities, mental patients, and allies fighting for socioeconomic and political equity and equality for the mentally ill in Malaysia.
Hasbee said Siuman recently participated in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) where they brought up many gaps in access and protections for the OKU community.
UPR is a unique mechanism of the Human Rights Council that calls each UN Member State to undergo a peer review of its human rights records every 4.5 years.
Hasbee shared that it’s important to recognise the rights of OKU by acknowledging there are gaps in accessibility and protections in every area of life for the community.
He believes it helps to genuinely address what disables the OKU community such as an unresponsive and inaccessible system of governance, stigma, misconceptions of disability, and outright ableism.
Multiple administrations have failed OKU, and we’re so invisiblised that no one really cares, or know enough to care.
Hasbeemasputra Abu Bakar, Siuman’s Community Engagement & Lived Experience Advocate
What are the challenges faced by the OKU community?
In the previous stories we’ve covered, some members of the OKU community and their allies have taken it upon themselves to educate the masses about the challenges they face.
This could show how illegally parked vehicles at the LRT station can block the path of someone with visual impairments, how it’s important not to block the tactile pavements, or not to use facilities meant for disabled persons.
However, the challenges they face are much more. Here are some issues or hurdles faced by the OKU community:
1. Lack of representation in politics
The lack of representation in politics means there’s no one to champion the rights of the OKU community. Someone needs to point out and challenge the systemic issues the community faces. Hasbee shared that former senator Ras Adiba Radzi used to be their voice.
It’s tough for the OKU community to have their own representative in politics due to the Federal Constitution. According to the Constitution, people with psychosocial disabilities are excluded from being appointed Senators and cannot hold elected office.
The broad interpretation of “unsound mind” as a category for disqualification in the Constitution resulted in broad discrimination against OKU from taking public office.
Additionally, Article 119(2) and (3)(a) diminishes the rights of OKU with mental disorders to vote.
2. Infrastructure & facilities not built with OKU needs in mind
Aside from transport and mobility issues, the OKU community faces another layer of challenges navigating basic services, especially when everything is now online. Some websites and apps are poorly designed and if it’s tough for able-bodied people, it’s tougher for those with disabilities.
An example brought up by Siuman was JKMPay which was introduced in April 2021 without consulting the OKU community that it’s supposed to benefit. The Cashless Assistance Payment Pilot Project provides beneficiaries with a JKMPay Cashless Card but they can only use it to purchase items at stores registered with Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad.
This created difficulties for OKU living in rural areas since there are barely enough JKM panel shops or shops registered with Bank Islam. JKMPay was scrapped after OKU groups voiced concerns.
And we’re not even talking about how registration paints a target on our backs.
Side note: Please use Orang Kurang Upaya (unless an OKU prefers otherwise).
I prefer Orang Kurang Upaya. It’s good to recognise disability.
https://t.co/MWDyUEC9mX2/2@queahm
— hedgehog says #DisabilityJusticeForOKUNow ♿️🌈 (@audendron) July 13, 2024
Another example highlighted was MyDaftarOKU which was created to facilitate online OKU registration in November 2021. Registering as an OKU is a prerequisite to access state-funded social support and affirmative action.
Siuman pointed out that the website doesn’t conform to web accessibility standards and most registrations still needed to be done offline.
As of January 2023, the Welfare Department registered 637,537 OKU, which is way below the estimated 4.7 million OKU (15% of the population).
3. Discrimination in the workplace & educational institutions
OKU with mental disorders are obliged to reveal their mental health status but are not protected from discrimination during employment. The Employment Act omitted discrimination protections for OKU in employment and pre-employment.
Meanwhile, jobs under the Malaysia Short-term Employment Programme (MySTEP) initiative are on a contract basis. Although employers get rebates and other financial incentives to hire OKU, they’re not obliged to provide reasonable accommodations and these workplaces are not audited for accessibility.
Many efforts to “increase” OKU employment revolve around job coaching, but ignores:
– matching with employers that provide reasonable accommodations & support for assistive technology
– empowering OKU to know & demand their rights (including asking for reasonable accommodations). https://t.co/fjYRWj0yPO— SIUMAN ♿🧠 | No Justice Without Access to Justice (@KamiSIUMAN) July 14, 2024
The OKU community is also excluded from many higher education courses. For example, Open University Malaysia’s Medical & Health Sciences Programme excludes those with mental illnesses and Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV).
In May 2024, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) faced criticism after it rejected an autistic student’s undergraduate application to study chemistry. The university replied to the student saying anyone with a learning disability is not qualified to apply for the programme.
4. Stigma in medical settings
In 2023, a member of Siuman intervened with an OKU client who wished to be admitted to Selayang General Hospital for suicidal ideation. After spending hours in the emergency room, the request for admission was rejected with the excuse that the psychiatric ward was full of persons with psychosis
The Siuman member was then brought to Hospital Universiti Putra Malaysia (HUPM), a teaching hospital, where he was assessed and admitted. Siuman said this indicated that there was a basis to ward the person. Due to his physical disability, he required help and faced extra barriers to accessing healthcare and emergency services.
To reduce incidents like these, Siuman recommends that the Health Ministry appoint a rights-based disability advocate to oversee healthcare planning and decision-making to ensure healthcare services are accessible for all disabled persons.
Ableist speech is harmful and has no place in society, least of all progressive spaces where people talk about diversity & inclusion.
In your work with one vulnerable minority, learn to not throw other minorities under the bus.
Learn not to use mental disorders as punchlines.
— SIUMAN ♿🧠 | No Justice Without Access to Justice (@KamiSIUMAN) July 14, 2024
About Siuman
Siuman is a 100% disabled-led and run civil society organisation (CSO) and was initiated amidst the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.
Siuman works with any parties and organisations with progressive views on mental health and firmly believes that mental health advocacy should not stop at just awareness and destigmatisation efforts.
The organisation believes that mental patients should participate in the political process, including direct action, to push for meaningful legal reform and policy change.
