Miss-Delectable
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Stepping into their shoes
TO those who have negative perceptions of disabled people and those in wheelchairs, this article is for you.
Last month, more than 60 of us – with wide-ranging handicaps; some with terminal diseases – together with the elderly, had a whale of a time at an event hosted by a popular shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur for Petpositive members.
(Petpositive is a national, non-profit Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy Society for the Disabled and Elderly Associa-tion with which I am involved.)
The half-day outing was sponsored by Cititel Mid Valley and Boulevard Hotels, with Mid Valley Megamall and the newly opened Gardens Galleria shopping centre playing a contributing role.
Among the disabled and the elderly were Deaf teenagers as well as persons with spinal injuries and Parkinson’s disease. Many of them were accompanied by their caregivers.
The day began with a hearty lunch provided by Cititel. That was followed by two hours of shopping. Then we had a dip in the swimming pool at Boulevard Hotel. The day culminated with a delicious high tea.
Here are some of the moments that were truly insightful and endearing:
A different group: Last year, the sponsors hosted a similar event at the same venue. This year, we extended the invitation to the handicapped and seniors we had not invited before. Although some of the previous year’s invitees were initially disappointed that they weren’t asked to attend this year’s outing, they understood perfectly after we explained to them that we wanted to give others the same opportunity.
It was also interesting to note that one or two of the groups we approached were more keen to bring along “walking members” rather than the mobility-impaired, saying it was “less troublesome”.
However, we stressed that the “more troublesome”, the better, as such people are often left out of such events.
Mixed blessing: Inviting persons with different types of disabilities proved to be a good move. It helped us to temporarily take our focus off our issues and difficulties as disabled persons and for a change, focus on the Deaf, or someone in a wheelchair or with Parkinson’s disease. Suddenly, our problems did not seem so big.
The shopping spree with those having other types of disabilities made us think of the hardships faced by someone with a totally different type of disability and ponder why little consideration had been given to people like them.
Eye-opening event: For me, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet and interact with people with HIV/AIDS for the first time. It served also as a timely reality check on my own perceptions of HIV+ people.
I had expected to meet young people but those who turned up were in fact closer to my age. There were also others who were 10 to 20 years older than me and in wheelchairs, too.
The kids had a splash, too: Our volunteer lifeguard had the task of teaching several highly excited Deaf teenagers how to swim. For many, it was their first time in the pool. One of them lost his underwear and IC in the shower room; fortunately, these were found just before we left. All of us had a good laugh, including the “victim”. He loved the pool experience so much that he didn’t want to leave. And to think that several hours earlier, the same lad was bawling his eyes out, insisting on going home. Initially, he found the environment overwhelming.
VIPS all the way: Huang Chia Ming, Cititel and Boulevard’s communications manager and Tan Teik Poh from K9 Pets Sdn Bhd, Petpositive’s special “mystery” guest for the event, accompanied us and helped out throughout the event.
Although they are able-bodied, they had no qualms about being seen mingling with us in public. That spoke volumes about functions that are organised for people with disabilities. How many of the top brass actually come down to our level to spend some time with us so that we can also get to know them?
And how many VIPs would take the time and trouble to “walk a mile in our shoes”, so to speak, in order to get first-hand experience and appreciation of our difficulties?
TO those who have negative perceptions of disabled people and those in wheelchairs, this article is for you.
Last month, more than 60 of us – with wide-ranging handicaps; some with terminal diseases – together with the elderly, had a whale of a time at an event hosted by a popular shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur for Petpositive members.
(Petpositive is a national, non-profit Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy Society for the Disabled and Elderly Associa-tion with which I am involved.)
The half-day outing was sponsored by Cititel Mid Valley and Boulevard Hotels, with Mid Valley Megamall and the newly opened Gardens Galleria shopping centre playing a contributing role.
Among the disabled and the elderly were Deaf teenagers as well as persons with spinal injuries and Parkinson’s disease. Many of them were accompanied by their caregivers.
The day began with a hearty lunch provided by Cititel. That was followed by two hours of shopping. Then we had a dip in the swimming pool at Boulevard Hotel. The day culminated with a delicious high tea.
Here are some of the moments that were truly insightful and endearing:
A different group: Last year, the sponsors hosted a similar event at the same venue. This year, we extended the invitation to the handicapped and seniors we had not invited before. Although some of the previous year’s invitees were initially disappointed that they weren’t asked to attend this year’s outing, they understood perfectly after we explained to them that we wanted to give others the same opportunity.
It was also interesting to note that one or two of the groups we approached were more keen to bring along “walking members” rather than the mobility-impaired, saying it was “less troublesome”.
However, we stressed that the “more troublesome”, the better, as such people are often left out of such events.
Mixed blessing: Inviting persons with different types of disabilities proved to be a good move. It helped us to temporarily take our focus off our issues and difficulties as disabled persons and for a change, focus on the Deaf, or someone in a wheelchair or with Parkinson’s disease. Suddenly, our problems did not seem so big.
The shopping spree with those having other types of disabilities made us think of the hardships faced by someone with a totally different type of disability and ponder why little consideration had been given to people like them.
Eye-opening event: For me, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet and interact with people with HIV/AIDS for the first time. It served also as a timely reality check on my own perceptions of HIV+ people.
I had expected to meet young people but those who turned up were in fact closer to my age. There were also others who were 10 to 20 years older than me and in wheelchairs, too.
The kids had a splash, too: Our volunteer lifeguard had the task of teaching several highly excited Deaf teenagers how to swim. For many, it was their first time in the pool. One of them lost his underwear and IC in the shower room; fortunately, these were found just before we left. All of us had a good laugh, including the “victim”. He loved the pool experience so much that he didn’t want to leave. And to think that several hours earlier, the same lad was bawling his eyes out, insisting on going home. Initially, he found the environment overwhelming.
VIPS all the way: Huang Chia Ming, Cititel and Boulevard’s communications manager and Tan Teik Poh from K9 Pets Sdn Bhd, Petpositive’s special “mystery” guest for the event, accompanied us and helped out throughout the event.
Although they are able-bodied, they had no qualms about being seen mingling with us in public. That spoke volumes about functions that are organised for people with disabilities. How many of the top brass actually come down to our level to spend some time with us so that we can also get to know them?
And how many VIPs would take the time and trouble to “walk a mile in our shoes”, so to speak, in order to get first-hand experience and appreciation of our difficulties?