Advocacy is the Best Policy

We need to advocate as and when the need arise. I just would like to share what I did last week.

It was early in the semester. New students and busy lecturers. During these times people tend to “break the rules”. Now, I am not saying I am a saint, in fact, I could accept if someone says “I am a bit of a bully.” But that’s because I want to exert my rights or another way of saying this is, “I don’t want to be bullied!” Yes, that’s what I have been fighting for all these years, in a way…

So, I took photos of cars parked on the accessible car parking bay. The license plates must be clearly seen. I wrote an email to the staff members of my faculty and it just so happened that on that fine Friday, a member of the staff parked his car at one of the lots. So in a nutshell, he was livid with my action, but knowing him knowing me, we knew that I had my call and I played it. So, no one actually reacted, apart from a quite disabled colleague of mine, who said to me to be patient.

Of course, I knew this reaction would happen, but I wanted to set the record straight. Here is a text of what I wrote:

To all those concerned

Please be reasonable if you are not pregnant or not have a physical impairment, temporary or otherwise, not to park your car at the accessible car park lots for disabled drivers at the Faculty of the Built Environment.

Although there is technically one physically disabled person who uses one of the lots there, if you park your car in one of the other lot, students and others will copy what you do. In the end, there will be no spot for people like me (registered disabled with JKM . No pendaftaran PH 064220) who really need this facility.

I have decided to take photos of cars parked in these lots starting Friday (20/07/07) (photos enclosed) during working hours, and will send them off to the Security Office (Pejabat Keselamatan) at the end of the month on a regular basis. Based on previous occasions, they will not act on this (unless on the spot offense by clamping), but at least, in my opinion, the unreasonable acts will be on the records.

If you think my action is unreasonable, please suggest a more reasonable one. One that will certainly prevent more of such unreasonable acts.

Thank you.

Yours reasonably,

Inclusive Heritage Tourism

We, Dr. Nor Rasidah Hashim and I presented a paper at Renaissance Hotel on Inclusive Heritage Tourism.

Here is the abstract. The topic is still to be explored.

However, if you would like a copy of the paper, please leave your email address in the comment section, if you don’t mind.

Abstract

The Ninth Malaysia Plan targets heritage and cultural tourism to be an important component of the tourism sector potentially attracting both domestic and international visitors providing for raising the standards of living, providing an increase in revenue and employment opportunities.   At the same time, a United Nation’s study projected that in the year 2025, the combination of disabled and elderly people above the age of 60 in a developing country such as Malaysia will make up almost 35% of the total population. 

The Social Model of Disability and the principles of Barrier-Free of “accessibility, safety and usability” provide the framework to include the elderly and disabled people in social activities such as visiting and enjoying heritage sites. The Social Model of Disability views societal and institutional barriers as the major causes that prevent disabled and elderly people from participating fully in activities such as visiting heritage sites with their families and friends.

Our access audits of two heritage buildings in Kuala Lumpur and Penang discovered that the planning, design and management of these buildings did not provide for the full access needs of disabled and elderly tourists.

Our paper also discusses the issue of possible conflict between conservation practice and inclusive heritage tourism. This is especially relevant because the perspectives on heritage conservation have changed considerably since the 1990s where now Malaysians generally view the preservation of heritage sites as a positive societal investment. With the emergence of the National Heritage Act in 2005, conservation of the built heritage is deemed to be an important activity to maintaining and preserving heritage sites.

Finally, we make recommendations for an improved management of heritage buildings to accommodate the needs of disabled and elderly tourists.

 Here are some pics from the power point presentation:

Killer Ramp at the Snake Temple in Penang

Temporary ramps at Khoo Khongsi, Penang