EVERY Dec 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPwD) is commemorated. The theme for this year is “Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future.”
The 2024 commemoration presents a timely opportunity to evaluate whether progress has been made by the elected government, in line with the promises made in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) party manifesto.
16% of the population lives with a disability. With care partners, we account for more than 30% of the Malaysian electorate.
Hence, we hope the government of the day will listen to our concerns and put in place structural and policy changes to enable disabled persons’ full inclusion in society.
In this article, we compare the PH party election manifesto and action plans for disability inclusiveness with achievements after two years of governance.
PH has the most comprehensive set of plans and promises for the disability (OKU) community. The plans in the Barisan Nasional manifesto are minimal and appear almost as an afterthought.
The PH party election manifesto uses appropriate disability language, has a clear section with plans for persons with disabilities, recognises that persons with disabilities make up 15% of the Malaysian population and the need to remove barriers to enable meaningful OKU participation.
The table below summarises the plans and promises with actual achievements.
As the table shows, of the promises made to the disability community and care partners, hardly any have been achieved after two years in office. The rating would not even achieve an “E” grade.
Plans and promises are good but the proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes. When OKU rights are not made real, year after year, it is a gross failure of governance.
It is vital to keep promises made. Otherwise, politicians worsen the already bad trust deficit. In the end, party manifestos end up being mere, empty words.
In the end it boils down to legislation. As long as we do not amend articles 8(2) and 12(1) of the Federal Constitution to expressly prohibit discrimination on the ground of disability and as long as we do not amend the toothless Persons with Disabilities Act (2008) to give it the scope and powers to enforce the rights of persons with disabilities, any plans and actions of any government cannot be challenged or questioned.
We had looked to this government to improve the conditions for inclusion as a universal human right for all Malaysians. But it appears that the disability community may have to continue caring for itself. – Dec 3, 2024
Datuk Dr Amar-Singh HSS
San Yuenwah
Anit Kaur Randhawa
Ng Lai-Thin
The OKU Rights Matter Project
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
