Activist in wheelchair allegedly hit after telling man off for parking in disabled space

KUALA LUMPUR – A community activist almost suffered serious injuries, apparently simply because she had reprimanded a driver who had parked in a space reserved for disabled people.

More surprisingly, the incident happened when the activist, Dr Noraishah Mydin Abd Aziz, who is also a patient of spina bifida, a congenital condition of the spine, was in a wheelchair.

Through the disclosure in X (formerly known as Twitter), the former medical lecturer at a local university said that the incident happened in the disabled parking lot belonging to the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s medical centre here.

She claimed that her wheelchair was hit while she was still on it, and positioned between her car and the driver’s vehicle which was parked in the disabled space.

“Without the enforcement of the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008, what is legal and what is not @AzalinaOthmanS,” she said through a tweet on X.

Besides drawing the attention of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Noraishah through the thread also mentioned Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming and Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

She said that the reforms brought by the unity government have not succeeded in making inroads to provide good care in terms of the welfare of the disabled.

“When do you want to enforce the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008? In this part, we are really not Madani,” she said, clearly annoyed.

Noraishah insisted that the Health Ministry at least take appropriate steps to ensure that the parking bays for disabled people are not misused.

“At the very least @radzi_dr @DrZalihaMustafa please control disabled parking at hospitals – government hospitals and statutory body hospitals – such as the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre and UKM Medical Centre. It’s not as though even that is not possible,” she said.

Admitting that she was surprised by the unexpected event, she confirmed that she had filed a police report at the Cheras police station for further action.

“Shocked. (I am) Physically ok. Still can’t believe it can happen in the hospital area. In the disabled parking area. When are the responsible ministers to take responsibility? As I have said repeatedly, disabled parking is not respected,” he said.

A check by Getaran, The Vibes’ Bahasa Malaysia sister portal, on the same thread found that the majority of netizens agreed that the enforcement of the Persons with Disabilities Act and regulations in Malaysia is still too weak.

Aji Kamprett, on the handle @gialimario for example, said that the level of considerateness for the disabled in this country is still too weak.

“The level of awareness and consideration towards the disabled in Malaysia is still too low.

“As long as the disability act is not implemented, Malaysians in general are still indifferent,” he said. – The Vibes, October 2, 2023