The disabled (OKU) community is monitoring very closely the current electoral and political process of the 15th General Elections. Persons with disabilities (15 per cent of the population), and their care partners and professionals account for more than 30 per cent of the Malaysian electorate.
We are looking for, and will support, political parties that make an effort to fully include OKU in Malaysian society. We had earlier clearly outlined our concerns and struggles.
Our pressing needs are:
- Realising the rights of persons with disabilities by amending the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008 to give it the scope and powers to enforce these rights;
- Improving employment inclusion to offer better and wider job opportunities;
- Improving education inclusion to mainstream, with reasonable accommodation, all children and youth.
We had recommended to politicians and political parties, especially those hoping to be elected as Members of Parliament or State Assemblymen, to heed the views of members of the electorate who are OKU or are associated with OKU.
We are now able to evaluate the outlook of three major political coalitions fielding the largest number of candidates by assessing their political manifestos and action plans for disability inclusiveness. The table below summarises their plans.
Of the three, Pakatan Harapan has the most comprehensive set of plans, followed by Perikatan Nasional; both of which have a section dedicated to the OKU. The plans in the Barisan Nasional manifesto are minimal and appear almost as an afterthought.
None of the three coalitions mention the need to amend the Persons with Disabilities Act. Without amendment to give it the scope and powers to enforce the rights of persons with disabilities, any plans and actions of any future government cannot be challenged or questioned.
Pakatan Harapan’s plan to have a “Ministry or Department for the Disabled with a PWD Commissioner” is commendable.
Accessibility for OKU is a critical issue and both Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional mention this, although Pakatan Harapan goes further in including transportation and the need for universal design standards.
Both Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional have plans to improve the education and employment situation of the OKU. However, neither party mentions the importance of mainstreaming the OKU in education from pre-school to university with reasonable accommodation for this to occur.
| Manifesto Contents | Barisan Nasional (BN) PADU | Pakatan Harapan (PH) Tawaran Harapan | Perikatan Nasional (PN) Malaysia Gemilang |
| Overview | |||
| Language used empowering or appropriate | ✔Used OKU | ✔Used Orang Kurang Upaya(OKU) and Persons withDisability (PWD) | X Refers to OKU as Orang Kelainan Upaya (differently-abled) which is not the term used in the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008; the correct term used in the Act is Orang Kurang Upaya. |
| Have some plans for persons with disabilities (mentioned in manifesto) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| A clear section dedicated to and focused on “the disabled” | XSome plans mentioned but no clear focus on persons with disabilities | ✔Has a clear section on persons with disabilities and plans for them. persons with disabilities mentioned in additional sections. | ✔Has a clear section on persons with disabilities and plans for them, with persons with disabilities mentioned in one additional section. |
| Recognition of “the disabled” as a sizeable portion of the Malaysian public | X | ✔Recognition that persons with disabilities make up 15% of the Malaysian population and there is a need to remove barriers to enable full OKU participation. | X Noted that OKU needs will also be a priority. |
Major/Key Plans Outlined for PWD | |||
| Amend the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2008 to give it the scope and powers to enforce the rights of persons with disabilities | X | X | X |
| A Ministry or Department for the Disabled | X | ✔To set up a Persons with Disabilities Department/Agency to deal with all areas and prioritize persons with disabilities – infrastructure, education, coordinating various ministries, welfare / needs, future challenges, and quality of life. | XMentions: to “increase involvement of the disabled in Government policy” but no specifics. |
| Persons with Disabilities Commissioner | X | ✔Appointment of Persons with Disabilities Commissioner in SUHAKAMto help champion OKU rights and combat against all forms of discrimination. | X |
| Accessibility for persons with disabilities | X | ✔Increase the number of facilities and public transportation that are disabled person-friendly, while also ensuring that development projects fulfil universal design standards. | ✔Mandate disabled person-friendly facilities in all public and private buildings and premises. |
| Education and Skills Training for Persons with Disabilities | X | ✔Special allocation for improving the education of persons with disabilities, including the disabled person-friendliness of the education system and infrastructure. Zero Reject Policy for Technical and VocationalEducation and Training. | ✔Increase capacity and expertise of the 3PK centres (special education service centres) to all children in the country, including children with autism. Allocate RM50 million per year to develop the infrastructure and learning of students with special needs. Provide free assistive tools for Institut Pengajian Tinggi students with disabilities from low-income families. Improve Community Rehabilitation Centres (PDKs) and vocational training. |
| Employment and Economic opportunities for the Disabled | X | ✔ Eliminate employment discrimination based on physical or mental ability. Quota for persons with disabilities from minority groups for skill training. Quota for persons with disabilities from minority groups in grants for small businesses, home industries. | ✔Intensify training programme (Program Latihan OKU Berdaya) for school leavers with disabilities to enter the job market. Special Business Fund of RM20 million to help disabled entrepreneurs. Training and career programmes for athletes with disabilities to prepare for retirement. |
| Other useful measures that might benefit persons with disabilities and families | |||
| Increase the Public Healthcare Expenditure to 5% of GDP in 5 years | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Disaster Resilience – support for persons with disabilities | X | ✔ | X |
| Support for PWD NGOs | ✔RM105 million funding for NGOs operating care centres for the elderly and persons with disabilities for five years. | X | X |
| Senior Citizens | ✔Enacting a Senior Citizens Care Act | ✔Enact a Senior Citizens Act Prepare for an ageing nation through professionalising caregiver sector, provision of caregiver allowance and assistance, mobile caregiving service and one-stop caregiving facilities. | ✔Care-Economy agenda to improve care system for the elderly. Establish a department for senior citizens |
| Others | RM10 million per year for OKU who use e-hailing services (vouchers). Provision of national childcare service for all children below 6 years old. Build more specialist hospitals for healthcare disciplines such as mental health | Provide housing that fulfils universal design standards Address social determinants of health such as poverty and equal access to healthcare for all. Hasten the amendment of Section 309 Penal Code to decriminalize suicide attempts. | Expand community nursing services for children with special needs in their homes Care-Economy agenda – a scheme to improve the care system for disabled persons. Improve Community Rehabilitation Centres (PDK) and empower rehabilitation programmes, including medical treatment and vocational training. Road to Paralympics initiative to discover talents of persons with disabilities. |
This evaluation shows that some political parties have made the effort to better recognise the needs of the OKU community. This is hopeful and will be taken into consideration by the OKU community electorate in the coming 15th General Elections.
Our hopes for a disability-inclusive Malaysia will not end with the elections. We will monitor the implementation of proposed action plans as well as advocate for missing concerns to be addressed.
We look to GE15 as a major crossroads to improve inclusion as a universal human right for all Malaysians. We ask all Malaysians to “Make the Right Real” for the OKU community. We urge you to support #OKURightsMatter.
The OKURightsMatter Team comprises Dr Amar-Singh HSS, Yuenwah San, Lai-Thin Ng, Anit Randhawa, Yoon-Loong Wong, and Alvin Teoh.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
