What is the first thing that comes to mind whenever you think about the blind in your community?
A walking cane? Disabilities?
As for me, it’s their smiles.
Their smiles seem more radiant than others’. They don’t smile all the time but when they do, the smiles are sincere and warm —straight from the heart!
I was fortunate to attend the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) 2015 press conference on the 3rd of December. It marks as a day of special meaning to the disabled community, as commemorated by the United Nations since 1992. The current U.N. theme is ‘Inclusion matters: access and empowerment for people of all abilities’. Hence the message that was projected across for this event is the importance of the public to educate themselves into working hand in hand with the disabled so that they are treated on an equal basis with any other ordinary human being.
This year, The Malaysia Foundation for the Blind (MFB) and Yayasan Salam Malaysia (SALAM) joined hands in holding the press conference at the building of Yayasan Salam, in Petaling Jaya. As a delegate from eHomemakers, I was greeted warmly by the Yayasan Salam staff and the atmosphere in the organization added to my excitement for the conference. The walls were in alternate blue and red colours, matching the colours of their organization logo — a handshake between two individuals.
While awaiting for the event to start, we were given the chance to familiarize ourselves with the gadgets made specially to aid the blind. This part was nothing short of exciting. Among the gadgets were a keychain which tells the time audibly, the infamous battery operated walking stick which warns the user upon any obstacles ahead by producing vibrations and of course, the braille typewriter. Do you know that the blind can still learn how to use a computer… simply through braille codes? Yes, I saw a book on how one can learn up Windows XP through lines and dots. How cool is that?
Besides the gadgets, we were also educated on how to communicate with the blind. For example if you were to serve them food, describe the contents on the plate to them using the clock sequence. Also, if you plan to leave the vicinity, do let them know for courtesy sake. They can also cook on their own using the help of the timer and their ‘extraordinary’ sense of smell. I say ‘extraordinary’ because these amazing people can differentiate different coloured clothing simply through smell. Their height of smell is in the level of SUPER!
After a while, people started pouring in from different social groups and media organizations such as Berita Harian and Metro. We had the chance to meet, greet and take a photograph of the founder of MFB, Mr Silatul Rahim Bin Dhaman, who is also visually impaired but he is filled with ambition for his people. I couldn’t help but realise how his name is in line with the Bahasa word ‘silaturahim’ which means to ‘foster relations or to establish a friendship’.
The panel for the press conference involved Mr Ghani from Yayasan Salam, SEAMEO SEN Director Datin Dr Yasmin, MFB CEO Mr Silatul Rahim and our very own eHomemakers Executive Director Miss Chong Sheau Ching. The panel each described the nature of their organization and how what they do bring added meaning to the lives of the disabled community. Their dedication to their field of work is shown through programs offered by their unique organizations. Mr Silatul Rahim touched on one point on how the disabled community is involved in the diversification of humanity. Just as we all come in different shapes and sizes along with different strengths and weaknesses, the disabled community are just the same as the rest of us. They are fully capable of carrying out most daily activities just like the rest of us (sometimes even more expertly), but only with an added accessibility feature to do the activities certain ways. They can very much be involved in the development of our country be it socially, economically or even politically. Mr Silatul Rahim aims for this message to reach out globally –to go beyond borders.
Shortly after lunch, Mr Silatul Rahim held a small conference to basically educate us on we should learn to place ourselves into the shoes of the visually impaired and learn how things are from their perspective so that we can be as accommodating as we can be to their nature in several different ways. He showed us a powerpoint presentation on proper conduct such as give clear descriptions to a blind person, to not force your way to assist them, and one of the most common errors concerning the blind – to assume that they need help in a particular way without asking first. Mr Silatul Rahim is a fond story teller and also a joker, so he filled us in on a couple of his own personal experiences. It was then that I realized just how much work the rest of us need to put in to understand the disabled within our community. It is our responsibility to help them live and move about freely without adding to their troubles.
We had a jolly good time, and we took back with us a whole lot of information to process, including a different perspective. Ultimately, it all comes down to accepting one another for who we are and helping each other in the process to be as capable as we can be in our own community.
By: Lisa Ann Chellamprom