MALAYSIA still has a long way to go in regards to how disabled people and their spaces are being treated, especially when it comes to road users being inconsiderate of spaces meant for people with disabilities.
Former Pakatan Harapan candidate and disability rights advocate Dr Noraishah Mydin Abd Aziz recently had her path obstructed by a bus near a LRT station in Petaling Jaya.
As the bus driver was not in the bus, the wheelchair-bound scientist had to go through the trouble of getting out of her car to look for him.
Noraishah also claimed that she had to “beg” the bus driver to move his vehicle so that she could drive away.
“I parked at the right place . It is not easy for me to get in and out of my car. What should have just been a five second drop off became a 20 minute drama,” she said in her post on Twitter.
Noraishah took a step further by calling Prasarana, demanding them to take action against the driver in question, “behaving like a bully” and had also questioned policy makers on her rights.
“What are my rights as a Malaysian citizen? Should I lodge a police report?” she added.
Meanwhile, @askrapidkl responded to Noraishah’s post stating that “appropriate action will be taken against the bus captain involved”.
Netizens were outraged at the bus driver’s attitude and called for the scientist to take legal action against him.
Some even recalled their experiences with awful bus drivers also calling them “road bullies” and pointed out that awareness of the rights of the disabled must be heightened.