Mini Sports Carnival

                             Tan Mei Lee serves to Chitra

An indoor mini-sports carnival organised by Beautiful Gate Foundation (BGF) was held at the Puay Chai chinese primary school in SS2, Petaling Jaya on 24th October 2009. Although response from disability organisations this year was not as encouraging as in 2007, it was a fun event for all who participated.

The games competed were table tennis (men and women), badminton, Chinese chess and international chess.


Newcomers for the ladies table tennis included a talented young lady Tan May Ling from Johore who has just started her independent living training at BGF, Clancy Chung and Sia Siew Chin's 10-year old daughter. Others included Chitra, two other ladies and yours truly. In the men's draw, originally five had signed up but only three - Foo Kok Jun, David Cherian and Liew Yoke Fang turned up. It meant all three were 'winners' from the start!

A dedicated team of volunteers who took up roles as officials, umpires, and personal assistants made sure the matches went on smoothly without a hitch.

I was intrigued by the presence of a group of 10 year olds from Puay Chai, accompanied by their teacher who wanted to give them exposure to disability sports. The children not only watched and cheered, but also had a first-hand experience playing badminton on wheelchairs!

At the closing ceremony, the Director of BGF, Sia Siew Chin thanked all participants, volunteers and guests who contributed towards the success of the mini sports carnival. Among the VIPs invited to give away prizes to winners was the All Petaling Jaya Residents' Association (APAC) President Mr. Liew Wei Beng.

Results : Table Tennis (Men) : 1. Foo Kok Jun 2. David Cherian 3. Liew Yoke Fang
Table Tennis (Women) :1. Bathmavathi Krishnan 2. Clancy Chung 3. Tan May Ling

                                                Men's doubles Badminton finals

POLICE MEET WITH DISABILITY GROUPS
An interesting Dialogue Session was held between the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and representatives from several disability groups at the Department of Social Welfare Malaysia (JKM) this morning, chaired by its Director General Dato' Meme Zainal Rashid. The need for this dialogue was requested by a disabled member of the National Council on Disability Mr. Mah Hassan Omar, at their last meeting in August, who highlighted the rising spate of crimes against disabled persons nationwide.

The quick response by JKM in arranging for the dialogue is indeed welcome, and rightly so in compliance with the six National Key Result Areas (NKRA) in the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) announced by our Prime Minister recently, first of which is the reduction of crime rate. To have disabled persons' interests and safety included in this IS a rare first!! Yes, we are also a part of the community who need protection and a safe environment.

The police were represented by a seven member team comprising heads of the various departments, including the Commercial Crimes Division, Criminal Investigation Dept and D11 Division for Sexual Offences and Offences against Children.

Among the issues brought up in the two-hour discussion were : problems faced by the blind in making a police report, particularly in describing the suspect; communication problems when the deaf go to the police station to make a report; dilemma of disabled victims where the perpetrators of crimes are family members or those who are in authoritative positions in charge of institutions or caring centres and the general safety of disabled persons in public areas.

The police also informed of several cases where the perpetrators were disabled persons. For this disabled representatives requested that police lock-ups and detention centres be made accessible and barrier-free.

Disability groups recommended that Disability Equality Training be given to police personnel as part of their in-service training. This will enable them to be sensitive to the needs of disabled persons and serve them accordingly. The police and JKM responded positively to this recommendation and agreed to work out a plan of action to implement it.