Be An Angel Campaign

I was invited to officiate the Telematch at SS2/59 Field yesterday morning organised by Beautiful Gates Disabled Centre in conjunction with the volunteers recruitment scheme for the Be An Angel Campaign. The Campaign is to recruit general public and train them as skilled volunteers to assist the people with disabilities. Also present was Ms Tan Wye Wye, the host of NTV7 program on Finding An Angel cum the Ambassador for the Campaign. I told the 100 attendees that in order for those with passion to help the people with disabilities, we must first understand the challenges as well as enhancing our knowledge and skills or else an individual will end up with frustration of unable to assist much. For instance, we might want to assist a wheel chair bound people to enter a premise but to push the chair without considering the physical environment might endanger the people with disabilities. I also touched on the need to widen our definition on PWD by including those personnel who has lost their abilities temporary or due to old age. For example, we have to consider special needs of the senior citizen, small kid or even the pregnant women. To me, they are classified temporary PWD as these groups are having difficulty to achieve something due to the barrier of physical environment. By embracing this wider scope of definition about PWD, it is easier to convince people that it is critically neccessary to create a Barrier Free City of Petaling Jaya. The criticsm of spending money to provide facilities for minority group will disappear, i believe.