Shabby treatment for the disabled

A photograph of an aged, disabled woman being ferried in a wheelbarrow to collect her BR1M aid has triggered outrage in Sabah.

KOTA KINABALU: Life is hard in Sabah but the image of an aged and disabled woman being carted like goods in a rusty wheelbarrow to collect her RM500 Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) aid at a distribution centre in Semporna has stirred a storm of protests in the state dubbed the poorest in the country.

Under a front page photograph of the woman dressed in a sarong, her head covered in a scarf and surrounded by Barisan Nasional officials including Nasir Sakaran, the state assemblyman for Semporna, the caption reads: “The disabled woman being carted in a wheelbarrow.”

“What a shame and loss of human dignity,” Christina Liew, a lawyer and PKR leader, said in a press statement on Saturday.

“Would anyone fancy being in the shoes of this poor lady? Women leaders in Sabah have talked so much about raising women’s self-esteem but sadly the reverse has been done,” she said.

She said the incident was devoid of decency and dignity and criticised Nasir, the BN elected representative, and the relevant authorities for failing to understand human dignity and shaming the woman.

“Being disabled does not warrant such treatment on the basis of equality.

“We have wittingly or unwittingly devalued a woman’s worth. This should not have happened.

“Surely there is a more presentable way to ferry the lady. They could have also arranged for the RM500 aid to be delivered at her home instead of subjecting her to indignity and inconvenience,” she said.

Right to decent treatment
Local newspaper, the Daily Express also claimed it had received numerous text messages from readers expressing the outrage and disgust.

It said that one message from a reader criticised the government for not coming up with a better way or procedure for disabled persons to receive the aid.

The reader ended the message saying: “I am sad to see the disabled woman losing her dignity.”

Another reader, the newspaper said, said that the disabled had a right to decent treatment as all are equal under the law.

Such photographs appear frequently in the local newspapers. Victims of fatal accidents or crimes are also treated unprofessionally, often just covered under a few sheets of old newspapers and pictured being carried by their arms and feet to a waiting vehicle.