In many public locations, disabled facilities such as wheelchair ramps, tactile paving on sidewalks, or designated parking bays that are located closer to entrance and exit points, are offered to differently-abled persons or people with mobility difficulties for their convenience. However, there have been instances of able-bodied individuals who have been found using these facilities to their own benefit, depriving those truly in need of them.
M’sian paralympic athlete confronts able-bodied man using disabled restroom
One such incident was recently shared by Malaysian paralympic athlete Mr Daniel Lee, who confronted an able-bodied man after he had occupied a disabled toilet stall in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. In his post, he claims that he was heading to use one of the disabled toilet stalls located in the mall at the time, when he found it to be occupied.
“I had a suspicion that it was not a PWD in the accessible toilet.” he said.
And while he would usually leave in most cases to find another stall, he thought he would wait it out this time around. To his shock, the person occupied the cubicle for a total of one-and-a-half hours before emerging from it! During his time waiting, Daniel said that he had knocked a few times on the door, only for the man to tell him that he isn’t done.
Holding on to a tote bag, a paper bag, as well as a bucket containing an assortment of bottles, the able-bodied man did mumble an apology to Daniel and claims that he had thought that it was the cleaner who had been knocking at the toilet stall door. When Daniel asked if he was homeless, the man denied it and said he was in the process of moving out from his home and wanted to wash his clothes before boarding a bus back to his hometown.
“When I said I wanted to at least know what the mall policy is for cases like this, so we should wait for security to come, he got angry and started to walk away.”
Became irate after confrontation
Tailing after him, the man then appeared noticeably irate and had one point even vented out at Daniel in apparent anger when he was asked if he had a disability card to use the disabled toilets.
“Of course not! I’m not in a wheelchair like you!” he said.
Eventually, the man left the scene as mall security explained that there was nothing that they could do beyond advising him against using the disabled facilities in the mall.
His post has since attracted a number of comments from netizens, of which some have praised him for shedding light on the challenges that persons with disabilities face as a result of disabled facilities being exploited by able-bodied individuals.
However, some were critical of the fact that Daniel did not conceal the identity of the man when raising the issue.
One netizen who has worked with homeless folks previously claims that the man may have been homeless himself, and was trying to hide his circumstances.
In speaking with Wau Post over the ordeal, Daniel said that his intention of bringing the matter to light over social media was to prevent disabled facilities from being abused by those who are able-bodied, and hopes that steps will be taken to protect these amenities from being exploited.
“I think there should be policies in place to protect PWD facilities from being abused, just like how PWD parkings are treated. There are different types of disabilities in which not being to access a toilet when urgently needed could mean disastrous results for some PWDs.” he said.
He also hopes that more people will play a more civic-minded and play a role in ensuring that these facilities are available to those who truly need them, as anyone could have their lives irrevocably changed when they acquire a disability and in turn, encounter these challenges themselves.
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