THE papers were full of reports a few weeks ago on Singapore's impending transformation into a green, well-connected 'leisure island', with cycling and jogging tracks.
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said we may be the first people in the world who would be able to 'take a walk, relatively easily, around our whole country'.
Such words offer cold comfort to people like economist Julian Wee, 31. He cannot jog or cycle or walk. Just getting to work every day is a nightmare for Mr Wee, who is confined to a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy.
He works in a research firm downtown. There is no MRT service near his Kembangan home and wheelchair-friendly buses are rare. So he usually takes a cab to his office on Anson Road.
But since the building's taxi stand is not accessible to wheelchairs, he has to alight at a back entrance, directly in the face of oncoming traffic.
Inside, things are worse. There is only one disabled-friendly toilet in the 36-storey building. It was out of order for nearly two weeks recently, while being renovated.
Singapore is becoming one of the world's most liveable cities. But the disabled among us are feeling left out.
Since the building that Mr Wee works in was built before 1990, its management need not provide wheelchair access unless the building undergoes major renovations.
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA), which has championed 'universal design' so as to allow easy navigation by all, has stopped short of making universal access compulsory in older buildings.
Instead, it has begun a campaign to 'persuade' the owners of such buildings to sign up for the Government's 'Accessibility Fund', which grants up to $150,000 for buildings to be fitted with disabled-friendly features such as lifts, ramps and grab bars.
But persuasion hasn't yielded much. Only 13 buildings have applied for the fund since it was launched in April last year.
Given the lukewarm response, it may be time for BCA to consider making universal design compulsory across the board.
It can then grant special exemptions to older buildings that have genuine technical difficulties in meeting the requirements.
When The Straits Times approached the management at the building Mr Wee works in, it said that it was providing basic access though it was not legally bound to do so.
'Basic access' includes providing ramps or chair lifts for wheelchair users to enter and access all parts of the ground floor, and at least one disabled-friendly toilet on the same floor.
But this is not good enough, says Mr Wee. 'How would you feel if you had to go down to the first floor from your 21st-floor office every time you needed to use the loo?'
Perhaps it's also time to ramp up efforts to provide what the BCA refers to as 'full barrier-free access'. This refers to interconnectivity not just within a building but with its surroundings as well.
Mr Wee's office, for instance, is just a stone's throw away from the nearest MRT station, which is equipped with disabled-friendly lifts and ramps.
But the disabled would need to negotiate traffic in their wheelchairs and cross a road to get to the MRT station.
The Government has been pouring money into improving accessibility. Between last year and 2011, it will be spending $200 million to provide lifts, ramps, grab bars and wheelchair-friendly toilets in public areas and buildings.
But much of the access is still being provided in a piecemeal manner. That can be as bad as providing no access at all, for it can discourage wheelchair users from stepping out of their homes.
The Government's accessibility drive cannot succeed unless private organisations ramp up their efforts to provide universal access too.
As things stand now, whether a wheelchair user can enter a pre-1990 building depends not on the law but the kindness of building owners.
Even those who are willing to do something sometimes do it wrong. The sole accessible toilet in Mr Wee's building, for instance, was initially fitted with a swing door, which wheelchair users found difficult to push open.
Such examples highlight how the willingness to spend money on a policy does not by itself guarantee success. A possible reason for such faulty implementation - by private organisations in particular - may be that the disabled themselves don't have much of a voice in infrastructure planning.
If they were involved, a sliding instead of a swing door would have been a no-brainer.
The Government estimates that between 3 and 4 per cent of Singapore's resident population - or up to 150,000 people - are disabled. But such folk are seldom seen, much less heard. It's almost as if they don't exist in the public consciousness.
As a reporter covering social issues, the lines of communication with my readers usually crackle with emotion every time I write about the elderly or the poor. Within days, many write in with offers of help, money or empathy.
Articles on the disabled, by contrast, are usually met with silence. The ones who write in tend to have Western-sounding names or disabled family members.
Ms Denise Phua, a Member of Parliament and an ardent advocate for the disabled, points out that the Government took care a couple of years ago to include the disabled in focus-group discussions on how to improve services for them.
This resulted in the tabling of the Enabling Masterplan - a blueprint to expand disability services here - early last year.
Immediately afterwards, the Government announced a doubling of the budget allocated to services for the disabled. Ms Phua is now hoping for regular public updates on the progress of the plan.
Though the money has been allocated, having key performance indicators to measure how effectively the money is being spent and constant feedback from the disabled would help, she says.
'More communication and accountability would be useful,' she says, adding that there should be a faster pace in implementation of measures.
A faster pace, in particular, is crucial. Singapore is one of the fastest-ageing societies in the world. Younger folk with disabilities are also increasingly better educated and they want to lead full lives.
But it will be another six years, for instance, before all Housing Board blocks have lifts that stop on every floor. And we must wait another 16 years before our entire fleet of buses is equipped with wheelchair ramps.
That may seem like an eternity to people like Mr Wee - bright, productive minds trapped in imperfect bodies.
Let's hope their ability, drive and determination are not crippled by the hurdles they face every day just to get to work.
http://www.asiaone.com/News/the%2BSt...603-68545.html
--- E. Fermi (1901-1954)
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