Thursday, October 18, 2007

Re: 導盲路如同虛設?

Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd (375839-H)

18th October 2007

Dear Mr,

KLIA EKSPRES & KLIA TRANSIT – KUALA LUMPUR TO KLIA
RE: ERL tidak prihatin terhadap orang cacat kelihatan
---------------------------------------------------------------
We refer to your press statement above and thank you for highlighting your concern.

At first glance, the photo does seem to portray an inconsiderate act. But before a conclusion is determined, please allow us to take you through.

When Express Rail Link (ERL) undertook the construction of the Kuala Lumpur City Air Terminal (KL CAT) in KL Sentral, special care was given to cater to visually impaired passengers, such as tactile paths and braille letterings in lifts.

Yellow tactile paths were laid from outside the entrance of the Departure Hall, leading all the way down to the KLIA Ekspres departure platform. For arriving passengers, as soon as they step out of the train onto the arrival platform, the yellow tactile path leads all the way up to the Arrival Hall and thereafter, the exit out of KL CAT. Whilst this facility is in place, we have gone one step further. Standing instructions are given to staff on duty to assist visually impaired passengers with the slotting of tickets at all ticket gates for their entry or exit.

A point to note though, whilst such considerations are in place, there have been very few unaccompanied visually impaired passengers using our service since we started operations more than five years ago. We can only guess that their preferred mode of transport to/from KLIA is still the door-to-door transfers such as taxis, which are easier and more convenient for their needs.

Coming back to the display train model at the Arrival Hall, over and above the standing instructions on helping visually impaired passengers through the ticket gates, our porters and security staff have also been briefed to escort them all the way to their waiting vehicles during this period for the Merdeka display. We are sorry such internal arrangements are not apparent to others. For your kind information, as the Merdeka celebration period is over, the train model will be relocated back to its permanent display location by the end of this week.

We trust the above clarifies our position.

Thank you.

Yeow Wei-Wen
Vice President
Marketing, Sales & Customer Service

Add: Level 2, KL City Air-Terminal, KL Sentral Station, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: 603–2267 8088
Fax: 603–2267 8910
Email: air-rail@KLIAekspres.com
www.KLIAekspres.com

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

導盲路如同虛設?

陽光走道,是專門為視障人士所提供的導盲路,讓他們能在無障礙環境放心行走。走道的路面上布滿了凸點,讓盲人和弱視者了解本身所處的位置,其他如使用輪椅或拐杖的殘疾人士亦適合使用該走道。


照片取自:劉永山

在吉隆坡中環廣場(KL Sentral)的吉隆坡國際機場捷運快車(KLIA Ekspres)抵達處,所設置的陽光走道卻出現了障礙,整條導盲路如同虛設。

我國的公共設施向來對視障人士並不友善,所謂的“愛心社會”到最後只是淪為標語。

目前我們最迫切需要解決的問題是:如何打造無障礙城市?

Chronicle of Malaysia 1957-2007


Chronicle of Malaysia 1957-2007 - Fifty Years of Headline News

The Chronicle of Malaysia contains:
- 384 pages of headline news
- More than 2,400 news stories spanning 50 years of history
- More than 1,200 illustrations, including 30 Lat cartoons
- Timeline of international and regional events
- Introduction to the history of Malaysia
- Index with more than 1,500 entries
- Map of Malaysia showing more than 200 news locations

Official launch by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Nov 5.

For more information: http://www.chronicle.com.my/

Monday, October 15, 2007

蚊子党地位岌岌可危?

甲州首長莫哈末阿裡表示,人民進步黨在來屆大選,將不會獲得該州的任何議席分配。——《南洋商報》


馬六甲州首席部長莫哈末阿裡的這番言論,是回應人民進步黨主席卡維斯和甲州主席周添財所提出的議席分配要求。之前,進步黨署理主席李升於9月30日出席該黨檳州代表大會時的建議,各州國陣政府讓出至少一個議席給該黨,從而解決歸還該黨4國12州議席的問題。

不過,有關建議顯然並無法獲得認同,反而讓也是巫統副主席的莫哈末阿裡倒刮幾個耳光。

更甚的是,莫哈末阿裡是在出席甲州進步黨代表大會時,公開在卡維斯和周添財面前斬釘截鐵地拒絕該黨訴求,“州內3縣的市議員職位也沒有位子可以騰出來給進步黨填補”!

較早前,卡維斯曾向國陣最高領導層喊話,若進步黨在來屆大選中不獲分配競選4個國會議席和12個州議席,以及79個縣市議會議席和怡保市長職,該黨將退出國陣!

這番“退出國陣論”隨即受到莫哈末阿裡大肆抨擊,並重申若進步黨欲退出國陣,其留下來的議席“大把人爭著要”,可以還給巫統、民政黨,甚至馬華。

雖然進步黨號稱擁有50萬名黨員的強大基層力量,卻偏偏栽在區區一個巫統副主席的腳下。陶醉在昔日光輝下的蚊子黨,要如何面對殘酷的政治現實?

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri 開齋節快樂

Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri to all our Muslim friends.
Maaf Zahir Batin.
祝願回教徒同胞們開齋節快樂!

Monday, October 8, 2007

[星洲日報] 種族高牆下的吶喊

■ 六日譚『初聲之犢』專欄 (2007年10月10日)

民政黨青年團總團長馬袖強在民青全國代表大會,公開建議解散國陣所有14個成員黨,再合並成一個涵蓋多元種族的單一政黨――“國陣黨”,讓所有獨立建國50年來生活在種族藩籬下的馬來西亞人民看到未來的希望。

馬袖強的這番政論絕非標新立異,因為早在50年前,巫統創黨主席也是現任巫青團團長希山慕丁的祖父翁嘉化曾試圖爭取開放巫統黨籍,讓各族人民皆可加入巫統,證明類似的建議在經歷建國50年後,依然不失其宏觀遠見。

然而,馬袖強的建議卻受到國大黨主席三美威魯大力抨擊。三美威魯認為,在少數服從多數的游戲規則下,“國陣黨”將會偏重於主要族群的意見,導致少數族群的聲音受到忽視。

坦言之,國內目前不乏政治人物具有這種思考模式。在國陣體制內,由於巫統一黨獨大,加上各成員黨皆受制於國陣的協商精神,導致諸多權益受到侵蝕。

就以當前政局為例,許多國陣政策皆以巫統為主導,而巫統領袖的種族偏激言論亦讓其他成員黨領袖疲於撲火。究竟現有的國陣模式是否真的重視其他族群聲音?若國陣領袖一切皆以各自族群利益為大前提,那麼國陣要如何證明他們的模式不會引領我國往更種族化的極端發展?

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Monday, September 24, 2007

[星洲日報] 你為何不“鬧事”?

■ 六日譚『初聲之犢』專欄 (2007年9月25日)

2007/2008年度國立大學校園選舉即將掀開戰幔,預料會是有史以來最黑暗的校園選舉。

今年的校園選舉因為博特拉大學保安人員強行沒收學生俞揚陽的電腦與財物一案,引發校方打壓親學生陣線的輿論而備受矚目。然而,這宗保安人員以流氓方式欺壓學生的醜聞並非首例。去年,一群博大學生理事會領袖在校方縱容下,以粗暴手段打壓親學生陣線的學生,引發軒然大波。

如今,博大再度爆發校方打壓學生的醜聞,讓剛擢升為研究大學的博大在一夜之間淪為飆車魔(Mat Rempit)大學,為我國神聖的學術界徒留一大污點。

就在校園選舉來臨之際,國立大學校方采取種種高壓手段來打壓親學生陣線,不免讓人質疑其背後的真正動機。向來被喻為社會縮影的大學校園,亦無可幸免地陷入民主扭曲的漩渦中,為校園選舉蒙上難以磨滅的白色恐怖。

大學原是一個構築校園自主、學術自由及學生自治的理想烏托邦,以栽培具有批判意識、創意思考和高度競爭力的學生,同時讓學生可以參與校園自治,實踐民主政治改革的理念。

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