Contrast

Just a few days ago, I was so filled with a warm glow after experiencing how the service centre of one political party was going out of their way to make amends with me over a goof-up which saw the application for my aunt's death benefits go missing before it was even submitted to the Land Office for processing. It is the correct thing to do that when things go wrong, acknowledge the mistakes and then act of them fast. This political party sure knows how to appease the people.

And what a vast contrast my experience provides to this story that I picked up from Malaysiakini just a few days ago. Date stamped 6 October 2013, Nigel Aw told an embarrassing tale of a group of disabled people.

When people do not perform the job they are expected to do, they are a disgrace to their employer. In this case, the Director of the Kulim Welfare Department is a disgrace to the government. Imagine, hiding in her room and refusing to even meet a disabled man after he had crawled up the stairs. Can you blame the general public if they say the civil service is rotten to the core?

According to the writer: "A disabled man resorted to crawling up a flight of stairs in a bid to submit a memorandum to the Kulim Welfare Department (JKM) after its director snubbed his association.

"When contacted, Padang Serai MP N Surendran said some 50 members from the Persatuan OKU Setia Daerah Kulim had protested outside JKM to voice their grouses about welfare benefits about 3pm today.

"However, he said Kulim JKM director Rohana Yusof refused to receive the memorandum and instead chose to remain at the department's office on the first floor of the municipal council building complex.

"After waiting for over an hour under the hot sun, Surendran said one of the association's committee members, 53-year-old Gnana Pragasan, who cannot walk, decided to personally go up to the first floor and hand the memorandum to Rohana. "With the memorandum in his mouth, he used his hands to climb all the way up and banged the door until the director finally came out to receive the memorandum," he said.

"Surendran said the incident today illustrated the welfare department's insensitivity towards the disabled and elderly in the country. "It is a sucker punch for the disabled community, it is a national shame... the (Woman, Family and Community Development) minister must answer," he said.

"Surendran said among the grouses in the memorandum was the fact that the Kulim JKM office was on the first floor where disabled people found it difficult to access. They were also upset that JKM officers have refused conduct site visits to disabled people who cannot personally visit the department's office for assessment, while others were unhappy that they were not receiving their welfare allowance. Also present at the scene were Lunas state assemblyperson Azman Nasrudin and PKR legal bureau chief Latheefa Koya."