In a case of Like Minds Think Alike, Stu helms a chorus comprising midnight voices like Desi's singing "Veni, Vidi, Vici" in an humble effort to move for change in Malaysian society so that we truly graduate into "developed"nation league in both mindset -- think Einstein and Gandhi -- and physical infrastucture development -- think the Egyptian Pyramids, Great Wall of China and Taj Mahal, and yeah, Malaysia's very own Petronas Twin Towers...
Meanwhile, what gladdens Desi's heart is that Stu, along with family, is also a lover of poetry, and Desi's obsession with achieving that 20million-mark is much nearer achievement if only there were aMore repeat customers like Stu. Thanks, matey!:)
It's my tremendous pleasure to hoRst with two goblets of Lingam's Curry House tehtarik plus kambing rendang:
GUEST BLOGGER:
Capt. Abdul Karim Stuart Russell
(The following appeared, slightly edited, also as
Letter to the Editor in The Sun, on Oct 11, 2007)
"Dear Sir,
In the media we have recently been told by the Prime Minister that, the Iskandar Development Region and Northern Corridor Economic Region, the East Coast Economic Region and similar corridors are being planned for Sabah and Sarawak , have been greeted with great excitement.
The PM has been quoted as saying “There is excitement when they hear we are going to bring development to the corridor areas.”
One can but speculate who ‘they’ who have expressed excitement are, but it is certainly not the disabled, the elderly, families with babies and children, the infirm or pregnant ladies, since these sections of the ‘rakyat’ have been, and will no doubt continue to be marginalized, discriminated against, if not entirely ignored.
All new transportation systems, such as the soon to be awarded Penang Monorail project, and other new monorail and LRT systems being proposed for Kuala Lumpur , Petaling Jaya, Putrajaya and Johor Bahru, as well as all buses, trains and other forms of transport must, without exception, be universally designed so as to make them accessible to all.
Even if these ‘Economic Region’ projects are supposed to create many new job opportunities for the people such as in tourism, agriculture and small and medium industries, these job opportunities will not be available to those who are excluded from travelling because the public transport infrastructure is inaccessible to them.
The disabled, the elderly and others who have mobility difficulties must be included in every aspect of life, and until that time, they are certainly not at all excited about being excluded.
Thank you.
Capt. Abdul Karim Stuart Russell
Secretary,
Support Group Society for the Blind of Malaysia"
2 comments:
Thanks for posting my letter Desi, you are contributing to the fight for Freedom of Access for All in Malaysia. The elderly, the disabled, and all those with mobility and accessibility difficulties sincerely thank you.
Capt Karim is a fellow mariner who walks the talk. 'Nuff said.
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