It is normal for car park bays for disabled people in shopping complexes or hypermarkets to always be occupied. But wheather or not by the people they are meant for is another matter. People keep complaining and the relevant parties still take no action whatsoever.

The day before and last night I visited Tesco Ampang. The first time was to shop for personal and household products and the second visit was with my friend who was visiting from Europe. As a disabled driver, I need the disabled parking lot that is near the entrance.

However, on the first occasion, I couldn’t park at the disabled parking lot as it was occupied. I also discovered that another disabled visitor to the hypermarket had to park his motorcycle quite a distance from the entrance.

Therefore, I made a complaint at the relevant counter, dropped a complaint card in the suggestions box and also made a complaint online. However, during my second visit, I found that the problem was still not solved.

Last week, I was invited to attend the launching of a road safety awareness campaign at the MPS stadium in Selayang by the Selayang Municipal Council. The event was held in conjunction with the International Disabled Day. The campaign was aimed at promoting a disabled-friendly environment at public places, starting with respecting the car park bays reserved for the disabled.

I would like to draw the attention of franchisers and multinational companies, who often claim to be socially responsible to the needs of disabled people. The time for talking and making impassioned speeches is over. What we need now is an action plan to highlight and address the needs of these special people.

Being aware of the needs of people with disabilities goes beyond allocating car park bays and toilets to them. The toilets for the disabled must be functional, and not be made into store rooms. Car park bays for the disabled must always be available to a disabled driver.