Have You Ever Wondered How Disabled-Friendly KL Is?

KL is a beautiful city, but it’s not without shortcomings.

It’s kind of wild that you could be staring up at the second-tallest building in the world but having to tiptoe past broken pavements, jumping across uncovered longkangs, and dodging random tiangs along the sidewalks just to get there.

It’s not entirely inaccessible for the able-bodied to get around in our cities, but it can be a very unpleasant experience.

How much more difficult would it be then for the disabled (OKU)?

Take this recent case, for example. These pictures, taken a few days ago, show a sidewalk in Jalan P Ramlee blocked by contractors just so that they can have road access:

‘Cause of course we need more malls and buildings, so who cares if we gotta walk in traffic, right?

It’s not just that the sidewalk leads to a dead end now, the pole placement and sewer grids along the sidewalk can be hazardous for the disabled. In 2017, Aurélie, a French traveller with Hereditary spastic paraplegia, travelled to KL and pointed out that sewer grids can be dangerous for the disabled.

(iwheeltravel.com)

Yes, it is still possible to avoid sewer grids and poles, provided that the sidewalk itself is wide enough. But what is a girl on wheels to do when she can’t get on the sidewalk in the first place?

(iwheeltravel.com)

And before you say “This was in 2017!!!”…

In June this year, KL mayor Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif conducted a walkabout in Brickfields with some disabled members of our community to assess the city’s accessibility.

During the walkabout, a wheelchair user lost his balance on a steep and uneven ramp, fell backwards, and bruised his elbow.

Before that, he almost fell trying to navigate a narrow five-foot walkway that (surprise, surprise) led to a dead end with no ramp.

(The Star)

That thing that you see him trying to get through is called a bollard gate. Bollard gates are meant to prevent motorcyclists from riding on the sidewalks. These bollard gates can be seen in different parts of the city:

Pretty cool idea, right?

Except that this bollard gate leads right to the next curb that’s blocked with huge concrete balls:

Are aesthetics really that important that it costs people their right to move about with ease? Independent Living and Training Centre Malaysia president G. Francis Siva thinks so, and said that most of KL’s accessibility features are “more cosmetic than functional.”

The bollard gates themselves aren’t very helpful. They are too narrow for some wheelchairs and end up being a struggle for wheelchair users instead.

It’s not just KL. Almost 75% of public spaces in Malaysia are not disabled-friendly.

Most public places fall short of MS1184, which is a universal design and accessibility code of practice for built environment.

Building owners and public facilities are required to comply with this standard to ensure smooth and accessible use for persons with disabilities.

The lack of reinforcement is also due to the fact that DBKL does not have a dedicated unit to deal with MS1184 compliance and look into accessibility issues.

According to the CEO of the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB), Datuk George Thomas, the most basic elements of the code are ignored, such as rules concerning tactile pavements.

Tactile pavements are textured tiles that act as markers on paths, stairs, and platforms to help visually impaired pedestrians navigate safely and identify hazards with a cane.

In 2024, he reported that over 30% of tactile pavements in Brickfields were broken or had fallen apart. However, the issue will not be resolved by merely fixing the broken tactile tiles.

Motorists and vehicles must stop parking on tactile tiles.

(The Star)

Plus, stalls and vendors must also stop operating on these tactile tiles:

(The Star)

Vehicles don’t just cause damage to the tiles, but also obstruct the path of the visually impaired and can cause serious injuries to them. Even a trolley left on these pavements can lead to a broken leg.

Same with stalls and vendors, too. Once there is an obstruction on these tactile pavements, moving about is almost impossible and, quite frankly, worthless.

Speaking of which, these recent pictures taken at the Salak South heritage railway bridge show vehicles parked under the bridge that’s meant for pedestrians to cross safely: