Ahhh… really cannot bear with my Latihan Ilmiah (commonly known as thesis but as I’m just doing my degree, so I call it Latihan Ilmiah) anymore. Having to transcribe the 3 hours and 30 minutes interviews from speech to words really makes me feel tired and bored. It’s time for me to relax again.
Well, while transcribing the interviews, I keep on thinking of the life of OKU and again I question myself, “What is the meaning of disability”? Our country is still far behind from Western countries in fulfilling the special needs. How about perception towards OKU? Do all the Malaysians really accept them as part of our Brothers and Sisters with open hearts? The answer is not so appealing, though. Maybe you might think that working in special education means that we will work in a loving circumstance… with caring people surrounding us, spreading the love (as what my friends told me before). Hmm… that is my dream and what I’ve expected before I study at University. But sad to say, that’s not what has really happen. It makes me retrieve one of the articles (from oversea) I’ve read before; I still remember one of the remarks given by a person with special need who wants to be a teacher. The PWD said that if the school is to provide the Person with Disability (PWDs) for the betterment and prepare them for a better career opportunity, why the school itself is not so open in accepting teachers with disabilities?
Again, as I’ve stated in my previous blog, in most of the time, it’s the people around them that create the barriers and disable them. I keep on thinking, what is the actual meaning of being disabled? What cause me to voice up this question? OK, let’s have a look at the given situations:
If you say that a deaf is disabled, imagine that you are in a room with the Deafs and you are the only Hearing there. Well, do you get what I’m trying to convey? I mean, if you are with them, spoken language is no more important, it’s sign language which is more important. Not using spoken language means…? Means what…? Well, good… It means that whether deaf or not is not a big question. Therefore, at that moment, do you think that they are disabled? I think you are the one who are ‘disabled’ because unable to understand their conversation. When you are diving with a deaf; do you think deafness is a barrier? We need to use their sign language to communicate underwater, instead. So, what is the actual meaning of disability?
Imagine that you are placed in a dark room where all the facilities are provided for the Blind and mobility is no more a problem. It is very dark in the room and you can hardly see any light around. At that moment, who is ‘disabled’? You or the blind? The blind will not face any problem then but you are the one who most probably kick a chair and fell on the floor… Boomm…(“Buah nangka jatuh”)… and the next sound will be, “Oucch”! Why? Because the Blind can ‘see’ using their hands and their ears. So, what is the actual meaning of disability?
Some people have negative perception towards PWDs. From the two analogies that I’ve written, I do think that there is no one in this world who has the right to treat them negatively because all of us are the same. Why PWD is known as being disabled? Is it because PWD is not same as us? Is it because they lost one of the senses and we treat them as if they are ‘aliens’ coming from other planets? No, no, no… they are known as disabled by us because they share different culture. There are no words such as ‘disabled’ or ‘disability’ in their dictionary (As what TC told me. Thanks, TC for giving me hinds and ‘enlightened’ me). Hmm… this is somehow known as discrimination too. We are the majority and PWDs are the minority (you can find it out from articles in special education-related journals). Hmm… One more analogy for you to think of: If a ‘friend’ from Marikh come to Earth, we will call Him an alien; if you go to Marikh, they will call you an alien. So, at the end, who is the alien? So, again… what is the actual meaning of disability?
Suddenly the ORANGE PHILOSOPHY pops on my mind (haha… sorry, I’ve created this philosophy myself =p . You can’t find it in books)
An orange on the table. What you can tell us? Hmm… good, it’s an orange with sphere shape and orange in colour. What’s the smell and how it tastes? Can you tell me by just looking at it? Good, clever student! Yes, you cannot tell the smell and the taste by just looking at it: Analogically, by looking at PWDs, what you can tell us is that the person is lost one of the 5 senses that we have. Anymore?Now, you take the orange and peel it. Back to the questions, can you tell me its smell and its taste? Very well, good. You can only tell the smell but you still cannot 100% confirm of its taste: Analogically, if you are just reading about PWDs and never meet one and talk with them, how much do you understand them? How much do you really understand their feelings? Remember, practical is more important than theories.OK. You have peeled the orange. Now you want to take one piece and put it in your mouth. Can you tell me how it tastes? Exactly! It has a sweet-sour taste: Analogically, we will never understand their feelings until we mix with them. We will never understand them unless we become one of them.So, from the orange philosophy what do we need to do now? Hmm… yes, digest the orange by…: See their existence, smell their needs; feel and taste their feelings. Let’s the Vitamin C flows in our blood, let’s the love and understandings spread in our community (“,)
