Every 3rd December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPwD) is commemorated.

The theme for this year is “Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future”. 

The 2024 commemoration presents a timely opportunity to evaluate whether progress has been made by the elected government, in line with the promises made in the Party Manifesto. 

16 per cent of the population lives with a disability. With care partners, we account for more than 30 per cent of the Malaysian electorate.

Hence, we hope the government of the day will listen to our concerns and put in place structural and policy changes to enable disabled persons’ full inclusion in society. 

In this article, we compare the Pakatan Harapan party election manifesto and action plans for disability inclusiveness with achievements after two years of governance.

Pakatan Harapan has the most comprehensive set of plans and promises for the disability (OKU) community. The plans in the Barisan Nasional manifesto are minimal and appear almost as an afterthought. 

The Pakatan Harapan party election manifesto uses appropriate disability language, has a clear section, with plans, on persons with disabilities, recognises that persons with disabilities make up 15 per cent of the Malaysian population and the need to remove barriers to enable meaningful OKU participation. 

The table below summarises the plans and promises with actual achievements.

As the table shows, of the promises made to the disability community and care partners, hardly any have been achieved after two years in office. The rating would not even achieve an “E” grade. 

Plans and promises are good but the proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes.

When OKU rights are not made real, year after year, it is a gross failure of governance. 

It is vital to keep promises made. Otherwise, politicians worsen the already bad trust deficit.

In the end, party manifestos end up being mere empty words. 

In the end it boils down to legislation. As long as we do not amend articles 8(2) and 12(1) of the Federal Constitution to expressly prohibit discrimination on the ground of disability, as long as we do not amend the toothless Persons with Disabilities Act (2008) to give it the scope and powers to enforce the rights of persons with disabilities, any plans and actions of any government cannot be challenged or questioned. 

We had looked to this government to improve the conditions for inclusion as a universal human right for all Malaysians. But it appears that the disability community may have to continue caring for itself. 

(Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS, San Yuenwah, Anit Kaur Randhawa, Ng Lai-Thin, The OKU Rights Matter Project.)