The Walkway at Jalan Ria, Penang

The pedestrian walkway at Jalan Ria is not accessible to wheelchair users. I discovered that two days ago. My good friend, Li Fang, was trying to move from KOMTAR Walk to KOMTAR bus station but was stopped at walkway by a row of bollards.

She had no choice but to try the road. But again she was stopped by another row of bollards.

Luckily some kind-hearted people were around and they helped her unscrew one of the bollards.

So Li Fang had to use the road, exposing herself to the dangerous fast moving traffic, while other non-disabled people walked safely on the walkway. 

The rights of the disabled people are still not being respected in Penang.

Gurney Paragon Mall Penang (Part 1)

I checked this mall on the 26th Aug 2012. As expected from all new public buildings, basic facilities for wheelchairs access were there. (I believe mainly because of the requirements of the Uniform Building By-Laws.)  Again as expected, the disabled access were poorly designed.

The first thing I notice was that steps were everywhere. There were steps at the door of every shops and all of the nice open-air eating areas. I am not anti-steps but surely ramps could be built beside some of these steps. The steps also made the place very unfriendly to young children. So parents please watch your children when you bring them there!

The best feature of this mall was the gentle ramp at the entrance. But I could not find any disabled people's car park near there. (See photo below.)

However, not a ramps were good. The one leading to the toilet was a bit too steep for me. (See photo below.)

I also found the ramp in the photo below to be so steep that it may cause a wheelchair-user to tilt backward and fall. The gradient was very far away from Malaysian Standard's 1 to 12.

The toilet was reasonably spacious and a flip-up bar was there, correctly installed. But they forgot to place a mirror there. (See photo below.) 

I also found the light switch outside the toilet to be too high for me.

Due to time constrain, I did not have the opportunity to check first floor. If you have any information or photos about the access there, please feel free to post them as comments, or email me with short descriptions so that I can post them in this blog. Remember the purpose of this blog is to share information with other wheelchair-users.

How to enter Penang Times Square

A friend wanted to know how a wheelchair-user can enter Penang Time Square from road side. Here is how. (Please follow the numbers in the photos below.)

1 is a probable drop off point where wheelchair user can come down from a bus or car. Go to 2 and turn into 3. This leads to the open air car park.

If one goes from 3 to 4, then one would see the main entrance of Time Square. Unfortunately, there is no ramp at the entrance. (We have to work at this problem.)

A wheelchair user needs to go from 4 to 5 to 6, 7, 8 before he / she can see the ramp. It is a small and narrow ramp, often hidden behind many motorcycles. 

Wheelchair access is manageable though not good after one reach point 9. I hope this is useful to the friend who requested for this information.

Lone Pine Hotel, Penang

I visited Lone Pine Hotel on 29th May 2012 and was disappointed with its disabled access. Here are some of the major issues.

1, The toilet for disabled people was not designed in accordance to Malaysian standards. There should be a flip-up Grab Bar beside the toilet bowl but it was not there. (See photo below). The basin was also to high for a wheelchair-users (not following the standard). (See photo below.)

Saya melawati Lone Pine Hotel pada 29 May 2012. Saya kecewa dengan kemudahan akses oku yang disediakan di sini. Beberapa isu utama dikemukakan.

1. Tandas oku yang disediakan tidak menepati dan mematuhi piawaian Malaysia. Sepatutnya menyediakan “grab bar” di tepi tandas mangkuk ini tetapi ia tiada disediakan di sini. (Merujuk gambar bawahan). Basin/lembangan yang dianggap tinggi untuk penggunaan orang yang berkerusi roda (ia tidak mengikuti piawaian Malaysia). (Lihat gambar di bawah.)

在2012年五月29日我走访Lone Pine Hotel。对于这儿残障的设施我感到失望。这里提出了几个重点。

1． 无障碍的厕所并没有符合马来西亚残障手册。理应在厕盘旁提供正确的扶把，但是这儿并没有（请参阅以下的图片）。对于轮椅者洗手盘太高（它没有根据马来西亚残障手册）。（请参阅以下的图片）

2, The ramp leading to its restaurant was too steep. Again not following the gradient specified in Malaysian Standards. (See photo below).

2. Ramp yang menuju ke restoran adalah terlalu curam. Sekali lagi tidak mengikut kecerunan yang dinyatakan dalam piawaian Malaysia. (Lihat gambar di bawah).

2． 向往旅馆斜坡太斜。再次它没有按照。（请参阅以下的图片）

3, The toilet for disabled people is "hidden" inside a bar. "Hidden" because there were no signage indicating its location. On top of that, the bar is not accessible because of a step. I also feel that having a disabled people's toilet inside a bar is not very sensitive to disabled people who are Muslim. (See photos below.)

3. Tandas untuk oku itu "tersembunyi" di dalam bar. "Tersembunyi" kerana tiada papan tanda yang menunjukkan lokasi tersebut. Selain itu, bar itu tidak boleh diakses kerana terdapat halangan “step”. Saya juga berasa bahawa menyediakan tandas oku di dalam bar tidak sesuai terhadap oku yang beragama Islam. (Lihat gambar di bawah).

3． 无障碍厕所“被藏”在酒吧里头。 “被藏”因为没有标示表显示它的位置。除此之外，这间酒吧的入口有梯级不便于轮椅者。我也觉得把厕所设在酒吧里会对穆斯林残障者造成不便。（请参阅以下的图片