Greetings to all of you.

Although I do not have many followers, I notice that some of you come from countries far away from Malaysia. I do not know who you are but I want to wish you a happy 2013. If possible, do drop me a line and tell me a bit about yourself.

Suffolk House Penang

The Suffolk House of Penang (more information in the link HERE) is a good example of how a heritage building can be made wheelchair friendly. Notably a lift was installed at this building so that mobility impaired people can go to the first floor of the building.

The disabled people’s toilet that is located away from the mainly building is beautifully designed. The passage way to the toilet and the lift is completely wheelchair friendly. Ask if you cannot find the lift or the toilet.

However, I do not like the pathway that leads visitors from the gate to the wooden ramp at the entrance. This pathway is made up of small granite stones and it is difficult for the small front wheels of my wheelchair to negotiate. I had to move “back to front” to reach the wooden ramp. (According to a friend, the building owner made the pathway in this manner to reflect the original path of the building. Apparently when Suffolk House was built some 200 years ago, there were no such thing as tar road then. So granite pathway was the norm at that time.) I was told later by the guard that mobility impaired visitors can drive their cars near to the wooden ramp so as to avoid the problems of negotiating the pathway. (I visited the place on the 3rd Dec.2012)

Macalister Manson

I took a quick look at the Macalister Manson (www.macalistermansion.com) last week. I only managed to take photos of its disabled friendly toilet as I was in a hurry.

It was raining when I arrived but luckily the main entrance was fully shaded. A car park for disabled people was clearly marked and visible. The hotel is wheelchair friendly at the ground floor but NOT the first floor where all the rooms are located. So you can go there for lunch, tea or dinner only.

The toilet for disabled people is spacious and beautifully designed. The only thing I don’t like is the mirror. You can't see yourself clearly if you are sitting on a wheelchair.

A Lift For Your Home?

Since young, I have always wanted a lift for my home. May be it was because all my family members were able to go to the upper floor of my father's house except me. But a lift at home was something unheard of when I was young.

But lucky for us, time has changed and I think home lifts have also become relatively cheaper. I saw a home lift advertisement  in the newspaper today. I called the company and was told that the estimated cost of installing a small lift is about RM 120,000. The office is in KL but they have service people in Penang.

You can go to the company's website via the link HERE or:

http://drightsource.com/company/a/amalcon/DOMUSLIFT-RESIDENTIAL-HOME-LIFT.html

(Please note that I post the information here because it may be useful to some of my readers. I do not know the company and cannot vouch for there services and products. There may also be other companies in Malaysia that provide similar products.)

Infotainment And Disabled Access

Most people don't like to read about disabled access because they are dry serious issues. Some of us in Penang are trying a new approach --- infotainment (information + entertainment). We made a video of disabled people dancing Gangnam Style and posted it in Youtube (Please search okupenang or Gangnam Disabled Style for it). We got more than 1300 views in 2 weeks. Here is the link to the video.

You can also go there via:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnB21mEDmys&feature=plcp

Which lift to use at Gurney Plaza

Some of my friends have problems choosing the lift to use in Gurney Plaza. I hope this post can help them.

The above is a photo of the location map displayed at Gurney Plaza. The drawing below is based on the photo and I have simplified it to show only 5 lifts which I think are probably more important for persons on wheelchair.

Lifts 1 & 2 are at the new wing. They go to all levels of the mall. Lift 1 is a cargo lift and it is important to use for 2 reasons. Firstly, it is opened till late in the night. So it is important to remember this lift if you like to stay late. Secondly, this lift  is located just next to the disabled car parks at level 6, 7 and 8. The car parks there are safer than the ones near lift 2.

Lift 2 is also located next to disabled car parks at level 6, 7, 8. But the car parks there are not very safe because they are too near to the car entrance. The doors leading to lift 2 will be shut around 10:30 pm. 

Use lift 3 if you want to go to level 7 where the cinemas are located. It can lead you to level G, 1, 3, 4, 5 (car park with a kerb), 6 and 7. If you get out of the lift at level 2, you will find the door leading to the shopping mall LOCKED. (Don't ask me why!)

Use lift 4 if you want to go to the basement where you can find many restaurants and a supermarket. This lift also goes to level G, 1,  2, 3, 4, 5, 6. But at some levels, you have to open stiff doors before you can enter the mall.

Lift 5 is a cargo lift. It is very dirty but useful as an alternative to go to basement and level 7.

Summary:

1. If you come by car, park at the disabled car parks near lift 1 and use it to go to the other level.
2. Use lift 2 as your basic lift to go to all floors except level 7 and basement.
3. Use lift 3 to go to level 7
4. Use lift 4 to go to the basement.
5. Use lift 5 when you want to save time.

(Please note the date of this post. I have done my best to make sure information given here are accurate at the time of writing. But things do change. If you have more up to date information, you are most welcome to comment or email me.)

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.