Dewan Sri Pinang

Dewan Sri Pinang is an important building in Penang. It is a popular auditorium for live performances. It also housed the Penang State Art Gallery. (Go to the end of this post if you want a link to more information about this building.) I was there to see an art show on 20 June, 2013 and took the opportunity to check the place.

An accessible car park was located at the roadside near to the building. As I moved my wheelchair in the direction of the art gallery, I noticed the walkway in front of me was not wheelchair friendly. (See photo below).

I had no choice but to move on the street, exposing myself to the danger of oncoming vehicles. As I moved further I discovered a kerb ramp. So I moved my wheelchair on to the walkway. (See photo below). It then occurred to me that the walkways along this stretch of the road were not consistent. Some have kerb ramps but some do not. I could not understand the logic behind this inconsistency.

After I reached the gate of the art gallery, I entered the compound without any problem.

I found a ramp in front of the entrance to the art gallery. But handrail was provided on only one side of the ramp. This is not a good practice. Handrails should always be provided on BOTH sides of a ramp. The reason is that many disabled people (non-wheelchair users) have only one strong arm. It could be the left arm or the right arm. Handrails at both sides will allow them to choose the one suitable to them.

I had problem entering the art gallery because of the step at the entrance. (See photo below). Once inside the space is all flat and wheelchair friendly.

The art gallery is located at the side of Dewan Sri Pinang. I had go to the front entrance of the building by a ramp. The ramp was a bit steep but luckily I was using my motorized wheelchair. It would be difficult for manual wheelchair users to climb this ramp. One can easily make the ramp gentler by extending it longer. (There were enough space). Handrails should also be installed.

I was surprised to see that Dewan Sri Pinang does not have accessible toilet. I had trouble trying to enter the ground floor male toilet because of the small step at the entrance.. (I did not have time to go to the first floor to see if there is any accessible toilet up there.)

The following photos were taken inside the toilet. (For more idea of what is a good accessible toilet, please click HERE.)

The auditorium is located at first floor. I could not find a lift to go up. There were two long ramps at either sides of the building that connect ground floor to first floor. But they were too long and too steep for any wheelchair users. 

Before I left, I took a photo of the ramps in front of the ground floor seminar rooms. These ramps were steep and unsuitable for wheelchairs. (See photo below.) 

                           

Penang government often publicly announced that they are committed to improving disabled access. But what I saw in Dewan Sri Pinang made me feel that the commitment is still lacking. Georgetown cannot be a world-class city if it is not disabled friendly.

(More information about Dewan Sri Pinang can be found at http://www.penang-traveltips.com/dewan-sri-pinang.htm.)

Happy Birthday Malaysia

A Bad Walkway For Wheelchair

On 20 June 2013, I was checking the disabled access around Dewan Sri Pinang when I first saw this walkway. It had initially appeared  wheelchair friendly to me. I found the kerb ramp to be gentle and wide. (See Photo 1).  So I decided to check it out.

As I moved along the ramp, I quickly discovered that it was not as good as it had appeared to be

Firstly, I didn't like the drain cover. It could trap the small front wheel of a wheelchair. (See Photo 2).

Along the walkway, I found some trees (I like trees), that were wrongly positioned, thus making the walkway too narrow for my wheelchair. (See Photo 3).

At the end of this walkway, I could not find any kerb ramp to go down. Some wheelchair users may have to go all the way back to the start of the walkway and move on the street to avoid the hazard of going down at position 5. A walkway like this is no good to us at all. (See Photo 5 and Photo 5a which shows the side view of the kerb).

This walkway shows that wheelchair access is still lacking in Penang. (The map below indicates the locations of the photos taken. The numbers on the map correspond with the number of the photos) .

Gurney Paragon Mall Penang (Part 2)

Gurney Paragon Mall was opened partially last year. (See my post dated 26 August 2012, link HERE). At that time, only the section facing Persiaran Gurney was opened. The remaining rest of the building was still under construction.The mall is fully opened now. It has an additional entrance from Jalan Kelawai. I used this entrance in my recent visits and the following was what I saw.

As soon as I entered the mall at Ground Floor or Level 1, I saw six escalators in front of me. They led to  either one level up to Level 2 or one level down to the Lower Ground Floor. I could neither go up or down because of my wheelchair.

I sought for help from a security officer and he told me I should have used the lifts outside the main entrance. I found the lifts easily. Although the lifts were rather small, they were useful because they  could reach all levels.

Car parks for disabled people were located at level 2B. I was very happy to see that they actually clamped a non-disabled person's car. (See the car in the photo below.)

I was very careful when I used the ramp that led me into the mall. It was long and steep. But more importantly I noticed that there was a flight of steps going down on the opposite side of the landing of the ramp. That could be dangerous for less observant people.

I was disappointed with the toilet for disabled people. It was too narrow for people who used side transfer to get to the toilet bowl. I also noticed that there were two wrongly placed bins. Why are two bins needed? 

(Note: A disabled person who uses side transfer needs to place his wheelchair side by side of the toilet bowl. The video below will illustrate my point.)

There were two entrances to the food court. One is accessible, the other one is not. Unfortunately I took the wrong one. The following photos illustrated how I had to go "down" a small step and then "up" again before I could reach the place my lunch.

I discovered the accessible entrance to the food court much later but I had forgotten to take any photo. Fortunately I found a good map at Gurney Paragon's website. I have added the red arrows to show the accessible entrance. (See the "OK" sign below)

I shall end this post by showing more photos of Gurney Paragon. The mall is big and fairly accessible. You should explore the place when you are free.

(I visited the mall on 28 Jul. and 10 Aug. 2013)

Hean Boo Thean Temple (玄母殿), Penang

This newly built temple is very popular among local and foreign visitors.(See link HERE.) Although the path (see yellow arrow lines) leading to this interesting site is bumpy and uneven, I found it "manageable" for my motorized wheelchair.

The ramp at the entrance is steep. There is no other facilities for disabled people.

I found the ground floor to be flat and spacious. However I could not find a lift to go up to the first floor.

This is a good place to visit if you like photography. The following photos were taken right in front of the temple.