A budget that places the disabled last

I don't wish to be a big meanie and try to burst anyone's bubble out there, but the latest budget tabled in Parliament on Friday will certainly go down in history as one of the biggest let-downs in recent years for the handicapped in Malaysia.

And it's not really hard to see why "Budget 2015", this time, drew many unhappy faces.

RM50 increase in monthly allowance for the disabled who are working:

Please note that this new jump of allowance of RM350 from RM300 only applies to those who qualify for it.

Their salaries cannot be more than RM1,200 a month. So don't be misled into thinking that all disabled people with jobs are going to get it.

Furthermore, some applicants for the allowance say their requests were rejected when welfare officers discovered satellite television and refrigerators in their homes, regardless of who pays for them.

Some disabled recipients of the employment aid have even accused the welfare officers of cutting their money midway without even informing them about it. They are then made to reapply for it which involves a whole tedious process.   

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how low and negligible RM50 really is for the handicapped.

A decent wheelchair can cost as much as RM2,000 and electric ones are five times that amount. Let's also not forget that repairs and maintenance costs also run into the hundreds.

What does one do when there is no choice but to get them fixed?

Then, there are increasing medical bills to consider. These are related to their various types of disabilities which often keep the handicapped – even if he or she is employed – in the same financial position where they started.

The main reason for their disappointment is disabled groups have been lobbying the government instead for a monthly RM500 living allowance for all disabled people in Malaysia, regardless if they are working or not.

That clearly fell on deaf ears with Budget 2015, leaving them to feel as if what they are being offered instead are scraps from the government's table.

RM50 increase to RM200 allowance for the jobless disabled: this is, unfortunately, a bit of a misnomer, too.

Unemployed disabled people whom I met did not necessarily get the full RM150 (the old amount). Some would get RM30, others RM60. Only one I knew received a maximum of RM90 a month – not a single sen more.

And come on now, RM200 for the jobless? Shouldn't it be more like 10 times the amount when you have nothing in your hands?

I can't imagine our prime minister or welfare minister being forced to look after themselves with only that amount of money!

The problem was in some of the welfare officers making arbitrary decisions on the amount based obviously on their own personal "handicapped" thinking.

The officers assumed that all jobless disabled people were just "plain lazy" – even if they were bedridden or struggling to be employed because of their genuine conditions.

The budget promises "RM1.2 billion in financial assistance for poor families, children, senior citizens and the disabled" in that order.

Considering the fact that the United Nations officially defines the disabled as the "poorest of the poor" in any and every society of the world, perhaps we ought to rearrange that listing a little bit and place the disabled first, rather than in the last category.

The UN also has the disabled as the "largest minority group in the world".

And another thing to ensure that the disabled do in fact get the aid that they so badly need in our society, we should not only put in a lion's share into their development but give plenty of thought on how that can be best achieved.

Finally, the National Council for Persons with Disabilities gets an annual grant of RM1million. Why this amount for a group that barely meets four times a year? What has it done to improve the quality of the disabled’s lives in society when they hardly interact with the disabled community?

Perhaps the biggest question (and disappointment) we all need to ask is what has the new disabled senator who sits in a wheelchair done to give us a good budget?

There is no point in blaming the prime minister or even the welfare minister, when people who have the experience of handicap fail to use their gifts to educate those who are "less informed". – October 12, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.