00:00Dozens of toilets in the Klang Valley, meant for people with disabilities or OKU, are not built up to specifications.
00:09Many have either been vandalized or broken.
00:12In some locations, repeated vandalism has led management to permanently close these facilities and turn them into storage rooms instead.
00:21Star Metro's recent inspections in public parks, train stations, MRT and LRT stations,
00:27and transportation hubs in the city, revealed numerous issues.
00:31Many of these disabled toilets were in a state of disrepair.
00:35Either the toilets were missing seats, handlebars, or simply not constructed to specifications.
00:41Some were even under lock and key, due to constant breakdowns.
00:4563-year-old Gurdip Kaur, who works for the Independent Living and Training Centre Malaysia,
00:51is furious that the toilets meant for the disabled community have been turned into storage rooms.
01:10A wheelchair user for three decades, Gurdip said,
01:13these disabled toilets are also small, hence it makes it difficult for a person in a wheelchair to navigate and manoeuvre.
01:21In Malaysia, they can do chunky, chunky washrooms, but the problem is it's not useful to our needs.
01:27Because you see, when I can go to the toilet, I must make sure the door I can close.
01:32But sometimes I can feel it's very narrow, I cannot turn around to close the door.
01:37A few years ago, Gurdip and a group of friends protested over the KTM Rawang station turning their toilet into a storeroom.
01:45Items were removed and facilities improved.
01:49But during a recent visit, it was found that the handrails were broken,
01:53there was no toilet paper and the toilet was initially locked.
01:57Sharing a similar predicament, Selangor State athlete in the Paralympic Games,
02:02Hemavati Muniandi was once trapped inside a disabled toilet at a restaurant.
02:07She said she could not move from the toilet bowl back onto her wheelchair due to the lack of space to manoeuvre.
02:14Yeah, I was trapped half an hour. Then one time my mum crying, how to save me.
02:20I'm a girl. Not every time I have to call my brother, I'm going to washroom, it's my personal, yes or not, private.
02:28So that's the moment where I need my brother's help. That's what I hate. I'm trying to be independent.
02:34This 25-year-old said this was not the first time she was caught in an embarrassing situation, being stuck inside a toilet.
02:42We are not walking inside the restroom. We are using the wheelchair to enter the washroom.
02:47So that's the time we need more space. So when there is no space, how to move the wheelchair?
02:53I have one hand. This one side is paralysed. I cannot carry the wheelchair and put it in, right? I need space.
03:01She says handrails are very crucial for their support.
03:05The rail should be, we have two. Because some people use two, some people use one. Some people won't use rail.
03:12So if we don't want to use the rail, we can fold. So foldable rail are must.
03:18So I'm a person that I won't use rail normally. So I will fold it. Or if I use one, I will use one and then one more I can fold it.
03:27So foldable rail are advisable.
03:31Meanwhile, President of the Independent Living and Training Centre Malaysia, G Francis Siva, has had his own share of toilet woes.
03:40This 64-year-old quadriplegic said it is very stressful for a wheelchair user when they urgently need to use the toilet, only to find it lacking.
03:49Recently I went to Suvarnabhumi, even the north-south highways are horrible because the water cannot flow, I mean the drainage.
04:01So really I suffer because the water pressure is not there.
04:04Francis said it is time for the government to take a serious look at their plight and protect their welfare and dignity.
04:11Council should do more active role to make ensure, go and check the audit.
04:16It's a basic right for the disabled toilet, for the disabled community.
04:19That also we are advocacy and fighting for this. Very shameful this.
04:26As a disabled, we prefer a sliding door because why you know, with the sliding door, the space will be like more spaces our wheelchair can enter inside.
04:36So I can go inside, enter and then I can close the door.
04:40Because even though we are disabled, we need privacy also.
