Let National Council of Social Services, NCSS, handle the fund.
http://www.ncss.org.sg/home/index.asp

Later on Government can pledge a yearly amount, and Community Chest can help fund it with the other VWOs for disabled ppl

Extremely strange that their MP din step forward to help these unemployed/handicap resident.

[ one was even brought to court over $432 arrears in service n conservacy bil ]

Only 1? there are more than thousands already brought to court and further slapped in with another court fines, I am really very very disappointed with the govt here for doing such thing to its own citizens.

Hi Stranger – you still do not get my point. You know what? There are many good-hearted souls like you who would give up their seats. Unfortunately, there are so many fewer seats these days that you need the younger elderly to give up theirs to the senior elderly.

It is indeed about being human but surely being human does not mean we overdo things. I have no quarrel with the disabled travelling alongside us, but to retrofit every bus to cater to the small number of disabled is going too far.

Also, pray tell me, how many of you would chat up the disabled when they travel alongside you in a bus?

It is one thing to want to be magnanimous but it is altogether another thing to live reality. Overdoing the fleet of buses to be handicap-friendly is not one area for this. It is more human to accord the disabled the specialised travelling arrangement like the one I mentioned in my earlier posts.

DO YOU SEE MANY DISABLED PERSONS ON WHEELERCHAIR
TAKING BUSES, ESP AT PEAK HOURS?

more standing space in bus = more income for bus company.

there was this feedback at TODAYonline forum, asking bus company to hv more ‘WAB’ feeder bus service, so they trravel to other parts of the estate, to town centre n to take the MRT.

REASON is tt most ppl on wheelchair don take main route buses, especially during peak hours.

more standing space in bus = more income for bus company.
SO DO U GET IT -

As much as the disabled need love and care, just like any other human being, they also have their rights. It is their right to be able to travel on public transport.

Do you give up your seat to the elderly or the disabled when the bus or train is full? I do. It is little things like that which makes us all human beings.

You’re right about the ‘reserved’ seats. Guess why do we see and hear a higher number of disgruntled elderly passengers these days? The reserved seats are already taken up by similarly elderly passengers.

I do not see it as a further segregation of the disabled. There are many other ways we can show our love and care for the disabled. As a matter of fact, I see it as a more practical solution to their travelling problem. Which do you think the disabled will prefer? To travel exclusively and free of charge, or, to travel with the masses who are already having trouble travelling alongside each other.

There are many other ways we can integrate the disabled with mainstream society.

Your third point is the ideal we want of our society and I think having exclusive transportation arrangements for our disabled citizens is the first step toward this end, and a better show of care and concern toward them. It is our social responsibility to see to it that they are treated fairly, notwithstanding their disability.

Your suggestion further cements segregation whereas the people with disability need more integration.

Society as a whole would only do much better if they slow down a little for the less abled and the elderly.

It is a good thing to ask that the disabled be treated as fairly as any normal person would be treated. In Singapore, I think the disadvantages of the disabled are already very advantageous. This is not to say more cannot be done for them. On the contrary, we should be aiming for excellent treatment of our disabled countrymen.

However, we should be careful that such endeavour does not encroach upon the rest of the majority who have to be twice as abled to survive and provide for their own. I have cited this example countless times already: that our buses are retrofitted to be handicap-friendly at the expense of other commuters having to stand up throughout their journey from one point to another. We are a graying population, and while the buses are now designed to cater to the wheelchair-bound passenger, we forget the old folks who now have to stand up because the seating capacity is lessen.

The other point is cost. We have spent so much money to retrofit the buses just so that a handful of wheelchair-bound passengers along the route can travel. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to buy a fleet of small vans and have them retrofitted to provide for them? All the wheelchair-bound passenger need to do is to make a phone call for him to be picked up by one of these vans. It is cheaper and more target-based, anytime better than having a fleet of buses plying around the country hoping that a wheelchair-bound passenger would board them while the rest suffer the inconvenience of having to stand through their journey.

Having a fleet of specially targeted vans or mini-buses would also allow other disabled passenger to use them other than the wheelchair bound ones. The blind, the deaf, the medically-disabled etc can all use these mini-buses for travel – free from having to get in the way of the others who may be rushing to do the things that help them provide for their own families.

Comparing to converting a fleet of national buses like it is now, is much much more expensive than having a fleet of specially-customised buses for the disabled. They can even travel for free and it will still be cheaper and more convenient.

Beside Bukit Merah NTUC entrance, there is a strong guy.

He is a handicap people selling big sweep here for more than 10 years. Sometime his big sweep and money were stolden by some bad guys who pretended to be customers buying big sweep from him but yet took away all the big sweep and ran away.

He is a strong guy. He thanks for other people who want to offer any help to him.
I asked him :” how do you go to the toilet?”
He said :” Oh, that is really a bit troublesome for me. Someone push me to the Bukit Merah bus interchange toilet.”

I said :” why go so far? is there any handicap toilet nearby ?”
He said :” There is one nearby at the Hawker centre but too small for my wheel chair to go in.”

I went to the handicap toilet last night and noticed that it was quite far from his place and it is not easy for him to push the wheel chair by himself.

But, if he has a electronic wheel chair. will it be better for him? If there is a big enough handicap toilet nearby him, will it change his 13 years troublesome which he needs to go to the toilet so far at the bus interchange? The Tanjong Pagar Town Council is just behind him. Is there any handicap toilet there?

When we are talking about having special pavement for cycling, do we also want to think about having handicap pavement? Let them using electronice wheelchair anytime by themselves. Let them have the opportunity to go everywhere by themselves. I believe it will brighten up their life.

It will be nice……………if…….

*all of the handicap people can own a electronic wheelchair and go everywhere easily anytime.
*The price of the wheelchair is affordable for every donor to sponsor the wheelchair for every handicap in Singapore.
* Our ministers may want to start to kick on of this project? one minister or one MP sponsor one electronic wheel chair for one handicap who need it? (it’s like an adoption project.)

For Goodness sake.
They are asking for subsidies not free transport!

What does it takes to give in to this small and insignificant amount but potentially life changing for them?

Just because they are minority do not mean they needed to be sidelined like so many other minority in SG already.

Is this how the majority is treating the less fortunate segment of our society?
Or do we just wait for President Star Charities to address this?

How many disabled people are there in Singapore in all? Will a transport subsidy for this group of people who earn $0-$300 a month really hurt Singapore’s economy?

Since April 2008 in England, every resident who is over 60 or an ‘eligible disabled’ is ensured free bus travel during off-peak hours, and concessions during peak hours. The concessions extend to rail and tram travel as well.

In Taiwan, the disabled have a card which guarantee them lower transportation fares.

I know very well the heartlessness of the Singapore government when it comes to the detention and torture of ISA detainees, but can’t they at least have a heart for the struggling disabled people of our nation?

And these postings were not just in TOC or TR
[which I understand that they will never respond]

BUT similar postings are in TODAY newspaper, Straits Times forum and lately one of the case is posted on REACH.
[BUT also no response]

Extremely strange that their MP din step forward to help these unemployed/handicap resident.
[ one was even brought to court over $432 arrears in service n conservacy bil ]

So any truth to what is said at the first posting?

Problem with disabled is we have big difficulty to find a job, i am a graduate but because of my condition i am forced to accept lower starting salaries despite doing the same job as other people. Sigh*

Lets hope government will come up with more help for transportation for disabled, although i may own my own vehicle but because of my meagre salary and long distance travelling (26-30km), i hardly have any saving at all (or none).

Using such boorish cynicism such as those in your comments only diminishes the message that is being put across to advance the cause of the disabled. In fact, it only gives the powers-that-be an excuse to further ignore the good intents here.

One wonders whether the comment was intended to take cheap political pot-shots or to support the more disadvantaged amongst us.