SINGAPORE: Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) recapped highlights from house visits at his ward, Anchorvale, last week, when some of the constituents talked about the difficulties of the high cost of living.
However, Assoc Prof Lim also focused in a Sunday (Apr 23) Facebook post on one particular resident who has been wheelchair-bound for a number of years, after having been in an accident. The WP MP wrote that he used to think that providing access in everyday settings to those with disabilities is a waste of resources, but “Over time, I’ve come to realize that there are just some things that should never reduce to dollars and cents, especially in wealthier countries that can afford it.”
He first shared in his post that “quite a few residents” talked about the pressures they face due to high costs of living, which Assoc Prof Lim noted is an issue the WP will continue to take up in Parliament.
The MP then wrote about a resident named Gilbert, who had written a book about the challenges of living as a person with disabilities (PWD).
Having lived a number of years in the United States where he studied, Assoc Prof Lim wrote that the country’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) “legislates accommodation for PWDs in both public and private spaces (if they serve the public).”
When he had first heard about how wide-ranging the stipulations of the ADA are, his first reaction was “just how wasteful the whole scheme was,” admitting that he was still “holding a common Singaporean mindset at the time.”
“After all, surely the cost-benefit tradeoff would never work out, given how few disabled folks there were, and how expensive disability adaptations were?” he added.
However, his perspective has evolved over time.
“One of the recurrent themes in Parliament this week, as MPs reacted to the President’s address, is the need to take care of the vulnerable among us, including PWDs.
I’m hopeful that we will, as a country, continue to make efforts at expanding such support as much as possible, with cost considerations taking a distinct back seat. #SengkangGRC“
/TISG
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