Malaysia sorely lacking braille facilities, says Society of the Blind

Society of the Blind in Malaysia (SBM), Human Capital Development Committee chairperson Dr Ahmad Shamsuri Muhamad said the situation was a major challenge for the group because of the lack of braille reading materials in the market.

“One of the ways they get information is to use braille, but many books in the market are not in braille, want to go anywhere, want to use elevators they don’t know what to press all because there is no writing in braille, and in most restaurants menus are not available in braille.

“Braille machines for special education schools are still inadequate. Former students with visual impairment were provided with braille machines, but now they need to be shared between two people this led to constraints to obtain access to study well,” he told Bernama at the International Special Education Exhibition (ISEE) 2019 in Kuala Lumpur today.

Ahmad Shamsuri, who is also a lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling, University of Malaya, said the lack of braille writing also makes it difficult for these groups to access information and news in and outside the country.

Therefore, he suggested that more information be given in braille so that the blind would have the opportunity to gain knowledge just like normal people, as well as improve public access to the group.

"Many facilities for the disabled are abused, pedestrian areas reserved for the blind become motorcycle parking lots, or dining tables are placed on them and so on which I don't think should be done, it's a facility for the disabled so it should be free of obstacles,” he said.

Earlier, about 30 visually impaired participants took part in a SBM-organised braille reading competition.

Ahmad Shamsuri said the purpose of the competition was to showcase the talents of the group as well as make the public aware of the importance of braille writing to the visually impaired.

The ISEE 2019 which entered the third day is jointly organised by the National Association of Special Education (NASE) and NASE Kuala Lumpur with University of Malaya and Jobs Malaysia, with the support of the Education Ministry, which also features international presenters.

- Bernama