"I hear you, we, the the banks hear you, Mr Yam. There will be no discrimination against the blind by banks," declared loudly by the Association of Banks, Malaysia chief officer in the presence of many, Central Bank(BNM) officers, Welfare Ministry(JKM) officers, Banks representatives, National Disability Council(NCD) committee members and representatives from various disabled organisations at a dialogue held at BNM on Monday 31st March 2014. Dialogue was to discuss the challenges faced by the disabled with regards to banking and insurance.
It's certainly a feel good factor feeling to hear such words of commitment and passion but there's much yet to be seen, that is, action speaks louder than words and walk the talk to be the order of the day. It's has been a momental task over the past 2 long arduous years when I first contacted the local banks to highlight the plight of the blind for not being allowed to enjoy banking facilities which is every citizen's right and denying the blind to fulfil their banking rights and this bad practice is very much against basic human rights charter. Malaysia is a signatory to the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities which clearly prohibits and will not condone any form of discrimination against persons with disabilities.
I am glad to contribution in some ways in removing the restrictions that the blind community is currently facing and more importantly, increase awareness to banks to adhere to banking best practices, i.e. allowing the blind an equal banking access to all financial facilities available.
More challenging times ahead!
