101 on the disabled
DID you know that there are 650 million disabled people around the world today? And that this number more than qualifies them as the largest minority on this planet?
And what about the fact that 80% of all persons with disabilities (PWDs) live in developing countries like ours?
In fact, in nations where the life expectancy crosses 70 years, individuals spend on average about eight years – or 11.5% of their lifespan – living with handicaps?
These vital statistics are from the World Health Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland, and the United Nations Development Programme in New York.
They were shared on Traxx fm recently to mark the International Day of Disabled Persons (IDDP) on Dec 3.
That was the day I tuned in to Traxx 101 on the RTM English-language broadcaster, which airs weekdays from 10am to 1pm. The station has commendably been promoting the yearly UN event on-air.
On the day itself, Traxx 101 regular hosts Jezza and Najee made the occasion memorable for their listeners.
Najee played songs from a host of disabled artistes, like Don’t You Worry ’Bout a Thing by Stevie Wonder. He also gave a quick rundown of the blind singer’s many hits from the 1960s to 1986.
Another splendid selection was The Whole Town’s Laughing at Me by Teddy Pendergrass. The singer has been confined to a wheelchair and speech-impaired after a car crash 26 years ago.
However, what I appreciated most was the 10 minutes dedicated to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. The composer, Traxx 101 noted afterwards, was deaf when he wrote the piece. He also had asthma.
Fellow host Jezza too had a few surprises for listeners.
The deejay who has had some exceptional guests on his daily interview shows did it again on IDDP. He got a group of harmonica players from the Malaysian Association of the Blind in Kuala Lumpur to perform several numbers “live” in the studio for Traxx fm listeners.
The group’s best take was the William Tell Overture (most famously used as the theme for the old TV western The Lone Ranger).
I was spellbound by the amazing harmony produced by the musicians who relied fully on their hearing to create the glorious music with their mouth organs.
After the harmonica performance, Jezza did what he is good at: conduct an interview with some of his guests on what it felt like to be visually impaired.
It was not all fun and play, though.
At one point the programme spoke to a local activist in a wheelchair about the job problems faced by disabled Malaysians today. Employment was the focus in line with this year’s IDDP theme, “Decent Work for PWDs”.
Finally, kudos to RTM’s Tamil broadcaster Minnal fm for also conducting a one-hour interview session on IDDP. Their guests were members of the Independent Living and Training Centre in Rawang, Selangor.
Despite living in the cyber age, the writer insists that radio still provides a unique window on the world. When he isn’t scanning bandwidths, he helps to raise awareness of positive living with pets through his organisation, Petpositive (Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association).
