Disabled in East Java struggle for inclusion Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Koey Chen An rolled through the Rungkut housing complex in Surabaya in his customized wheelchair, oblivious to the steady rain that was falling as he delivered household cleaning products to customers.
Chen An, 38, who has been paralyzed since contracting polio at the age of three months, has customized his otherwise standard wheelchair with a canopy to keep off the sun and rain, and a "trunk" where he stores the bottles of cleaners he makes and sells.
No matter how many features he adds to his wheelchair, however, it will never be a match for a car, as he has discovered on the several occasions he has been involved in traffic accidents after being forced into the street because there is no special lane for disabled people.
"I guess that is the risk of being disabled in Surabaya. But I kept on and made my deliveries because my customers were waiting for me," he told The Jakarta Post.
Chen An's work, which brings in a daily profit of about Rp 30,000 (US$3), requires him to go from house to house to sell his cleaning products. Because of a lack of wheelchair access, he has at times found himself crawling to a person's front door. And his reception is not always warm, on one or two memorable occasions even finding himself being pelted with stones.
Despite the obstacles, over the last seven years Chen An has succeeded in building up his business of making and selling floor cleaners, motorcycle cleaners, clothing deodorizers and liquid soaps. He now has a list of 150 regular customers, although at first many people doubted the quality of his products.
"Now people prefer my products because they are cheaper than similar products sold in supermarkets," said Chen An, who was born in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, and has lived in Surabaya since 1980.
He is among the thousands of disabled people in East Java who have overcome the lack of public facilities for the disabled to enter and thrive in the workforce.
Wuri Handayani, a local coordinator for the International Day of Disabled Persons, which fell on Saturday, criticized the provincial government for failing to provide facilities for the disabled.
"Disabled people have a lot of difficulty trying to get around town or take public transportation. It seems like we are second- class citizens here," Wuri said.
She talked about a man she knows, a wheelchair-user, who was unable to pray in the one of the province's largest mosques because security guards refused to allow him into the mosque with his wheelchair.
But she and other disabled people in East Java continue to fight for their rights. Currently, they are urging the provincial administration to approve a draft bylaw on public services for the disabled which is currently being deliberated.