TRANSIT took note of an article in The Star which painted a very bad picture of KTMB customer service and staff attitude.
We want to say that the incident as described should not be considered a reflection of KTMBs attitude towards the OKU community in particular and customer service in general.
We expect that KTMB will conduct a thorough investigation and deal with the employee concerned. We also hope that the employee will step up and take responsibility for what happened.
Disabled group outraged over abuse (The Star)
Thursday March 11, 2010THE disabled community led by Independent Living and Traning Centre (ILTC) has called for action to be taken against a KTM Berhad driver for assaulting and verbally abusing a disabled person.
Wheelchair-bound Karuppannan Veeramalai had been assaulted and verbally abused by the driver at KTMB Subang Jaya station on March 4. He made a police report the next day but no action was taken against the driver.
Karuppannan now fears to take public transport, especially the KTM Komuter to get from one place to another.
He said the driver had kicked his wheelchair when he was near the KTM Berhad toilet and wanted to beat him up.
“I do not know why he was so angry. The driver told me that I was blocking his path.
“I told him it was just for a while as my childen had gone to buy food for me and would return shortly.
“He once again kicked my wheelchair and went away,” he said.
ILTC president Francis Siva urged the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan to investigate the unlawful act of the KTMB officer against the disabled.
“We demand that the rights and dignity of all disabled persons be respected, including those who have to make a living,” said Francis during a press conference held at KTMB Station in Subang Jaya recently.
KTMB general manager Mohd Haidar Yusof said they would investigate the matter thoroughly and submit a report within a week.
TRANSIT Says:
KTMB is facing hard times and we know that there are some serious issues that they have to deal with. Dr. Aminuddin Adnan, KTMB Managing Director has made it clear that he will be working on improved customer service training for his employees.
It would be good if that also was extended beyond the frontline employees to all KTMB staff. Also, the customer service training should be supplemented by some sensitivity & courtesy training.
The fact that this incident happened at Subang Jaya station, which was one of the first of the older stations to be made accessible (with lifts, tac-tile markings and ramps) is a major disappointment.
However, this should be a lesson to KTMB – building infrastructure is easy – training employees and changing attitudes is the hard part.
Transit Malaysia 