Calgary Exchange
Gord's Exchange to the University of Calgary
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Disabled
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One of the first things I noticed in Calgary is that there are a lot of disabled people around. In fact, one of my lecturers lost his arm (I had since dropped that course). Also, there are a lot of facilities for the disabled, most doors have a button where you can press to open, toilet cubicles are mostly handicapped toilets, ramps connect floors of different levels together with stairs, etc. Speaking of toilets, Canadian toilets (many of which only have handicapped cubicles) support xiaxue's claims that "normal" people should be able to use handicapped toilets, so Mr Self-Centred Peter Tan(I think thats his name) can shut his mouth up about handicapped people not being able to use "dirty" toilets. Initially, I thought that I see so many disabled people around Calgary as compared to Singapore is because of society's acceptance of them, and the additional facilities also allowed them to gain a high level of independance. Now, I think that there really could be more disabled people here. It could be due to their culture, which is unlike the risk averse culture in Singapore. For example, I recently knew that the mayor of Vancouver is crippled, and his injury came from skiing. As Vancouver will be hosting the Winter Olympics next, he would be lighting up the Olympic fire. Ironic that Canada's worst skier would light the Olympic fire (loosely quoted from him). Before I went to ski, my mom would tell me to be very careful when skiing, and not go too fast, etc. Comparatively, the Canadian parents bring their 5 year old kids to the black routes(expert level) and ski ahead, leaving them alone. Totally different. I wonder if there is a single Singaporean family who would let their 5 year old kid learn skiing. I mean, Singapore thinks it is happening when it allows casinos, bungee jumping, chewing gum and bartop dancing! (with many conditions attached no less) I'm not criticising Singapore nor its government, its just a different culture. Here's a cool video about an Autistic basketball pro. |
posted by Gordee @ 1:39 PM
