EVERY so often, something happens in Malaysia that makes you stop and think: “Do we actually understand what inclusion means or are we just paying lip service?”
Here is one example. In a well-known commercial complex, bays located right next to a centre for children and youths with cerebral palsy are being reclassified as “preferred zone” parking. The monthly pass? Jumping from RM120 to RM450. No discounts and no exemptions, not even for an NGO helping wheelchair users who depend on those bays for safe and easy access.
It is not just outrageous; it is insulting. Accessibility bays aren’t “premium”; they are essential infrastructure. Tripling the price is like putting a toll gate in front of a wheelchair ramp.
Then there is Aniq, an autistic student who scored a 3.83 CGPA in matriculation and met the entry requirements for Computer Science and Statistics, only to find that his chosen programmes had vanished from the UPU system. Not due to his grades but because he holds a disabled persons card. An algorithm decided his disability status mattered more than his achievements. That is not inclusion; that is discrimination dressed up as “process”.
Consider the blind pensioner living on RM1,085 a month, whose health insurance premium doubled overnight, from RM250 to RM500. Nearly half of their income now goes just to stay insured. When a policy becomes too expensive to afford, it is no longer insurance; it is exclusion by price.
These are not isolated sob stories; they are proof that our Persons with Disabilities (PwD) Act 2008 is toothless. It recognises rights but does not make discrimination illegal in a way you can challenge. It does not force schools, insurers or service providers to make “reasonable adjustments”. And it does not create a clear, powerful body to hold anyone accountable.
Here is the kicker: Malaysia already has world-class standards sitting on the shelf. We have MS 1184 (Universal Design and Accessibility in the Built Environment), MS 1331 (Access Outside Buildings) and MS ISO 21542 (Accessibility and Usability of the Built Environment). They tell us how to make parking, entrances and routes accessible but they say nothing about keeping those facilities affordable. That is the gap operators are exploiting.
Globally, ISO 22458: 2022 on Consumer Vulnerability spells it out: You must design services so that vulnerable groups, including PWDs and low-income communities, can actually use them. That means physical access and financial access.
ISO 26000 on Social Responsibility and ISO 37120 on Sustainable Cities both treat inclusion as a key measure of progress.
In the UK, Australia and Canada, it is illegal to deny a qualified student a place because of disability or to monetise accessible parking in ways that shut out the very people it is meant for. Insurers must justify disability-related premium increases with hard data and are often subject to affordability caps.
There is an urgent need for a coordinated national effort to strengthen Malaysia’s accessibility standards, including MS 1184 and MS ISO 21542, so they go beyond the physical design of facilities to also address fair pricing and proper allocation. This should be aligned with global benchmarks, such as ISO 22458, which ensure physical and financial access for vulnerable consumers and supported by clear sector guidelines so that “universal design” means practical, affordable inclusion rather than just compliance on paper.
By embedding affordability into the definition of accessibility, we can close the loopholes that currently allow facilities to exist only in name but remain out of reach in reality.
While longer-term improvements to standards and guidelines are vital, immediate action is equally important. Local councils can set licensing requirements to ensure accessible bays closest to entrances remain affordable or free for PWD.
The Higher Education Ministry should ensure no student is denied opportunities because of disability status and Bank Negara should safeguard against exclusionary insurance practices by requiring clear justifications for premium loadings and promoting basic plans within the reach of disability pensions.
These steps, taken together, will move Malaysia from lip service on inclusion to genuine, measurable change in daily life. Because inclusion is not charity; it is a basic right, like clean water or safe roads. If you triple the cost of a disabled parking bay, erase a high-achieving student from a university system or price health cover out of reach, you are not just making life harder; you are shutting the door.
Here is the truth: a nation is not measured only by GDP; it is measured by whether everyone, including those who face the steepest climbs, can still move forward.
Standards Users will work with councils, ministries and operators to make sure these standards are not just documents on a shelf but an everyday reality in our parking lots, classrooms and insurance policies. Because inclusion that costs extra is not inclusion at all.
Saral James Maniam
Secretary-General
Malaysian Association of Standards Users
Affiliate of the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association