TOMORROW is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Promoting the participation of persons with disabilities and their leadership: taking action on the 2030 Development Agenda”.

This year’s theme highlights the empowerment and inclusion of persons with impairment and/or chronic illness in all stages of planning and implementation in order to achieve all goals underlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (The goals are a global agenda for ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring that all people enjoy peace and prosperity; Malaysia has adopted them).

The message is simple and clear enough, but the question remains: Does the Malaysian government recognise the necessary steps needed to embody this aspiration, and is it willing to take them?