DECEMBER 2 — As countries all over the world are struggling to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak right now, it is also imperative for all of us to think about the future; how would a post-Covid-19 world look like?

The Covid-19 pandemic exposes many of the structural failures in societies, particularly with regard to the economy, thus the status quo is no longer acceptable.

It also challenges us to rethink and reconfigure the design of many aspects of our lives such as education, social protection, housing, employment and democratic processes.

Hence, this year’s theme for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, "Building back better: Toward a disability-inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post Covid-19 world”, is rightly on point.

Admittedly, I am both sceptical and hopeful in this regard.

I feel hopeful because, as of now, the discussion about the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic to the disabled community is mostly reactive, and does not pay much attention to the future.

I believe we need to be more proactive in this matter, presently and for the future.

At the same time, I am sceptical because there remain a few issues concerning disabled people in Malaysia lingering on without satisfying outcomes.

I list below three major issues that expressly need government expedient actions: