Two friends, sharing strengths, ferry the disabled in one ‘Amazing Van’

GEORGE TOWN, Jan 29 ― He has cerebral palsy which impairs his speech. She is his articulate best friend, though wheelchair-bound due to polio.

But together, Peter Teoh and Lily Looi run the “Amazing Van” transportation service that caters to the physically disabled in Penang, and helps them lead independent lives.

Teoh, 41, started the service five years ago out of a desire to help those who are wheelchair-bound to travel from one location to another.

“He noticed that there were not enough transportation services for wheelchair-bound people so it was his dream to start such a service,” Looi, 52, said, easily translating Teoh's gestures and one-word grunts.

She said he used to sell handphone accessories at the Lorong Kulit flea market next to the city stadium, but due to his inability to speak clearly, it was very difficult for him.

“He finally got a friend to help him with the accessories stall and then he bought the van from Cheshire Home to start a transport service,” she said.

Since Teoh did not have much money, he paid for the van in instalments. Till today, he is still paying RM600 each month for the 13-year-old van that is equipped with a special elevation machine to lift wheelchairs into the vehicle.

When Teoh started, there were only two other organisations in the state that provided transport service to wheelchair-bound people: the Eden Handicapped Centre and the Penang Disabled Association.

Today, public buses have stepped up their services. The Rapid Penang buses are now equipped to take in passengers in wheelchairs. The company also provides Rapid OKU Van services to pick up and drop disabled passengers at their required locations.

“These are still not enough as it is not very convenient for some to go to a bus station to take the Rapid Penang buses and the three other van services are only available during office hours,” Looi said.

And while taxies and ride-hailing services are now available, it is not as convenient for wheelchair-bound travellers to use them as they would have to be carried into the car and their wheelchairs folded to be placed in the vehicle, which also takes up space.

To address the transportation shortfall outside of office hours, the Amazing Van service is available from as early as 7.30am up till 11pm sometimes, depending on the passengers' bookings.

The Amazing Van can fit up to four wheelchairs. Sometimes Lily (left) will follow on the trips to accompany the passenger, January 24, 2017.

“Sometimes we get bookings from passengers who wanted to go to the shopping mall and they will shop till late so we will take them there and walk around the mall until they are done shopping,” she said.

Unlike the other van services that cover only the island, Amazing Van is also willing to travel across the Penang channel to Seberang Perai on the mainland, and sometimes even to Kedah, Perak and Kuala Lumpur. Each round trip on the island costs around RM35 while trips outside the island costs more, depending on the destination.

“We even went to Haadyai once and took the opportunity to treat it as a holiday for us too,” Looi said.

But wear and tear on the van and the elevation machine often disrupts their service. The duo then have to dig into their personal savings to finance the repairs.

“The van is old so it kept breaking down. Just last month, it broke down twice and last year, the elevation machine broke down and we had to drive all the way down to Kuala Lumpur to have it repaired and it cost us more than RM2,000 just to repair it,” she said.

Looi helps Teoh to manage the bookings for the transportation service while Teoh drives. Sometimes, Looi follows along on the trips to help communicate with the passengers or to watch over elderly customers travelling alone.

The duo have been best friends since childhood over 30 years ago when they lived at the Cheshire Home, a home and training centre for the disabled in Penang.

The demand for the Amazing Van service is increasing but the van's poor condition has dampened it.

“Sometimes we have bookings everyday so we don't even get a day off but sometimes we will be forced to stay home for a week because the van broke down and we had to send it in for repairs,” Looi said.

Peter helping Lily up the van, January 24, 2017.

It’s a double blow for the two partners as they not only lose out on income for that week, but also lightens their wallets to pay for repairs.

Looi said it is fortunate that Teoh's handphone accessories stall manned by his friend still brings in some income which helps sustain them on days when they are unable to operate the van service.

“We are thinking of buying a new van with an elevation machine but it would cost us at least RM150,000 for the van and the machine so we can't afford it at all,” she said.

With two vans, Looi said Teoh can drive one and his friend has also offered to drive another one in cases when they have bookings for the same time. It will also serve as a spare van for the times when the old van breaks down.

“Once, the van broke down at night near Queensbay Mall while we were dropping off a passenger. Fortunately, after trying a few times, the van started again and we managed to drop the passenger off and get back safely,” she said.

The Amazing Van service usually picks up and drop passengers from hospitals, clinics and dialysis centres so bookings can be made about one to two weeks earlier.

They are hoping for corporate sponsors to fund a new van for them to continue with the service.

“We don't earn a lot from this service, we charge very minimal fees that barely covers the costs and we are doing this to help those on wheelchair because it is not easy for us to travel around,” Looi said.

Amazing Van can be contacted on 016-4749200 or 04-6842920.