Profiling Disabled Facilities and Accessibility Provided in National Heritage Buildings in Malaysia

Abstract

The national heritage buildings in Malaysia have gained popularity due to their various historical upbringing and culture. They attract both local and international tourists. However, lack of facilities for the disabled people has hindered their prospects to become globally popular. The purpose of this research is to determine the extent of disabled facilities and accessibility in the national heritage buildings. This research opted for qualitative methods to achieve its purpose. Three case studies were selected and observed using Malaysia Standard 1184:2014 Universal Design and Accessibility of the Built Environment-Code of Practice (MS 1184(MS :2014. Two findings revealed from this research are, firstly, the built environment of the heritage buildings itself caused barrier to the disabled person. Secondly, inadequate establishment in heritage act, guidelines, or manuals for disabled facilities and accessibility has caused barrier to the disabled people to enjoy and visit the heritage buildings. This research focussed only on disabled facilities and accessibility in national heritage buildings and was conducted through selected case studies and observations using the MS 1184:2014. This research has also revealed new insights of heritage building. They are growing opportunities for heritage tourism in Malaysia. This research highlights the significance of having disabled facilities and accessibility in heritage buildings. This should be addressed to ensure the participation of disabled people in social activities. This research will be a great contribution in improving the facilities and accessibility for the disabled (including the elderly, pushchairs, prams, and pregnant women) in national heritage buildings by their building management.

Key Accessibilities Issues (KAIs) for People with Disabilities (PwDs) at Electric Train Service (ETS) Station

“…Ismail et al (2015), who highlighted on the low level of concerns by the community and administration in relation to this issue. According to Kamaruddin et al (2012) and Zahari et al (2020), the main reasons why people with disabilities are unable to participate in social activities inadequate accessibility features, especially in public spaces. They believed that the PwDs are being ignored and prevented from participating in society.…”

“…Ismail et al (2021) mentioned that students with physical and sensory impairments face great challenges and obstacles in higher education, which have impaired their capacity to study. Zahari et al (2020) also argued that the current conservation guidelines and requirements are not comprehensive enough to address the disabled facilities and accessibility aspects. They are not being highlighted as important criteria in conserving heritage buildings.…”

“…In relation to the accessibility issues at public transportation, the most affected PwDs group are persons with a physical disability (Nazli and Kesici, 2018;Kumar et al, 2018). Owing to the limited access to transportation, they are unable to fully participate in their communities (Zahari et al, 2020;Bascom, 2017;Denso et al, 2017;Haryati et al, 2016;Ishak and MadSah (2016); Ismail et al, 2015;Soltani, et al, 2012). Indeed, this has contributed to greater poverty rates among them.…”

Workplace-Related Socioeconomic Issues Associated with Job Performance and Productivity among Employees with Various Impairments: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Furthermore, future research should also explore research related to facilities that can help disabled employees to perform their jobs better. For example, Zahari et al (2020) found that facilities that are prepared for disabled persons in heritage buildings in Malaysia are insufficient, causing barriers for disabled persons to enter those buildings. The research implicitly revealed that not only heritage buildings but many buildings for working organisations also did not provide sufficient facilities for disabled employees to support high job performance.…”