The Bravehearts |
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CHONG TUCK MENG PJK
Tetrraplegia since
4th July 1982 | The fourth of July is a date that will forever be etched in the memory of 44-year-old Chong Tuck Meng of Bentong, Pahang.
"It was the perfect day for my friends and me to go racing to the capital city along the Karak Highway on our motorcycles," said Chong, referring to that fateful day 23 years ago. He was a young man of 21 at the time and studying in Upper Six.
He rode pillion on his friend's motorcycle. Chong didn't make it to Kuala Lumpur with his chums as planned.
"Everything happened so fast," recalled Chong. "All I remember was passing out suddenly in the middle of the race."
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"The next thing I knew," he said,
"I woke up in Bentong Hospital
where I was warded and treated
for my injuries.
"Later, I was transferred to
Hospital Kuala Lumpur where it
was confirmed that I would be permanently paralysed from my
neck down.
"Perhaps my strength and
spirituality came from the fact
that I used to attend church
without fail since I was just
a kid of 12 years," Chong said.
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"I knew full well what that meant: I was going to be dependent on others to do everything for me for the rest of my life," explained Chong.
However, Chong, who is the fourth of five siblings, bravely accepted his fate. That in itself is nothing short of amazing. |
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He is married to Philippines-born Elizabeth who is able-bodied. They have a teenaged daughter named Isabelle. Chong did not allow his disability to get him down.
Two years after the nasty accident, he began dabbling in computers. The experience soon led the gutsy tetraplegic to set up a computer school in his hometown. Chong said he feels a sense of achievement through it as he has introduced computers to many able-bodied students. Some of them include white-collared professionals like engineers, accountants and even doctors.
In 1991, Chong was awarded the Pingat Jasa Kebaktian (Meritorious Service Award) by the Sultan of Pahang and, shortly after, the Tokoh Orang Kurang Upaya (Outstanding Disabled Person), which he regards as two of his greatest achievements as a disabled Malaysian.
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Chong receiving the PJK from HRH Sultan of Pahang
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However, it was during the early 1990s that Chong started to feel the effects of his disability. Pressure sores and urinary tract infections - common ailments faced by wheelchair users - caused him to be hospitalised again. This time the admissions even stretched for as long as two years in a row.
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Chong was left with little choice but to give up his business. But as he firmly believes, whenever God closes a door, He never fails to open a window.
Again, rather than let his condition get him down, Chong rose to the occasion by forming a spinal cord injury club in 2003 called "Perwira K9" to help newly disabled persons at the hospital to cope with life through planned activities and interaction with one another.
(K9 is the name of the spinal ward in Hospital KL.) Chong said that the recent Merdeka Day celebrations held many hopes and wishes for disabled citizens.
"For many of us who become disabled later on in life, we wonder what the future holds for us as citizens with disabilities.
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Chong receiving the Vocational Service Award from Rotary Club
of Kelana Jaya
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"Our enemies are not colonial rulers, communists or even terrorists but rather our daily struggle as people with disabilities in a society that has yet to fully accept us as normal human beings and full citizens of our beloved nation," he added.
"We appreciate everything that our government and society have done for us up to now. But there is still so much more to do to make every disabled person equal in our society.
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