A Comprehensive Law Regulation is Needed to Provide a Choice for the Visually Impaired
Walter Tsui and the guide dog Range (Photo: Kelley Chan)
Waiting in front of the Library at the City University of Hong Kong, Walter Tsui, 27, whose eyes remain 30% of vision, arrived with his guide dog 4-year-old named Range. Tsui is currently running a nonprofit job agency which assisted well-educated disabilities to find jobs. Tsui became extremely obvious because he was the only one who brought a dog on campus. He described himself like a celebrity when he walked out with Range since three years ago.
“I went to a restaurant in Kwun Tong in an afternoon. A friend later called me and asked whether I was in Kwun Tong in the afternoon. As a matter of fact that a picture, which included the dog and me, was posted on Facebook”, Tsui said with a wry.
While the reporter was talking with Tsui, Range walked around the reporter and seemed to get close to the reporter. “Do you own a dog?”Tsui asked. “It seems like Range loves you so much!” Then, Range laid down on the ground under the table and took a nap quietly during the interview without disturbing its owner. From reporter’s perspective, Range was a curious, friendly and a responsible dog.
EOC spoekperson Palin Ngaotheppitak (Photo: Gigi Lee)
On March 29th, the Economic Opportunities Commission (EOC) submitted a report to the Government and suggested that protection from discrimination on grounds of being accompanied by an assistance animal should be added to Section 10 of the Disability Discrimination Ordinance.
“This would incorporate assistance animals in the same category of protection as carers and other assistants who accompany the person with disabilities. We believe that this would provide clarity to the law and the protection afforded, and help to enable people with disability to equally access services and participate in society,” explained by EOC spokesperson Palin Ngaotheppitak.
“I am lucky that I don't face discrimination directly,” Tsui expressed. “But I am still afraid of getting on minibuses. I heard a minibus driver pulled the guide dog owner’s backpack to prevent both owner and dog from taking the minibus.”
Compared with Tsui, Trada Ip, a 56-year-old guide dog owner, is not that lucky. She is one of the earliest guide dog owners in Hong Kong in the recent 30 years.
“Last year, I went to a small Chinese restaurant to have a meal after a volunteering talk for Hong Kong Guide Dog Association with my dog Rally in Kwai Fong. The receptionist did not know how to handle the situation when she saw a guide dog. However, later on a senior manager came and forbid us to enter the restaurant. The manager didn’t even compromise after we called the police. ” In Hong Kong, service dogs are protected under the law. Yet, the police mostly mediate the conflicts regarding guide dogs.
Trada Ip and 5-year-old guide dog Rally (Provided by Trada Ip)
Both Ip and Tsui agreed that they usually approach grassroots in Hong Kong since many of them serve in the front line, like waiters, waitresses and cleaners. On account of their economic pressure, they usually work in tight schedules and don’t have time to receive “public education”. “After work, they don’t even have time to watch TV,” Tsui said. Although there are still some disputes on guide dogs, the society welcomes guide dogs in general. Still, guide dog puppies(導盲幼犬) and training dogs are not protected under the current laws.
For the most parts, the laws protecting guide dogs and owners have been enforced since 1976, as two visually impaired people brought guide dogs from Australia to Hong Kong during that time. However, guide dogs had been “vanished” in Hong Kong for around 30 years afterwards. Until 2011, the two guide dog nonprofit organizations, Hong Kong Guide Dog Association (HKGDA) and Hong Kong Seeing Eyes Dog Services (HKSEDS), have introduced guide dogs from countries one after another like the United States and Japan, as well as “localize” guide dogs in Hong Kong. There are 40 guide dogs currently, including 16 service dogs. However, the current laws cannot meet the development of guide dog services.
Therefore, guide dogs’ trainers (train dogs only), instructor (train both owners and dogs), foster families and owners’ family members may contradict the laws when they bring guide dogs puppies, training dogs or service dogs in the public areas and private housings.
“I own a Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited’s apartment. However, I have to live elsewhere because the management officers don’t allow me to enter the building with guide dogs,” Cherrie Wu, who is a Guide Dog Mobility Instructor (guide dog trainer and instructor) at HKGDA, complained, “They said that I am a healthy person, thus the dogs aren’t ‘guide dogs’ .”
Cherrie Wu is training a guide dog.(Provided by Cherrie Wu)
“As a trainer, I usually bring one guide dog each time. I go home for a week with the dog in order to evaluate and understand its hobbies and personalities. Hence, we can tell guide dog owners how to treat and live with their dogs,” Wu explained. “Like some guide dogs love to walk around at night, we can tell these owners what happen to these dogs according to its particular personalities and how to solve it.” Comprehending guide dog’s behavior is necessary for instructor to make a good match for both owners and dogs.
Wu also emphasized that guide dogs in good qualities have to be comfortable in many different settings starting from early ages. “Socialization is necessary for guide dog puppies. Otherwise, they would be afraid to get on minibuses, buses or using escalators when we match these dogs with potential users,” Wu continued. “It’s not easy for guide dogs to be socialized in older age.
Edith Lee with guide dog Yoyo (Source: ctgoodjobs.hk)
Edith Lee Yuen-yan, a Cadet Trainer/Puppy Walker Supervisor at HKSEDS, considered mostly public areas in Hong Kong welcome training dogs and puppies, but it is only a “gift”(Cantonese︰人情) or an administrative measure. Since protections of training dogs are puppies are not included in the laws, they can be prohibited to enter anytime.
“We welcome the EOC’s suggestion to add protection in the disabilities with guide dogs, but we also need comprehensive laws for guide dogs, which training dogs and puppies should be protected in public areas,” she said. Getting a good training and ‘socialization’ for training dogs and puppies are essential to produce guide dogs in good qualities.
In the current system, guide dogs can be differentiated from pet dogs by their licenses. “For guide dogs’ licenses, they are written that these dogs belong to HKSEDS,” Lee continued. This month, people can even inquire the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department about the identities of guide dogs by using wafers on the dogs.
Aiming to enhancing and localizing guide dog services in Hong Kong, the Ebenezer School & Home for the Visually Impaired sent out questionnaires on a topic “Setting up a Guide Dog Centre in Hong Kong” in April 2008 and received 465 valid respondents. The respondents consisted of visually impaired people, families with visually impaired members, and institutions and professionals serving the visually impaired. 317 of those responded interviewees agreed “The Guide Dog services can provide long-lasting benefits to the visually impaired community (32% strongly agree and 36% agree). Thus, the school later contributed in the pilot scheme of “Four People, Four Dog” (四人四狗試驗計劃) in 2013, and Trada Ip was one of the members in the program.
Ben Fong, Senior O & M Instructor at Ebenezer School (Photo: Gigi Lee)
“Among visually impaired community, guide dogs are another option besides canes,” Ben Fong Tin-tai, 55, who is the Communication and Public Relations Officer and Senior O & M Instructor at Ebenezer School, pointed out. “Canes can only detect obstacles under human’s waist. When there is an obstacle hanging above the waist, guide dogs can see it and keep users away from the obstacle.”
“If you are forced to eat the same meal everyday without a choice, you won’t be happy. Same as visually impaired people, it would be relatively fair for them to choose whether they use canes or guide dogs. It is a kind of respect,” Fong believed.
“People think that guide dog is GPS, but it's not true,” many guide dogs’ owners and the instructor Fong said. Fong added, “Guide dogs are users’ ‘eyes’, they need to order them most of the time unless they walk the usual routes.”
Garrick Poon, 30, Guide Dog Mobility Instructor at HKGDA, also thought choices are necessary for visually impaired people as well. “Using cane must be alert when they need to detect roads. They usually feel super tired when they returned home. When they used guide dogs, they would be more relaxed. Since dogs have memory, guide dogs can even bring you back home from the nearby MTR station without orders if you usually walk that route.”
“Guide Dog is not just a tool; it is a life that can create a harmonious environment in the community.” Poon continued. In Poon’s opinion, guide dog in Hong Kong will be normalized when Hong Kong has a comprehensive guide dog pipeline (產業鏈) e.g. perfect law regulations are adopted and localization.) Of course, it also takes time in “normalization” process.
The recent news is two secondary visual impaired students will receive guide dog training in the coming summer. Hopefully, guide dogs will enter secondary schools in coming academic year.
Garrick Poon received training in United Kingdom in 2014 (Shared by Garrick Poon’s Facebook)
“From what I got from the guide dog users, visually impaired people derived comfort from the conversation with other people after they started using guide dogs. People approach them actively because of dogs. Thus, guide dogs can increase their confidence,” Poon reaffirmed.
“When I used cane previously, the whole world is lack of empathy when I used canes. General people normally think the cane hinder and block their ways, thus they reacted to visually impaired people rudely, ” Ip added.
Describing the relationship with her dog named Rally, Ip described it as a relation between a mother and a daughter. “When I first saw it in the States, I told it that I am your “mother” since then,” Ip told the reporter excitedly. It shows the close relationship between them.
Same as Ip, Tsui described the close relationship with Range as “a long term bother-ship that face many situations and difficulties (Cantonese:男人老狗).
“Before I have Range, my mother asked me why I want to get a guide dog as I am not blind. I wished a guide dog can get along with me during this period since my vision is getting worse,” Tsui said.
Reporter Gigi Lee
She is currently a master candidate in Journalism at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego(U.S.A.) in 2014, majored in Political Science, concentrated in Comparative Politics and International Relations. She was previously English News Intern Reporter at Asia Television from 2015 to 2016, Outreach Intern at the United Nations Association (USA) in 2014 and ILA Rights Clearance Intern at the National Geographic Society (USA) in 2013.