Toilets in Shopping Malls for Wheelchair Users

My favourite shopping malls now are, in order of preference:

1. Singapore Changi Airport Terminals 2 and 3 (not been to Terminal 1)
2. Changi City Point
3. Nex

Reasons: 

1. Clean wheelchair toilets at these malls.
2. Availability of chair lift at Nex Shopping Mall makes it easy to move around with a wheelchair bound person.
3. Savings of at least 7% GST for shopping at Changi Airport shops.

There is usually a security personnel stationed near this lift to ensure that the lift is not used by other users.

When I was at Plaza Singapura on Friday, 30 November, there are a lack of toilets for wheelchair users.  Then there is one which was equipped with a baby changing table and also a small urinal for very young boys.  I wonder what was the management of Plaza Singapura thinking when they installed these changing table and the urinal in the wheelchair toilets.  They should have created a parents room when Plaza Singapura had a major renovation!

Most times people become aware of the need of others when they are personally faced with the situation!! Sad but true!

Travelling on the MRT on a wheelchair on 30 Nov 2012

Here we go again from Woodlands MRT station to Kent Ridge MRT station for Mikaail's medical appointment at NUH.  The ride was generally smooth and including the transfers, took us barely an hour.  Anyhow, I much prefer travelling on the MRT to a cab ride since I do not have to transfer Mikaail from a wheelchair into the taxi and taking him out of the taxi. 

The thing about travelling in the MRT on a wheelchair and having to transfer from one line to another requires a lot of walking as the lifts are usually at the far end of the station.  This is probably due to the lifts being fitted very much after the stations were built.

What we noticed when we get off from the MRT trains, unless you are a regular traveller, you would need to locate the lift signages as these signages were not strategically located.  So we ended walking from one end of the station to the other searching for the lifts!  A point to note is to leave home earlier with ample time for any unforeseen delays due to the additional walking time required due to a wheelchair user.

The Interchange stations are more complicated especially when transferring to and from the Circle Lines.  To get from Jurong East to Buona Vista is a breeze since the stations are on the same platform.  For a wheelchair user, it's a long walk and 2 lift changes to get from Buona Vista to Kent Ridge.

In total, we boarded the trains from the following stations, starting at 9:30 am.

1. Woodlands MRT
2. Jurong East MRT
3. Buona Vista MRT
4. Kent Ridge MRT

Then from NUH, to get to Plaza Singapura, we boarded the trains from

1. Kent Ridge MRT
2. Buona Vista MRT
3. Outram MRT
4. Dhoby Ghaut MRT

and from Plaza Singapura to home in Woodlands, it was a straight forward track.

1. Dhoby Ghaut MRT
2. Woodlands MRT