Good News for the Disabled

It is rather seldom that we hear good news for the disabled apart from the giving of once a a year angpows to them, or the raising of funds for the organisations. These have always been like giving a man a fish to eat for a day.

But the following announcement is indeed heartening.

I would always remember the accountant in my British college who was wheel chair bound. And I was impressed by all the ramps and facilities made available for him and other disabled students and staff. That was way back in the 80's! And then we started to be more politically correct too,and could look at any diabled person in the eye. Having a disabled person working alongside with you has its positive effects too. Colleagues become more humane and caring.

Korean movies are taking the lead in this matter. In almost all the better movies, they have an actor in a wheel chair. And usually he is the most intelligent charactor with a broad shoulder to cry on, some one who has a lot of sympathies for the leading actress. I think Malaysian script writers should also write a disabled character into films so that Malaysians can develop their social sympathies. Noblesse oblige.

And I do hope that this piece of news will augur well for all the Sibu disabled people.

I hope registration of our disabled people will continue in a positive manner. And those who are temporarily employed by the government should become permanent and pensionable so that they do not have to be in the streets in their old age.

10,000 jobs for disabled people in civil service


KUALA LUMPUR: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, with the cooperation of the Public Service Department (PSD), have created 10,000 jobs for the disabled, which represents one per cent of the workforce in the public sector.

Its minister, Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen said the intake was endorsed at a meeting between the ministry’s task force and PSD recently, and the application forms would be distributed to the organisations for disabled people nationwide beginning next week.

“The disabled people can collect the forms from their organisations and their applications would be considered based on certain criteria,” she told reporters after presenting aid to fire victims at Jalan Chan Sow Lin yesterday.

At present, only 581 disabled people were employed in the civil service while the private sector recruited less than 5,000.

About 220,000 disabled people are registered with the Welfare Services Department.

Ng said the meeting between the ministry’s task force which was formed in May and PSD was also attended by representatives from the Welfare Services Department and the disabled people associations.

Among the issues raised at the meeting were matters pertaining to road tax, wheelchairs and the welfare of parents with disabled children and they would be brought up to the attention of the Finance Ministry.

To ease the burden of the disabled people in coping with the rising cost of living, Ng said the ministry had recently increased the eligibility of disabled people to apply for allowance from a household income of RM750 a month to RM1,200 a month.

She said the ministry had also asked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to increase the allowance for disabled people who were unable to work from RM400 a month to RM700 a month.

Earlier, Ng presented mats, blankets, food and RM1,270 in cash from the Welfare Services Department to two families who were made homeless in a fire on June 13.