Disabled Persons And Employment
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s call that disabled persons be given employment opportunities is most welcomed. God knows how difficult it is for disabled persons to get jobs with remunerations that commensurate with our qualifications. Those who are able to obtain jobs have to face another set of challenges in the form of physical and attitudinal barriers. The context of this entry emphasizes on wheelchair users and people with mobility impairment more as I am one of them and very familiar with problems that they face.
Getting disabled persons employed is the ultimate goal here. How we reach that goal is equally important. The government must look at the process of getting disabled persons academically qualified before we can be employed. Schools must be accessible. To get disabled persons to schools, public transport must be accessible. The built environment must be accessible to ease the movement of disabled persons going to school and to work. Each step in the process leading to disabled persons being gainfully employed is inseparable. Therefore the approach has to be holistic rather than piecemeal. One cannot exist without the other.
Private corporations are doing their part by employing disabled persons. I am aware that some multinationals made it a point to include accessible facilities in the form of ramps and larger toilets in their premises. They are the exception, not the norm. The government too must play their part by ensuring that the infrastructure is ready to support disabled persons seeking skills to make themselves employable. This can be achieved through legislation and enforcement, and incentives.
The government has allocated a quota of 1% for employing disabled persons in the public sector through Civil Service Circular No. 10 for Year 1998 (Pekeliling Perkhidmatan Bil. 10 Tahun 1998). However, disabled persons working in the public sector amounted to only 0.2% according to Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Paduka Chew Mei Fun quoted in Bernama on February 2, 2007.
In the same report, she also stated that up to April last year, of the 160,000 disabled persons registered with the Department of Social Welfare, only 1% were hired by the private and public sector. 1,600 have found employment in the private sector and 325 in the public sector. The reason given was that there is a lack of information on the facilities needed by disabled persons who seek employment. If this is so, the government should lead by example by first ensuring that facilities in all government buildings are fully accessible and employ more disabled persons in the public sector. The call for a caring society must first begin from the government - kepimpinan melalui teladan.
Hoping for Miracles Ala Machap and Ijok
During the pre-launch of RapidKL’s accessible buses, Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development Parlimentary Secretary Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fen “encouraged BEAT (Barrier-Free Environment and Accessible Transport Group) and the disabled to work with architects, developers, engineers and contractors to better the disabled-friendly facilities of future projects.” (The Star - May 4, 2007: RapidKL to operate 100 buses with accessible facilities)
BEAT has been working with RapidKL since September 2006. With the impending introduction of the accessible buses, BEAT has also been working with a couple of local authorities to ensure that the heights of the accessible buses and the bus stops match and that all connecting pathways are barrier-free. Members of BEAT will also be sitting in a committee chaired by the Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Transport to iron out issues on public transportation in Malaysia.
Many of the members of advocating under BEAT are employed full-time in the private sector and are contributing whatever free time they have to this advocacy movement. Our manpower and resources are stretched very thin. Whatever expenses that we incur in the course of BEAT’s activities come out from our own pockets. We are not complaining though. On the other hand, we hope that the government will do their part by ensuring that infrastructure and facilities are properly done the first time around. This can be achieved by adhering to the requirements of the Uniform Building By-Law 34 which stipulates that the “by-law shall be deemed to be satisfied by compliance with Malaysian Standard MS 1184 and MS 1183.”
The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development has a specialised section with a team of officers within the Department of Social Welfare to manage the affairs of disabled persons called the Bahagian OKU Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat Malaysia. This section should keep up to its namesake to ensure that issues related to disabled persons are addressed and resolved.
It was highly inappropriate to suggest that BEAT, or disabled persons for that matter, do the work that the government has already assigned a specific ministry or several other ministries to look after. Disabled persons cannot be taking leave from work every now and then to run all over Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya to liaise with ministers, government officers, transport operators, architects, developers, engineers and contractors to get things done properly. It is the government’s job to do that.
As it is, our mobility is already severely restricted due to the unavailability of an accessible urban public transport system which in turn hampers our opportunity to participate in educational, employment, social, cultural, religious and political activities. It is a gross injustice against the dignity of disabled persons as citizens with equitable rights to have to solve the problems that restricts our movement and growth at our own expense. In the first place, these barriers were created by various parties including the government.
It is high time the various ministries work together seriously to resolve all the outstanding issues related to disabled persons instead of pushing the buck around. The government is supposed to solve problems, not create it. Politicians and wakil rakyats were elected to solve problems faced by the electorate, not push it back to the electorates to solve it themselves. Perhaps disabled persons can see miracles ala Machap and Ijok where projects will be approved and completed post-haste during the General Election? Apa macam Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun?
Tags: Chew Mei Fun
The Star - May 4, 2007: RapidKL to operate 100 buses with accessible facilities
Central
Friday May 4, 2007RapidKL to operate 100 buses with accessible facilities
By YIP YOKE TENG
Disabled-friendly: Chew helping Lee to get on a RapidKL accessible bus at the Bangsar LRT Station.
The call is finally answered. Disabled-friendly buses will now ply selected RapidKL bus routes and there are 100 buses to start with.
RapidKL announced at the Bangsar LRT Station yesterday that 100 accessible buses had arrived with some already in use. The company hopes to have at least one of such buses in each of its 10 city routes and 63 trunk routes before launching the barrier-free system on June 1.
The buses come with a manual ramp for passengers on wheelchairs while the drivers have been trained to help them get on the buses.
Other facilities such as wheelchair lock, seat belt and head cushion have been thoughtfully included, too.
Women, Family and Community Development Ministry Parliamentary Secretary Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, RapidKL chief operating officer (bus operations) Mohd Ali Mohd Nor and members of BEAT (Barrier-Free Environment and Accessible Transport Group) were at the function.
Ali said the company was evaluating each of its 2,500 bus stops in the Klang Valley with the aim to identify the right stops for these buses. It is also working together with BEAT and the local authorities to standardise the height of the pavements needed to support the buses’ manual ramps.
He said some of the disabled-friendly buses had been on the road since April 21 to facilitate some of the 161 newly realigned routes in the Klang Valley. The move had helped RapidKL in the process of identifying the right stops for passengers on wheelchairs.
“Some asked why we take such a long time to introduce barrier-free service. Safety is our main concern, not just safety in the buses but also safety within the whole integrated system. If we are not satisfied with the safety aspects, we would rather not implement the service first,” he said.
Ali did not reveal the cost of bringing in the 100 accessible buses but reiterated that the company did not mind spending more on durable products as the buses operate 16 hours a day.
He said the company would bring in more accessible buses over time and hoped that the entire RapidKL system could be barrier-free one day.
Chew said the government was committed to providing a barrier-free environment to the disabled where 197,519 have registered with the Welfare Department currently. Many ministries have also participated in relevant dialogues and adopting various strategies to better the lives of the disabled.
“Before this, many disabled persons depended on Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Mobility Association to move about. The association has 600 users registered with them while there were only four full-time drivers with four vans,” she said.
“Today, RapidKL opens up a new horizon. Although there are only 100 buses, still a small figure compared to its fleet of 950 buses, it is a very good start,” she added.
She urged RapidKL to cater to the needs of the disabled when it brings its services to Penang, and called upon all private and public organisations to provide disabled-friendly facilities at their premises.
She also encouraged BEAT and the disabled to work with architects, developers, engineers and contractors to better the disabled-friendly facilities of future projects.
BEAT coordinator Christine Lee commended RapidKL’s efforts amid enthusiastic applause from the floor.
“For the first time in the history of disabled person’s movement in the country, we are witnessing a bus company making efforts to incorporate user-friendly facilities to cater to the diverse needs of the travelling public,” she said.
She added that the accessible buses would benefit not only the disabled but also everyone including senior citizens and pregnant women.
Tags: Chew Mei Fun
