A Speech Delivered At the National Conference on Disability
Reaching Out to Empower All Malaysians with Disabilities
2 December 2008
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. First, I wish to thank the organizer - the Asia Executive Programmes - for their invitation to me to share my thoughts with you at this conference.
Before I begin, I would like to state that I would prefer to use the term "physically challenged" instead of "disabled". The change in the use of the terms has to with the subject I am to speak on this afternoon. The term "physically challenged" would reflect the extra effort that these people have to make each day - both physically and mentally - to get themselves respected and recognised not only in the working world, but also in the social world. This, I believe, will do justice to their incredible strong spirit and resolve.
I will share my thoughts with you today, both as a former Minister of Human Resources and as a father of a child who is physically challenged.
Ladies and gentlemen,When we think about people with disabilities, there are certain reactions that we take without a second thought, more out of reflex. As an example, if you come across a man in a wheel chair at the lobby of this hotel, our instinct is to help him up a ramp or open a door for him. We do that out of politeness and our civic consciousness. But upon reflection, are we doing that because we are focussing on his disability and not his ability? Please don't get me wrong, I am not against anyone helping a physically challenged person - please do go on doing that. What I want to highlight here is, society's focus and haste in recognising that person's disability and not his ability. Translate this action into a bigger picture - the job market for example - and you will see why we are where we are today in terms of giving jobs to the physically challenged. The government is doing its best to help the physically challenged. As a commitment, the Public Services Department has set aside a quota of at least one percent of government jobs for the physically challenged. I may be wrong, but I think the take up rate is rather slow. Unfortunately, I do not have any statistics with me today. I think I am not wrong to say the same of the private sector. Either the take up rate not very encouraging or if there are jobs for the physically challenged, they are confined to the lower category of jobs. Maybe my friends from the relevant NGOs may be able to provide the statistics to reflect the true picture. However, available statistics from the International Labour Organization indicate that the unemployment rate among workers with disabilities tends to be at least twice or three times that of other workers. ILO data also show that physically challenged workers are generally concentrated in low-level, low-paid jobs, and are not adequately represented at higher levels. When we talk about changing people's perception on employing the physically challenged and changing such perceptions to focus on the "ability and not the disability", it has to be done through a multi-prong approach. Essentially, it should involve four main players: · the physically challenged person himself· his immediate family and friends· society as a whole, both in terms of employment as well as acceptance and recognition as part of the social fabric.· and of course the government in terms of assistance I will take up the first three areas. As a former Minister of Human Resources and a member of the Cabinet, I believe the government is very committed and is doing its best to help the physically challenged in terms of giving them the opportunities both in terms of jobs and business opportunities. It is our perception that we have to work on. First, the physically challenged person himself. During my days as a Minister, I have come across the disabled person himself adopting a defeatist attitude. That is the first step to closing the door on you. He views himself as a person who is incapable of doing anything for himself and seeking assistance for the rest of his life. This attitude unfortunately is very often accentuated by members of his immediate family who encouraged this kind of outlook. Thus if there is a physically challenged child in the family, he finds himself locked up in the house the whole day instead of getting a decent education or training so that we will be independent and acquire the necessary skills and knowledge that will make the child a better person. How many times have we heard excuses like, "ah he is fated to be like that" or "how can he go to school, his friends will laugh at him". Well, my answer to that would be, "have you even given him a chance to prove himself". I read a story in an English Daily not too long ago, about this mother who has a physically challenged child and who refuses to send him (or her, I can’t quite remember) to a special school because she believes that by sending the child to a normal school she will encourage the child not to focus on his/her disability. During the course of preparing this paper, I met up with a physically challenged person to get his views on this issue. Among the many points he raised is ‘discrimination’. The physically challenged are somehow judged by a different standard. He raised as an example, how we praise a physically handicapped child for getting 3As in the UPSR. Society seems to think that getting 3As is very good because he is handicapped. If he is a normal kid, would society say 3As is good enough? In his own words, it is the person’s as well as his immediate family and society’s perception of what more that child is capable of that is limiting his ability and ambition of doing more. Being born disabled, or getting disabled through accidents or illness is not a ticket to doomsday. We have ample examples that can serve as role models - our disabled athletes and stories we read about in the newspapers almost every week of physically challenged people who are doing well in businesses and who refused to allow their disability to deter them from fulfilling their ambitions. One of the misconceptions among employers is that employing the physically challenged meant implementing workplace adjustments which would mean incurring extra costs. However, a survey conducted by the US Labour Department’s Job Accommodation Network showed that half of the nearly 780 employers surveyed reported that workplace adjustment came at no expenses and about 43 percent reported only a one-time cost that averaged around $600. The survey also indicated that many employers of people with disabilities found little cost and great benefit. Thus, stereotypes and discrimination present greater hurdles to employing workers with disabilities than the cost factor. In addition to employer misconceptions, people with disabilities are also hindered by their own apprehensions about the employment process and doubt about their ability to handle a job and the confidence to do the job. The Ministry of Human Resources has a very successful "Return to Work Programme” to rehabilitate those who had sustained injuries while at work. Over RM1 million has been spent on the programme since its inception in 2005 to get these workers to resume work after an absence due to injury or illness. The programmes has been very successful in terms of providing the affected workers with the rehabilitation, the counselling and training to get them back into shape – perhaps not 100% capability, but as best as we can. But, the problem still lie in getting either their former employers to take them back and maybe relocate them to a job that is more suitable, or getting new companies to employ them. Also, a key concern of many physically challenged workers is that their eligibility for disability benefit or pension may be adversely affected if they find a job and subsequently lose it for any reason. A number of countries have taken steps to ensure that such concerns do not act as a disincentive to persons with disabilities in seeking employment. Maybe, the Ministry may like to look into this. Ladies and gentlemen,From my experience, I think we still have quite a journey as far as shaping employers' perception of physically challenged workers is concerned. Having said that, this problem is not unique to Malaysia. The International Labour Organization, in a report released for the International Day of Disabled Persons on December 3 last year, said that despite significant progress in recent years in improving their livelihoods, new efforts are needed to break down barriers that still prevent millions of people with disabilities from working and contributing to the economic growth of their societies. The ILO estimates that about 650 million people - or one in every 10 people in the world - have a disability. Of this number, 470 million are of working age. On the local front, it is estimated that close to 200,000 people with disabilities have been registered with the Welfare Department, but many believe the actual figure is significantly higher than this. However, the good news is, we are making progress, albeit slowly. The ILO acknowledged that countries around the world are increasingly recognizing that disabled people represent enormous potential which are frequently untapped and that disabled people have a valuable contribution to make to the national economy. We will have to do this in a slow and coordinated way. Which brings us all to the relevance of this Conference? This National Conference on Disability is a giant step in dealing with this issue. Allow me to congratulate Asia Executive Programme for organizing this conference. I am confident that with more outreach programmes like this, it will help to hasten our efforts to get people in general, and employers in particular to focus on the ability and not the disability of the physically challenged. Information and awareness raising campaigns and conferences such as this one is important in generating and sustaining interest in creating job opportunities for physically challenged people. Persuasion measures should be encouraged and intensified. To borrow the words of Andrew Imparato, the President of the American Association of People with Disabilities, "Most disabled people would tell you that the bigger concerns they have around the workplace are not around physical accessibility. They're more around attitudes. I think it's easier to legislate and see change around bricks and mortar than it is around attitudes" This, I believe, is the bigger battle for us in our efforts to nurture a job market that will seek to see the ability rather than the disability of the physically challenged. I would like to end on a positive outlook. Our efforts are slowly getting the desired response. Big companies have cooperated with the Ministry in opening up jobs for the physically challenged.Ladies and gentlemen,If I am not mistaken, tomorrow (3 December) is International Day of Disabled Persons? Perhaps it is timely to revisit our efforts in helping the physically challenged in the job market by acting cohesively in the Ministry of Human Resources' spirit of tripartism - involving the Ministry, the Employers and the Unions. Thank you for your kind attention.
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