Living With Disability

The government’s plan to rightsize the civil service will not affect the 1% employment quota set aside for persons with disabilities (PWDs), says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Living without legs is not an obstacle for Mohamad Fakrulradzi Zahari as he continues pursuing his hobby and dream to be a professional skateboarder.

The 22-year-old, who had both his legs amputated just above the knee when he was six, said he was determined to become one of the few disabled pro skaters in the world.

As of Dec 31 last year, 3,856 persons with disability (OKU) or 0.31% of all OKU were employed in the public sector out of a total 1,268,701 posts in the country, says the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

Less than a year after its official launch, Yayasan Gamuda’s Enabling Academy (EA) has made a strong impact in driving change for people with autism in workplaces, which it wants to further build on in the years to come. The academy partners with companies to create beneficial employment for 20 professionals with ASD yearly. Its Employment Transition Programme (ETP) enables those with ASD to integrate with ease into the corporate world.

Selagi terdaya, selagi itu mereka akan bekerja. Tidak pernah wujud istilah mengalah atau lemah semangat. Itu prinsip yang menjadi pegangan sekelompok pekerja normal yang kini bergelar orang kurang upaya (OKU), akibat ditimpa kemalangan serta penyakit, namun kini berjaya bangkit menjadi pekerja yang produktif.

Seramai 22,753 pekerja yang hilang upaya berjaya mendapatkan kembali pekerjaan menerusi program Return To Work (RTW), Pertubuhan Keselamatan Sosial (PERKESO), sejak 2007.

Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail berkata, kerajaan negeri dan pihak berkuasa tempatan (PBT) diminta menguatkuasakan reka bentuk sejagat atau ‘universal design’ dalam setiap keperluan merancang dan pelan bangunan bagi memudahkan golongan orang kurang upaya (OKU).

The government continues to show its concern for people with disabilities (OKU) through a slew of allocations and policies, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Parents of children with disabilities are encouraged to provide support to other parents with similar circumstances. Network for the Needs of Children with Disabilities (Network) adviser Datuk Dr Amar Singh HSS said this would be helpful, especially to parents with no experience in taking care of disabled children.

Biarpun berstatus orang kurang upaya (OKU) fizikal selepas terbabit kemalangan lebih 30 tahun lalu, seorang bapa tunggal terus mencari rezeki sebagai pemandu kereta sapu untuk menyara keluarganya.