Accept the disabled with open mind

By HAH FONG LIAN

THE people must have an open mind to accept the disabled as part and parcel of society, Perak MCA chief Datuk Ong Ka Chuan said.

“We must educate the public to accept people with disabilities. We must allow them to integrate into the society,” he said when opening a seminar on Independent Living of Persons with Disabilities in Ipoh on Thursday.

Ong, who is also MCA secretary-general, pointed out that in the 1950s and 1960s, disabled children were kept hidden in the house because the parents were ashamed of them.

“This would create psychological problems for the children and the society would also look at them differently,” he said.

He said fortunately such perceptions of disabled people were beginning to disappear.

“They may be disabled physically but they have a sharp mind. They are now being employed and accepted in society. They don’t feel inferior or hide inside the house anymore,” he added.

However, he said there were more that could be done for the disabled in the country.

In Japan, he said the society was more open to those who were disabled and various public facilities were built with them in mind.

On the topic of Independent Living of Persons with Disabilities, Ong said it meant living within one’s means.

“They must be able to live with what they have and with confidence,” he said.

The seminar was organised by the state Welfare Department, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled.

Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled executive director Sia Siew Chin said independent living of persons with disabilities was important not only for the disabled but for their families.

“The disabled will no longer be a burden to their families if they are able to live on their own.

“Their parents could then concentrate on other siblings who need just as much care and love from them,” she added.

Source : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/3/17/north/17161644&sec=north