IT is time the government initiates a fund to cope with the increasing number of disabled persons to ease their suffering and hardship.

A few days ago, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, in a meaningful gesture, had said 1% of public sector jobs will be reserved for the disabled. The prime minister’s mission and vision for this allocation to become a reality is laudable and appreciated. Considering the large number of disabled persons and meagre  payments from the Social Welfare Department, they cannot fully depend on handouts for their special needs.

The government has been doing much for the disabled by ensuring that they can use public transport, ensuring offices and buildings have ramps for easy access, reserving parking lots in busy areas and providing many other incentives and privileges.

The corporate sector can also complement the efforts of the government by employing more of the disabled for certain category of jobs. A lot of jobs such as security guards, receptionists, janitors and supervisors need to be reserved for the disabled. Business opportunities too can be provided for them to make a living. Special training for certain jobs can be given and paid from the fund. 

Those interested in starting small enterprises can similarly apply for loans from this fund, as banks could be hesitant to provide them loans. Many of the disabled are talented, creative and gifted, hardworking, and show a high level of perseverance – as can be seen in the Paralympics – to overcome their plight and Malaysia must fully use their talent. One is reminded of a verse from Thomas Gray’s Churchyard Elegy:

Full many a gem of purest ray serene,

the dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,

and waste it sweetness on the desert air.

Even though congenital disability has been reduced to the minimum due to Malaysia’s excellent pre- and post-natal medical care, the number of disabled persons is spiking due to factors like motor and industrial accidents, diabetic amputations of limbs, old age-related ailments, blindness due to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases resulting in strokes, deformities in children due to child abuse and malnutrition, and mental stress. The total number of people affected in these categories could be in the thousands, and most are adults and many could be wheelchair-bound. Some are rendered physically and mentally disabled  in the prime of their life due to some unfortunate accident, which leads to a huge socio-economic loss for the nation. The government has to incur large expenditures for the disabled but it is still not enough. The rich can afford maids and private medical care but the M40 and B40 groups are unable to afford the expenses in the long run and would like the government to assist them.

Technological advancements in prosthetics have aided the disabled to live quite normal lives, but the cost of these artificial replacements is high. Some are aided by the Social Security Organisation (Socso) and legal compensation from motor accidents. Most people who apply for social welfare aid are dissatisfied with the small amount disbursed compared to their needs.

A special fund can partly solve the problem. For a start, an allocation of RM100 million can be allocated in the next budget to be continued annually. The fund is capable of snowballing through contributions from the corporate sector as part of their corporate social responsibility programme. The Employees Provident Fund, Socso, Petronas, insurance firms and philanthropists, as well as business and religious associations can contribute to increase the fund. Part of the windfall tax can be diverted for the disabled fund.

The poor and the disabled are different and the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry must separate the two. The disabled should get their money through a separate allocation. The disabled are in a separate category and it is not because of poverty. They need the money for their special needs. When the poor and the disabled are lumped together, neither gets a sufficient amount. When the disabled apply for aid the application should focus on their degree of disability only and not whether they are poor. The aid or subsidy should only be for the disability.

Through this procedure the disabled can get better financial assistance based on their particular disability. The poor, the unemployed, the sick, single parents and others needing financial help can be placed in a separate category.

It is good that the government has grasped the magnitude of the problem being faced by the disabled at present and also in the future. With life expectancy  increasing, the number of people rendered disabled by old age, cardiovascular problems such as strokes and being wheelchair-bound, and amputations resulting from diabetes and the debilitating effects of many other diseases will accelerate in the future to a stage where a certain percentage of the people will be considered disabled, physically or mentally. The government needs to be prepared for this eventuality by planning ahead and setting up a fund or take other steps to deal with the increasing expenditure. 

Another problem that is snowballing is of senior citizens without any financial means of support. A social pension for senior citizens in the B40 and some in the M40 should be considered. They have given their best years of their lives for our nation-building and they should not be left in the lurch unsupported during their last days.

Presently, only government employees get a  pension. The plight of single parents too has become acute, as can be seen by the shocking number of divorces in the country. The government will have to help especially the children of these broken families, some of whom end up as disabled due to injury and abuse. – December 9, 2021.

* V. Thomas reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.