PWDs CAPABLE WORKERS

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 (Bernama) -- Persons with disabilities are capable of performing up to par in the workplace despite their shortcomings if given ample opportunity and proper guidance, a career symposium was told today."Persons with disabilities, especially the visually challenged, are hardworking, not easily influenced by external forces, and are less distracted people," said president of the Malaysian Society for the Blind Mah Hassan Omar.He told the National Career Symposium for the Visually Challenged 2008 here that employers were reluctant to employ persons with disabilities because they felt that they needed to look out for their well-being."In fact, all they need is to be given the opportunity to work and proper guidance," he said.Mah said there were some irresponsible employers who took advantage of the situation when they handed out work beyond the disabled person's capacity."There were also complaints that their employers did not even provide them with desks to work on," he said.The Public Service Department (PSD) had create 10,000 jobs for persons with disabilities but only 700 of them were registered with the public sector, he said.The two-day symposium is to initiate better understanding between employers and the visually challenged workers as well as to provide updated information on facilities and equipment with the latest technology to assist in increasing the productivity and quality of the visually challenged workers.-- BERNAMA