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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 25 May 1988
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r? The Government has launched some publicity campaigns and are there any inarcations that employers are more willing to accept handicapped people in the field of production?
SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER: Sir, on the second part of the question, I think publicity has had some effect, in the sense that interest in employment of the disabled is gradually increasing, although I think the situation is still very far from satisfactory. As I said in the recent Budget debate, some employers are much better than others and this suggests that there are still many employers who have not really fully taken on board that this is a very useful potential source of employees.
On the other half of the question, we have no reliable information. I can only give my subjective impression. I think the disabled generally are very keen to find employment but I think one has a similar problem with them as with the rest of the community, that people tend to prefer white-collar jobs and tend to avoid working in industry. This is a problem throughtout in fact.
MR. LIU (in Cantonese): Sir, will the Government consider using some incentive to encourage more manufacturers to employ disabled people in the industrial sector?
SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER: Sir, the main incentive we have at the moment is that there is an Employaid Fund, funded by the Community Chest, which provides subsidies for employers adapting equipment in order to employ disabled people. This fund is not fully utilised, so I am glad of this opportunity to give some publicity to it, to try and draw employers' attention to this opportunity.
DR. IP: Sir, I am grateful to know that 36 per cent of the disabled people surveyed were in open employment. Could the Secretary for Education and Manpower inform this Council, in detail, what do the rest of them, namely, 64 per cent of all disabled persons do, namely, around 60 000 persons, using the same method of estimation that he has used?
SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER: Sir, the main results of the survey were that 35.7 per cent of the five main categories of disability, aged between 15 to 60, were in open employment. 7.5 per cent were in sheltered workshops. The rest of them fell into categories of unemployed job-seekers, 9.9 percent; unemployed non-job-seekers, 22.1 per cent; students, 10.4 per cent; home- makers, 10.4 per cent and the retired, 4 per cent.
MR. TAM (in Cantonese): Sir, will the Government consider some more effective measures? For example, can we learn from other countries and make it mandatory that employers should employ a certain ratio of disabled people?