Tuesday, October 4, 1977
6
DISABLED NEED OPEN AND COMPETITIVE EMPLOYMENT
The commercial and industrial sector of the community was
urged to provide more jobs for the disabled persons as they need, in
addition to food and shelter, an equal opportunity to education, all
forms of community services, and most important of all, gainful employment.
Speaking at the luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Hong Kong
today (Tuesday), Miss Florence Ho, Job Placement Officer of the Social
Welfare Department, stressed that open and competitive employment, apart
from serving as the means of restoring the economic usefulness of the
disabled, could also rid them off the unpleasant notion of being a
financial burden on their families, relatives and even the society.
Miss Ho noted that many employers had expressed doubts about
the disabled's productivity and concern over their greater liability
to industrial accidents.
"These worries, many of which have simply been overstressed,
have done immeasurable harm to the employment prospect of the disabled who
have never been given the opportunity to prove themselves."
In fact, she continued, the disabled were stable, adaptable
and unusually tolerant at work, and could be mainstreamed with their
able-bodied counterparts in an ordinary work setting.
On the proposal to introduce a quota system obliging employers
to engage a percentage ratio of disabled persons in their labour force,
Miss Ho listed the pros and cons of such a scheme.
"Such scheme .....
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