64 The officers of the Relief Section are now long accustomed to turning out at any hour of day or night in answer to an emergency call, and in typhoon seasons to not seeing their homes for perhaps days on end; all this in addition to the exacting day-to-day work of public assistance. With their colleagues who work for the handicapped, they are used to seeing fellow citizens at the lowest ebb. The community owes them a great deal, yet they are the first to acknowledge that in times of crisis social workers in other fields and their colleagues in the voluntary welfare agencies will drop everything in order to back them up.
CHAPTER VIII
WELFARE OF THE DISABLED AND OTHER CATEGORIES
A cripple in the right way may beat a racer in the wrong
one.
REHABILITATION
SIR FRANCIS BACON
65 The lossening of family obligations that results from urbaniza- tion and industrialization has in many countries brought to public attention the need for provision by society of rehabilitation services. In Hong Kong the disabled have begun to lose much of the support they traditionally received from their families. The strain created on infirmary beds by patients with no homes to which they can return is one clear indication of this at least, and there are others. The Special Welfare Services Section is the part of the Social Welfare Department which is most concerned with the problems of the disabled of all kinds and the voluntary agencies likewise working in this field are concen- trating efforts to meet their needs. Increasing attention is at last begin- ning to be directed towards helping the disabled to adjust to the environmental conditions of the urbanized communities in which they live. The question of architectural barriers, such as steps that the disabled cannot climb or narrow entrances which do not allow the passage of wheel-chairs, is typical. At the 1966 annual debate of the Hong Kong Housing Authority several members stated that it was time for that authority to consider making special provision for the infirm, the handicapped and the aged. In September, as the result of an inter-departmental discussion between representatives of the Medical and Health, Resettlement and Social Welfare Departments, an experi- mental settlement for severely disabled patients was set up in Kwun
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