Metro

Monday December 31, 2007

Register for help, blind told

By CHRISTINA CHIN

COME in from the cold – that was National Council for the Blind of Malaysia (NCBM) president Datuk S. Kulasegaran’s message to visually impaired Malaysians who have yet to register with the Welfare Department.

“Registration brings the blind out into society so that they can be given the necessary assistance, education, vocational training and rehabilitation for them to become independent and useful citizens.

“If a blind person is registered with the department, he or she will be referred to the various organisations serving the blind and have access to certain privileges provided by the Government and corporate bodies,” he said.

More than a decade ago, there were over 700,000 visually impaired Malaysians – 74,000 of whom were classified as blind, he said.

“The last national eye survey was conducted in 1996. Today, I am sure the numbers are still high, if not increasing.

“I urge the relevant authorities to come up with more recent statistics because we have to be aware of the current numbers before we can help,” he said.

He said a recent report by the Health Ministry showed that blindness caused by diabetic retinopathy was alarmingly prevalent.

Kulasegaran noted that most visually impaired persons were pigeonholed into lower income jobs like telephone operators and massage therapists.

“The NCBM would like to see visually impaired persons in higher paying jobs.

“They are capable people who just want an equal opportunity to prove themselves. They don’t want society’s sympathy,” he said.

There were many successful visually handicapped figures like lawyer Mah Hassan Omar and academician Prof Datuk Dr Ismail Salleh, he said.

“No job is out of reach if a visually impaired person has access to proper training and education. This is especially true in jobs that require the use of one’s intellect.

“Advancement in technology has levelled the playing field for the visually impaired who can now do almost anything an able-bodied person can,” he said.

“In some cases, employers may have to incur some additional cost to make the workplace friendly for their visually impaired emplo- yees but this should be seen as a long-term investment because a disabled worker will be grateful for the opportunity and hence more committed to the company,” he said.

Tax relief was also available to employers who hired the disabled, he told reporters at the Penang International Sports Arena (PISA) after launching the Mata Fair 2007 on Saturday.

Organised by St Nicholas Home, the two-day fair was held to educate the public on causes of blindness and the importance of regular eye screening.

An exhibition and several talks were also held.

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