Message form the chairman

Dear Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

Persatuan Membantu Orang Kelainan Upaya Malaysia (PMOKUM) or Malaysian Association for the Differently-abled Persons (MADA) focuses on the goal of decent work for persons with disabilities, and reminds us that every person deserves opportunities for quality education and productive employment inconditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Persons with disabilities are deprived of adequate quality education and employment opportunities in nearly every society. Estimates show that at least half of all disabled people in developed nations, and the vast majority of those with disabilities in developing countries, are unemployed. Most others are under-employed, or will never have full access to the labour market. This situation is deplorable.

Persons with disabilities have the ability to make valuable contributions in the workforce as employees, entrepreneurs and employers. But they face numerous barriers that prevent them from fulfilling their potential. Early in life, they encounter difficulties gaining access to an education or acquisition of employable skills. Later on, fears and prejudices about their abilities deny them the work opportunities available to others.
Inaccessible educational institutions, workplaces, explicit and implicit discriminatory legislation and practices, and unfavourable work conditions pose additional hurdles.

Yet, whenever the opportunity arises, persons with disabilities prove their worth as top scorers and productive members of the workforce. That is why more and more educational institutions and employers are slowly coming to the realisation that employing persons with disabilities makes good sense. Changing workplace environments and advances in information and communications technologies are also giving persons with disabilities new avenues for seeking decent work.

Most states do not have legislation protecting persons with disabilities in the workplace. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is expected to enter into force early next year, recognises the rights of persons with disabilities to work and employment on an equal basis with others. It stresses their right to earn a living from freely chosen work, and to work in an environment that is both accessible and accepting.

On this note, let us reaffirm our commitment to seeking equal rights for all, and let us pledge to ensure the full participation of persons with disabilities in the lives of their communities.

I am pleased to be able to at least contribute a few words to the celebration of PMOKUM or MADA. From now on, I will be engaged in a number of events and media interviews which I hope will serve to further raise awareness of the rights of Persons with Disabilities.

On this occasion I would like to extend my congratulating, first and foremost, to persons with disabilities themselves, their representative organisations, and the leaders of the international disability movement and disability rights activists everywhere.

I would also like to acknowledge those pioneering countries who stepped up to sign the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, sending a message to the rest of the world, that they are ready to adopt the set of principles and values aimed at promoting, preserving and protecting the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.

The Convention is the embodiment of the highest universal values which all of us who believe in rights and equality aspire to see implemented everywhere. It epitomises the principles of indivisibility and inalienability of human rights; and exemplifies the true meaning of human security and social harmony.

Regardless of where they live, persons with disabilities applying to the labour market are faced with even more insurmountable obstacles than an inaccessible physical environment, or the absence of assistive devices-which can be dealt with through laws and legislation drafted in accordance with the Convention.

The obstacles that persons with disabilities encounter are negative attitudes and discrimination based on nothing more than preconceived notions about their capabilities, their potentials, and their abilities to contribute.

One cannot legislate negative attitudes away, cannot draft laws to eliminate stereotypes, cannot remove from the hearts and minds of people the tendency to discriminate.

But we can, through occasions of this kind, around the world, involving the media in all its forms, in which both disabled and non-disabled persons speak out, we can begin to eliminate negative perceptions and prejudices.

To enable persons with disabilities to fully exercise the right to education, work and employment, we need to restructure our own societies in all their aspects to integrate persons with disabilities. We need to change our own mind-sets to make use of the potentials and contributions of persons with disabilities that are much needed in all societies.

We have a great deal of work to do at the national and international level to understand that persons with disabilities are ready and able, and that it is the non-disabled population which needs to work on its ability to accept and absorb and integrate them.

Lastly but not least, I would like to congratulate all of you who have contributed in one way or another in promoting services for persons with disabilities or differently-abled persons throughout the world. May God bless us and everyone and may peace be upon you.

Thank you.

-Chairman of PMOKUM / MADA