General issues

I have to admit that though minimal improvements have been made in that to employ PWDs for certain industries, jobs have also been lost due to automation. For example, in the 60-70s, when we were a young nation, the Ministry of Labour then had been actively promoting and training bisually challenged individuals with relevant qualifications with telephone operator skills. However, in the 90s, when MNC began to establish themselves in Singapore and semi-automated or automated telephone devices were being introduced, many visually challenged persons began losing their rice bowls.

Visually challenged individuals with minimal qualifications were being trained as production operators in factories then. Their jobs were also taken away when companies relocated elsewhere due to cheaper labour cost.

I really dread what the future holds for PWDs especially, when employers fail to recognise that PWDs can be an asset, for example, to foster a more cohesive working environment, to integrate PWDs with the society at large, to help them understand the world at large, and, most of all, to allay the fears of parents and care-givers that their love ones can be someone useful in society.