Give PwDs opportunity to hone talents - Ras Adiba

KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 -- People with disabilities (PwD) should be given opportunities in terms of employment, to venture into desired fields as well as hone their talents, OKU Sentral president Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi said.

She said PwDs should not be made to merely rely on financial assistance. 

Ras Adiba said Malaysia was not a welfare state, but the government was concerned about the PwD community and was always trying its very best to assist them. 

“However, persons with disabilities themselves must come out of this shell… do not ever think that we are incapable of doing things, it should not be that way. 

“It is all up to us, we can do what we really want, PwD or not,” she said during the Hendak Seribu Daya, OKU Luar Biasa (When There’s A Will, Extraordinary PwDs) programme streamed live on Facebook today.

She also said that society needs to be open-minded when providing opportunities to the PwD community, as they could be facing challenges 1,000 folds compared to non-PwD individuals. 

As such, Ras Adiba called on society to give the PwD community the opportunity to be themselves as each of them was extraordinary and possessed different talents. 

“We (PwD) ourselves want these changes, so to the community at large, give us the opportunity to learn, be independent, go into business… give PwDs fair and equal rights as enshrined under the PwD Act 2008,” she said. 

Ras Adiba also advised parents to register their PwD children to ensure they are eligible for PwD cards, adding that many parents had failed to do so. 

“When we (parents) are no longer around, what happens to our children then? We cannot just think of ourselves,” she added.

-- BERNAMA