Don’t turn a blind eye to them

Friday November 28, 2008

Don’t turn a blind eye to them
Story and photos by OH ING YEEN

WHAT do you do when a blind candidate attends your company’s job interview?

In conjunction with the International Disabled Day (Hari OKU) on Dec 3, the Society of the Blind in Malaysia held a press conference on “How to interview the visually impaired”.

According to the society’s Employee and Computer Deve-lopment Committee member Dr Wong Huey Siew, 39, the Women, Family and Community Develop-ment Ministry announced that 1% of jobs available in the public sector must be allocated to people with disabilities (PWDs) to ensure that they have equal access to employment.

“There will also be tax incentives for employers to buy suitable support equipment for their workers who are disabled.”

Technology to the rescue: Wong using a computer with a special software that reads out the document for the user.

The objective of the press conference was to inform the blind about the job opportunities available, to raise awareness on how to hire those who are visually-impaired, and to encourage future employers to contact the relevant organisations for more information.

“Many people do not know how to interact with disabled people. At an interview, it’s wrong for interviewers to keep quiet just because they have no experience in interacting with PWDs,” said Wong.

“In order to establish rapport, they should introduce themselves and other interviewers.

“Get to know the candidate. Some interviewers tend to focus on the interviewee’s disabilities instead of their capabilities and strengths. They should access the candidate’s skills, motivation level, past working experiences as well as ask them how they can contribute to the company,” he said in the interview at the society’s headquarters in Brickfields, KL.

He added that the employers should also identify the support systems needed.

“They would need to install a software imported from the United States, which costs about RM4,000, into any computer to enable us to decipher and type documents,” said Wong who uses the system to prepare his lecture notes and write and send e-mails.

“Some employers fear for the disabled person’s safety especially where staircases are concerned.
Going up and down the stairs is not a problem, just give them a day to walk around the office and get accustomed to it,” he said.

On transportation to work, he said, “Almost 100% of the visually-impaired take the public transport to work and they can make it there on time.”

Speaking from personal experience, Wong recalled the disappointment he faced as a visually-impaired person when seeking for jobs before landing his current job as a lecturer.

“I spent three years looking for a job after I completed my master’s and have sent out around 1,000 resumes, some to well-established companies, but I was only called for less than 20 interviews.

He added that among the job options available for the visually-impaired were lawyer, legal adviser, trainer, counsellor, telemarketer, telephonist, editor, writer, lecturer, school teacher and government agency officer.

For details, visit the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) http://www.mab.org.my/ or call the Society of the Blind in Malaysia at 03-2274 6162.