By Pang Hin Yue

Armed with a handphone and smartly dressed, Johari Jamali comes across as a typical young executive. He is one of the few Malaysians with learning disabilities who have made it to the corporate world as an office assistant.

"I have been working in an accounting firm in Petaling Jaya for the past four years," said Johari proudly at the recent National Conference on Disability 2008 in Kuala Lumpur.

As president of United Voice, a self-advocacy group for the learning disabled, Johari had to overcome many hurdles to be where he is today.

As jobs are hard to come by for the learning disabled community, Johari is the envy of his peers.

Statistically, the likes of Johari represent a mere drop in the ocean. With the economic downturn, it may get more challenging for the disabled to secure a job as they have to compete with their able-bodied counterparts and contend with a system that is insensitive to their diverse needs.

The impact will be more keenly felt in the coming years with the increasing number of students with learning disabilities in school. According to Bong Muk Shin, director of the Special Education Division, out of the 1,000 special education programmes for primary schools, 84% of them are devoted to the learning disabled, while the visually and hearing impaired account for the remaining 16%.

The scenario is the same in secondary schools. More than 88% of the 479 special education programmes are apportioned to the learning disabled.

Will things improve with the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Act which came into force in July"

Critics have labelled the piece of legislation as a "toothless tiger" because there is no penalty for discrimination against PWDs.

Despite the creation of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, headed by the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, it has no power to compel other ministries to streamline or amend their laws to be consistent with those pertaining to PWDs.

The council can only "advise, consult, review and recommend" - all of which are non-legally binding, and thus carry little weight. Who then should be held accountable if PWDs have grievances against parties whom they deem as depriving them of their rights" Without the power to wield the stick, can the Act be the beacon of hope for the community that it is supposed to defend?

A case in point is employment. In April, the government introduced a non-binding policy that 1% of the workforce in the public sector be allocated to PWDs. According to the Public Service Commission, between 1996 and September 2008, a total of 608 PWDs had been recruited by the Government. On the average, it means only 43 persons are hired annually over the past 14 years. The only government agency that has exceeded the quota of 1% employment is the Social Welfare Department. According to its director-general Datuk Meme Zainal Rashid, there are 99 PWDs which account for 1.8% of its workforce.

A good start will be to make it mandatory for PWDs to register with the department. As it is, it remains a voluntary exercise. As of May this year, a total of 229,325 PWDs have been registered with the department when in actual fact, there should be at least 2.4 million based on the United Nations calculation.

The physically disabled also have their share of frustrations. Although there are by-laws to compel building owners to provide access for PWDs, there is a loophole that allows the local authorities to exempt the former from fulfilling their social obligation.

Boarding a bus for the wheelchair-dependent person remains a Herculean task, as noted by V. Murugeswaran, president of Damai Disabled Persons Association of Selangor and FT.

Maniam Sinnasamy, manager of Accessible Public Transportation Project in Penang, proposed that the Persons with Disabilities Act be reviewed to be consistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, of which Malaysia is a signatory.

More needs to be done to increase awareness of the Act and the UN convention. Maniam also stressed the need to introduce a new Anti-Discrimination Act.

In the final analysis, should there be cause for celebration with the Persons with Disabilities Act finally coming into place after a 15-year wait. Malaysia is now counted among the many countries that have legislations to safeguard the rights of PWDs.

What is the benchmark to determine the impact of the Act on the lives of the disabled in terms of access to public amenities, healthcare, social support, education and employment? The critical test is the implementation of the Act at ground level.

It boils down to whether there is political will to ensure that the spirit of the Act is manifested at every level, from planning to execution. Will there be a feedback mechanism between the Government and the PWDs for check and balance?

Clearly, there is much groundwork to be done before Malaysia can proclaim that she is among equals. Action speaks louder than words.