theSun | WEDNESDAY JANUARY 21 2009 15

speak up!

t h e s u n s a y s

Too much is expected

of Obama
THE UNITED STATES has a new president
in Barack Obama, the country’s first African-
American president, and his inauguration marks
the complete acceptance of members of his
community as Americans by other Americans.
The new USA took a long time coming into be-
ing and has finally emerged after more than
a hundred years of extreme discrimination of
a people beginning with the time when they
first arrived on the shores of their new home
as slaves. It is significant that the inauguration
of Obama should be preceded by the birthday
celebrations of Martin Luther King, the slain Afri-
can-American civil rights activist, who fought to
end racial segregation and racial discrimination
while opposing US foreign wars saying that the
money could be better spent to help the poor
in the country.
Coming from a community that had suf-
fered, Obama is expected to understand better
the pain of discriminated peoples elsewhere.
Perhaps he could understand better the pain
of such homeless people as the Palestinians,
the Kurds and others and the brutal treatment
of them in areas where they now live. As leader
of the most powerful country on earth he could
perhaps embark on policies that could help
expedite the almost abandoned process of the
creation of a homeland for the Palestinians who
had until a day or two ago been pulverized in
Gaza by the much superior military power of
Israel. Of course, there are other matters at
home and abroad that require the attention of
the 44th US president, especially the deepening
of global recession, but giving some regard to
the sufferings of peoples without homes could
earn him some plaudits and goodwill and
maybe even the undying gratitude from many
people from around the globe. No doubt his first
concern, as it should indeed be, is the welfare
and the wellbeing of Americans and to ensure
that they do not lose their jobs and their homes
during the economic crisis.
And considering that the situation is becom-
ing graver by the day and the demand on his
energies and time on resolving it, many people
outside the US are already revising and ton-
ing down their earlier high expectation of his
administration in resolving international issues.
Already without embarking on new initiatives,
his foreign policy plate is full as he has inherited
much from his unpopular predecessor, George
W. Bush. Thus, besides the Palestinian prob-
lem, he will be preoccupied with disengaging
from Iraq, ending the war in Afghanistan and
disengaging from that country and dealing with
complications in efforts to close Guantanamo
Bay prison. We wish him all the luck.

There’s hidden talent near you

by Daniel
Chandranayagam
THE year 2009 began on an
encouraging note for me.
I met a young man work-
ing with a large publishing
house. He reminds me a
little of me several years
ago, but for a few things. He
is visually impaired in one
eye and is hearing impaired.
However, his employer is
blind to this, as the young
worker is afforded the same
privileges, salary, benefits,
etc as his co-workers with
the same qualifications and
experience.
Could this have something
to do with the Persons With
Disabilities Act 2008?
In August 2008, Women
Family and Community De-
velopment Minister Datuk Dr
Ng Yen Yen was reported to
have said, “With the enforce-
ment of the Act, (persons
with disabilities) will … also
have … improved employ-
ment opportunities…”
At that time, I wondered
how a piece of legislation
could improve the employ-
ment opportunities for per-
sons with disabilities. Would
there be affirmative action,
like creating a compulsory
quota? Or would there be
inverted legal presumptions,
such as the presumption that
a disabled person was not
given a job because of her
disability, rather than the
disabled person having to
prove her case?
When I finally managed
to read the Act, I again won-
dered what Dr Ng meant, for
section 29(1) on employment
states simply: Persons with
disabilities shall have the
right to access to employment
on equal basis with persons
without disabilities.
Quite how this will “im-
prove employment opportu-
nities” for disabled persons
Freespace
Where young views rule
is beyond me. It seems to me
that critics are wrong, the
Persons With Disabilities Act
is not a toothless tiger, it is a
friendly rabbit.
Possibly the biggest grouse
under the Act is that there
are no punitive measures.
For example, under section
29(2), an employer shall
“protect the rights of persons
with disabilities, on equal
basis with persons without
disabilities, to just and fa-
vourable conditions of work,
including equal opportunities
and equal remuneration for
work of equal value, safe and
healthy working conditions,
protection from harassment
and the redress of griev-
ances.”
What happens if an em-
ployer does not do this? The
Act offers no solution and no
legal redress to aggrieved
persons.
The National Council
for Persons With Disabili-
ties, established under the
Act, is tasked “to promote
employment opportunities
and career advancement for
persons with disabilities in
the labour market, as well as
assistance in finding or ob-
taining employment on equal
basis with persons without
disabilities”.
The most glaring of all the
questions arising from this
statement (and there are a fair
number) is what happens if
the council does not promote
employment opportunities
or assist registered persons
with disabilities in finding
or obtaining employment?
Related to this is the question
of what happens when they
do assist in finding or obtain-
ing employment for persons
with disabilities but fail in the
endeavour. What then?
Unsurprisingly, in keep-
ing with the tepid spirit of
the Act, the council is given
no powers to penalise errant
businesses or regulate other
ministries as to their proc-
esses in relation to persons
with disabilities.
Obviously then, the fact
that the young man I men-
tioned earlier having ob-
tained a good job has nothing
to do with the Act. In fact, I
discovered that the employer
has an equal employment
opportunity goal, regardless
of “race, creed, colour, reli-
gion, sex, age, national origin,
marital status, citizenship,
sexual orientation, disability,
…” The company’s policy
is to “select, develop, and
promote employees based
on individual ability and job
performance.” Good for them
and good for him.
One of the employment
trends in the US, it has been
reported, is a newfound ap-
preciation of what people
with disabilities can bring to
the workplace. This young
man I talked about earlier is
a speed reader, finishing off
pages in seconds. I wonder
how much talent is going
untapped in Malaysia. What-
ever it is, I’m not convinced
the Persons With Disabilities
Act will bring this talent into
the workforce.
Daniel freelances in writing
and publishing, and has a
deep passion for sleeping, eat-
ing and labour law. He can be
reached at pottedplot.com.