'Allocate jobs to disabled people'

Every year countries around the world, including Indonesia, mark Dec. 3 as International Day of Disabled Persons. But, how much attention do we give to disabled people? The Jakarta Post interviewed some city residents.

Annisa, 22, is a student of a private university in Jakarta. She lives in a rented room in Senen, Central Jakarta.

Compared to what other countries, especially Western countries, do, I think we do not give enough respect to disabled people here in Indonesia. Very often disabled people are seen as burdens.

If we want to help them we must make them feel useful to society so that they can have dignity. This is what I mean by respect. I think disabled people can do a lot of jobs and activities.

I believe that God is just. Many disabled people have unique talents and can do things that normal people can't do.

Take, for instance, Stevie Wonder. He is blind but everybody acknowledges that he is musical genius. However, if a blind person had a similar talent in Indonesia, he would not be given the chance. This is because we do not give them enough access in most fields, including music.

Rieka, 35, is a teacher at an international school in Jakarta. She lives with her husband and children in Meruya, West Jakarta.

My first concern if we talk about disabled people is how to make them useful to society, just like a normal person so that they are not burdens.

I think the government must have a special policy on this issue. You see many disabled people are capable of doing many jobs. For instance, I think people in wheelchairs or on crutches could make good teachers or singers, or even telephone operators. Many blind people have good voices so they could become singers.

So, the question is, are we willing to allocate certain jobs to disabled people? The government has the ultimate responsibility for making sure that certain jobs are made available to disabled people. It can also issue regulations requiring companies to allocate a portion of their jobs to disabled people.

--The Jakarta Post