'Is City Hall hiring disabled people?'

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

Fitri Wulandari, 30, works in Central Jakarta. She lives in Bintaro, Tangerang:

I think Jakarta should increase its disabled-friendly infrastructure. For example, lower steps in buses, toilets for the disabled, trains or bus tickets with braille letters for the blind.

I think Plaza Senayan in South Jakarta is a good example of a shopping mall that provides good infrastructure for the disabled.

In my honest opinion, generally, we are simply too busy to care about their welfare. For example, how many companies are there in the city that hire people crippled by polio?

And in City Hall itself, there might not even be any disabled people working there. Isn't one of the requirements for a person who wishes to be a civil servant to be "of able body"?

People may lose the function of a part of their body, but that does not mean they are not healthy, or smart.

Ali Sofiawan, 32, is a communications officer for environmental non-governmental organization Kehati in South Jakarta. He lives in Slipi, West Jakarta:

There really aren't many public facilities that disabled people can use, although in some areas in the city there are facilities they could use such as hospitals and shopping malls. But even those are mostly for people in wheelchairs, and not for people with other forms of disabilities.

The government pays little attention to disabled people, but there have been efforts such as making lower sidewalks and bank notes with special marks that the blind can recognize.

But I guess it's understandable that the government hasn't made the disabled a priority, because it still has other major concerns such as the economy to worry about.

The society should take care of disabled people, but the way I see it, if they're not directly involved with the disabled, such as family or friends, people have little concern.

But I think people would still go out of their way to help a blind person cross the road, for example. That's just the way we are.

-- The Jakarta Post