Over 150 from the disabled community registered with a total of 16 employers brought in from all over Perak at the job fair for the differently abled (OKU Job Fair 2018), a joint venture of Yayasan Sultan Idris Shah (YSIS) and Persatuan DAYBREAK in collaboration with Department of Labour, Department of Social Welfare, Perak State Education Department and Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers Perak.
Held recently at YSIS, positions were offered by participating companies such as Carsem (M) Sdn Bhd, Finisar Malaysia Sdn Bhd, 7-Eleven Malaysia Sdn Bhd, M Roof Hotel & Residences, Mydin Mohamed Holding Berhad, Bukit Merah Convenience Store Sdn Bhd, Comfort Rubber Gloves Industries Sdn Bhd and Twenty4 Sdn Bhd among others.
“Why do you need to employ someone who is disabled? Statistics have shown that there is low absenteeism, better safety records, lower turnover, equal productivity, motivation to work, dedication and loyalty,” Dato’ Dr Ramanathan Ramiah, CEO of YSIS explained.
“What are the benefits for employers? If you pay RM1000 ringgit as salary, you are allowed another RM1000 as tax rebate for your company. There is also provision for equipment and facilities. You can spend money to renovate and buy equipment for special deserving people who work. For inland revenue, the employer is also given rebate for training programmes and so on for people with disabilities,” he added.
As for a person with disability who works, he or she would get an additional allowance of RM400 from the Department of Social Welfare if his or her wage is less than RM1200 per month. Meanwhile, the Inland Revenue Board would provide additional personal tax deduction of RM6000.
“As of June 30, there are a total of 474,579 OKU registered with the Department of Social Welfare. From the figure, 168,051 have physical disabilities, 164,600 with learning disabilities, 42,440 with vision impairment, 39,450 with mental disabilities, 35,384 with hearing impairment, 2469 with speech disorder and 22,185 with other disabilities,” stated Sivanesan Achalingam, Executive Councillor for Civil Society, Consumer Affairs, National Integration, Human Resources and Health who represented Menteri Besar, Ahmad Faizal Azumu.
Present were the M. Kulasegaran, Human Resources Minister, Howard Lee Chuan How, the Executive Councillor for Youth and Sports and Dr Ko Chung Sen, Adun for Kepayang.
“I thank the YSIS management team for making a sacrifice above the call of duty to serve these people,” Kula expressed during the press conference.
“The Para Sukma Games would be held a month after the Sukma games end. We are glad to announce that a fund of RM250,000 has been approved for the training of Para Sukma athletes who are competing,” Howard Lee shared.
YSIS is located at Lot 158413, Lorong Bercham 11, Bercham, 31400 Ipoh. Call 05 548 1905 or visit ysis.org.my for more details.
Mei Kuan
