People with special needs can make better workers
Published on: Friday, November 15, 2019
By: Sherell Jeffrey
KOTA KINABALU: Employing people with special needs might raise second thoughts among most employers, but there are those who have no qualms.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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He said if given proper training and proper work routine, those with special needs are more dedicated in their duties.
“Abled workers can sometimes be very ‘funny’. They concoct excuses to not show up for work, while those with special needs can be very hardworking and dedicated once given the proper routine and training,” said Wong who has a few employees with special needs (slow learners).
He said this after attending the Cheshire ATI College Intake 2018 Certificate Presentation Ceremony at the Palace Hotel, here, which saw 35 trainees with special needs receiving their certificates in basic pastry and basic housekeeping skills.
Wong, however, admitted that sometimes workers with special needs do not respond immediately when asked to do something.
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“They can be quite slow in responding, but this is part and parcel of engaging those with special needs. But again this is not a problem, like I said, they can be even better than abled employees,” he said.
He said ATI College, in collaboration with Cheshire Home, started offering courses for special needs students since 2010.
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“Every year we have roughly 30 to 50 special needs students, which roughly sums up to about 5,000 to 10,000 disabled students since we started implementing the courses in 2011,” he said, adding that courses offered are in housekeeping, pastry as well as on food and beverage.
He also said he doesn’t like the word OKU (Orang Kurang Upaya) which describes them as handicapped people.
“Calling them OKU is a concept which I think the Government should change.
“I prefer referring to them as special people, because they have special needs, they have special abilities. If you go to some advanced countries, you will see people with no hands but can do better with their legs, each with their own specialities, and some can draw and write very well.
“It all depends on how we train them and make them more adaptable and more useful to society. This is something the Malaysian Government should look into seriously,” he said.
Meanwhile, Palace Hotel Human Resource Executive, Phyllis Moluntang, shared the same sentiment of not having any issues in employing people with special needs.
“They are actually not OKU, they are just people with special needs. They may be a bit slow but they are still capable of getting instructions from their superior,” she said, adding that there are several special needs employees working in the hotel.
“I guess it depends on each individual, either they would want to have this special people or not, but it is best to give them a chance,” she said.
The Palace Hotel is among disabled-friendly hotels in the city with a dedicated room for those on wheelchairs.
Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa is another which has no problems when it comes to employing those with special needs.
Its General Manager Timothy Sainsbury said currently they have 16 employees with special needs, nine of whom are full time employees in various departments such as engineering, food and beverages, recreation, finance and housekeeping.
Three are active internship currently at the food and beverage services, while one just completed his internship in July 2019 in laundry and four are part-timers in the laundry and housekeeping departments.
