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No one wants to give me job

 

They want to be independent working adults, but the odds are often stacked against the disabled.

Alvin Lim

 

Sat, Dec 31, 2011

The New Paper

 

HE IS unable to raise a spoon to his mouth to eat, but he wants to be independent and to earn his own keep.

 

So Mr Wesley Wee, 32, shuttles between his Jurong West flat and Orchard Road every day, peddling his wares on a basket attached to his motorised wheelchair.

 

Mr Wee has cerebral palsy, in which part of the brain controlling motor functions has been damaged. As a result, he suffers from multiple disabilities from head down.

 

He can speak, but not without difficulty - stringing together a sentence requires intense concentration and coordination.

 

The New Paper met Mr Wee outside the Mandarin Gallery mall at Orchard Road, where he was with a female friend, who identified herself as his minder and said she was a Filipina. She declined to give her name.

 

Attached to his wheelchair was a basket of keychains, pointers, pens and packets of tissue paper. An accompanying notice read: "Help yourself to what you want, and drop in a donation: Any amount."

 

Mr Wee has been living with a pastor since June, after he moved out of his family home - an HDB flat in Toa Payoh which he shared with his mother.

 

His father died in 2000 from liver cancer.

 

Mr Wee had lived with his grandmother in her flat in Changi since he was a child. She was his primary caregiver until she died in 1998, and he moved back with his parents.

 

He said: "I miss my grandmother because she would hug me and tell me she loved me."

 

He is now estranged from his family.

 

Home is now a rented room in his church pastor's Jurong West flat, and the rent is a nominal fee that he pays "whenever he makes enough money".

 

Mr Wee said he does not want to stay in a welfare home as it would "limit his freedom". "I want to be independent," he said.

 

He shares the room with his Filipina friend, whom he met at his church in Ang Mo Kio.

 

She stays with him whenever she visits Singapore, and occasionally takes him back to the Philippines to stay with her family.

 

Mr Wee's friends from church paid for his trips.

 

She said: "There is no one to take care of Wesley here, so I am constantly worried for him."

 

Mr Wee said he was previously on the North East Community Development Council's public assistance scheme for a year in 2008, which gave him a monthly sum of $200.

 

But he did not apply for a second year as he found the amount insufficient and decided to earn his own keep.

 

He applied for a licence from the National Environment Agency under its street hawking scheme.

 

Mr Wee was successful in his application and was given a licence to peddle his wares - keychains, tissue paper and ballpoint pens - but only within HDB estates in Punggol, Pasir Ris and Tampines.

 

Said Mr Wee: "I decided to earn money on my own because $200 was not enough for people like me.

 

"My wheelchair already costs $5,000, and that was donated by friends and nice people who wanted to help me.

 

"My wheelchair is my life� without it, I cannot go anywhere."

 

Mr Wee said he was initially "overjoyed" to get his licence. But the euphoria swiftly turned to disappointment at the lack of earnings.

 

He said: "I sat at different locations at Punggol every day for a week, but nobody came to buy my things."

 

"I wasn't allowed to sell under some HDB blocks or the nearby coffee shops... And there were very few passers-by.

 

'How can I live with $20?'

 

"I made only $20 in that whole week... how can I live with $20?"

 

Mr Wee learnt to use the computer seven years ago at the Society for the Physically Disabled, which offers courses for people with disabilities to enhance their employment chances.

 

He picked up office and design programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Adobe Photoshop. Yet, he has been unsuccessful in getting employment.

 

"No one wants to give me a job... I have been rejected at every job interview I attended.

 

"If I don't do this, how am I going to get money? I need to work because I have to provide for myself," added Mr Wee.

 

He takes a bus and the train to Orchard Road, where he peddles his wares.

 

Mr Wee said the higher traffic enables him to earn about "$50 or $60 on good days", and he makes about $500 a month.

 

A sign that his minder placed on his wheelchair reads: "I need to support myself, but I am not allowed to sell things. Can you please help me?"

 

Mr Wee still harbours hopes of finding a job to match his skills.

 

He said: "What normal people can do, I can do also...

 

"One day, I want to be married and find a wife for myself. I want to lead a normal life. Everybody needs to be happy and they deserve to be with their loved ones."

 

Mr Sim Ngee Mong, a senior social worker at the Covenant Family Service Centre, told TNP that job opportunities for the disabled are hard to come by, and that the jobs pay little.

 

He noted that the social assistance schemes "should be adequate" to meet basic needs.

 

"The schemes are constantly reviewed...but of course, the frequency of the reviews needs to be considered.

 

"What can be improved? I suppose more regular reviews, but the root of the problem is rising costs, which is inevitable. I think we should look into preventing costs from rising too fast and too much," said Mr Sim.

 

He added: "It is good that people like Mr Wee try to be independent - otherwise we would all have a welfare mentality.

 

"There are many people like him but on the other hand, there are also many who go around looking for handouts."

 

 

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Our govt rather use tax payers money to sponsor foreigners for skill upgrading and studying, than to provide slightly better welfare for the needy.

 

Because these needy are a burden to the society and foreigners contributes tax to the govt, increase GDP. Hard truth.

Edited by Pchmj
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those driving fast cars and living big houses should donate all their savings to him.

 

 

 

if the mini stars' or mps' can each donate half of their one month salary to him.....he jiak buay liao......

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Our govt rather use tax payers money to sponsor foreigners for skill upgrading and studying, than to provide slightly better welfare for the needy.

 

Because these needy are a burden to the society and foreigners contributes tax to the govt, increase GDP. Hard truth.

I believe to be otherwise. Just because Elites seldom on wheelchair. They just provide lip service when they encounter one.

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Thank you for all the political hard truths education here in MCF.

What changes? Nothing. Not until all of you goes to Heaven, will you all experience the real equality.

 

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I heard some beggar are doing very well. I guess its all about location, somewhere near temple will be good. A few hundred per day no problem.

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