Walter, Fern, honourable guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning. Thank you for inviting me here today to kick off such a meaningful event. It gives me great pleasure to be part of this perfect example of empowerment in practice.

As some of you may know, I come from a background in academic research, specialising in social gerontology which, in layman’s terms, refers to the social and cultural aspects of ageing. And one of the things I’ve come to realise time and again is that despite advances in medicine, healthcare, technology, and what-have-you, the most ingrained obstacle to a dignified, fulfilling life for elderly people often stems from the assumptions and stereotypes around old age. Grumpy, forgetful, unproductive, burdensome… these are only some of the epithets commonly used to describe our fellow citizens from the older generations.

In much the same way, persons with disabilities, or PWDs, have to overcome not only their physical or mental impairment, but also the preconceptions society imposes on them. Instead of unique and talented individuals each with something to offer, they are lumped in the popular imagination into one homogeneous group – vulnerable, inadequate, and living off social welfare. If we follow this line of thinking, we will always see PWDs as a liability, and not an asset; hiring PWDs becomes a CSR gesture, a charitable act.

But that’s simply misguided. Just go and talk to all the employers in the house, including the EOC, and you would hear stories of the brilliant work done by lawyers on wheelchairs, programmers with autism, auditors with visual impairment, and other dedicated, passionate employees whose disability never once defines who they are, or limits what they are capable of. I dare say that the wealth of knowledge and expertise PWDs can contribute to our economy and society is far from being fully realised, but thanks to the capacity-building workshops and job-matching fairs that CareER organises year after year, we are starting to get the message out there, and more businesses are finding a win-win situation in including PWDs in their teams.

Indeed, I am glad to know banking and financial institutions like Morgan Stanley, HSBC and others are recruiting high-level consultants regardless of their physical disabilities. I am also hearing very encouraging feedbacks – that they have proven to be dedicated, loyal team members, and above all, not in any way less capable than other staff.

What we need then is a fundamental shift in perception, on the part of employers, co-workers and the general public. I am proud to say that over the past year, the EOC has been collaborating with RTHK on a large-scale awareness campaign called the Employment Equality Project. Designed to advocate inclusion of PWDs in the workplace, the project featured a 52-episode radio drama series broadcast on Radio 1 every Sunday, as well as videos on Youtube introducing employers of PWDs in Hong Kong. We also rolled out a writing competition inviting the public to share stories about their experience being PWDs or working with PWDs. The inaugural project ended in August and we are now working with RTHK in preparation for a second edition.

We will definitely keep up the work, and I hope that there will be many more events like this in the near future and more company booths here next year, as that would mean more opportunities for PWDs to unleash their potential.

Thank you once again for having me here today. Good luck finding your dream job, and may I wish you all a successful and fruitful career. Thank you very much.