SINGAPORE will soon be signing a global agreement that will commit the country to guaranteeing equal rights for disabled people in areas from the workplace to education and health care.
By the end of the year, it will become a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, joining 153 other countries that have made the pledge.
"We've been studying this. I think we aim to sign it by the end of the year," said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as he answered the sixth most voted-for question in a poll by Singapolitics.
Readers asked if the Government would do more for those with special needs, and urged it to sign the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
As the agreement was opened for signatures in 2007, PM Lee was asked why it had taken Singapore this long to commit to it.
He replied that carrying out the commitment in practical terms was more important than signing on the dotted line.
For example, the Government has been focusing on upgrading care and facilities for disabled children, making sure that neighbourhoods and public transport are barrier-free and accessible to wheelchair-bound people, and integrating children with dyslexia or mild autism into normal schools.
"Our attitude towards conventions is that it's easy to sign documents.
"But it's what you do in real life, which is the important thing," said Mr Lee, even as he acknowledged that the Government should and could do more for those with special needs.
Singapore's decision to sign the UN convention soon was quickly lauded.
"With that signing, it makes it a level playing field. What you give to able people, you give to the disadvantaged as well," said Mr Edmund Wan, president of the Handicaps Welfare Association.
But he also added that while physical infrastructure and facilities for disabled people have improved, some gaps remain in areas such as education and health.
It was a point that PM Lee acknowledged, saying he understood the burden that parents with disabled children faced.
But he also noted that the state has to draw a line at what it can provide. "Resources are finite, so at some point you have to decide, well, this is what we can do as a state," he said.
"We have to judge where that line is, which we can go to. And that's not always easy to do, but I think I can say in good conscience that we've done a lot more."
He cited Pathlight School and the Rainbow Centre as examples, and noted that the Government helped Rainbow build its Yishun Park facility.
Commenting on the contributions of parents, volunteers and school leaders like MP Denise Phua of Pathlight and Ms June Tham, the executive director of Rainbow, PM Lee said: "I think you need that balance: the Government contributing, supporting but also parents and the community having that passion to make things work."
Asked if the Government had been too slow in helping those with special needs, he replied: "In retrospect, we are always too slow. I think we have to continue to move. It's not easy because it's not just money. There's also the trained people and the social attitudes which have to shift."
For example, Singapore needs employers to be more prepared to look after or provide a sheltered environment for the disabled who need some support but are able to make a contribution.
Said Mr Lee: "I think that's still an education process."
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