SANDAKAN: People with visual impairment should seize opportunities to improve their life skills through training centres for this group, said Sabah Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya.
He said the training centres were able to train the group to be independent in life, even able to get a job or run their own business.
“Parents and the public who have visually impaired family members or friends should give them the opportunity to learn to live independently by sending them to training centres such as Pusat Latihan Taman Cahaya (in Sandakan).
“This is so that they can learn skills and unearth the talents that are within them,” he said at the opening of the Sabah State-level World Sight Day celebrations, here, Thursday.
The text of his speech was delivered by his Assistant Minister Datuk Julita Majungki.
Shahelmey said the Taman Cahaya Training Centre has produced successful trainees to become independent and some are also able to contribute to the national economy.
“Out of the number of trainees who completed their training at the Taman Cahaya Training and Skills Centre, 88 per cent managed to get jobs, and some even opened their own businesses.
“Many of them have also found employment by working at reflexology centres around Sabah. There are also those who produce basket weaving handicrafts that have penetrated the market and agricultural products have also been well received,” he said.
Meanwhile, National Council for the Blind Malaysia (NCBM) President Datuk Rosalind Chew said the community should have a vision screening at least once a year to ensure good eyesight.
“Do not be afraid or worried if you are diagnosed with vision problems. It does not mean that your future will be dark. You can still continue your life by following rehabilitation training,” she said.
— EDITOR
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