My highest priority is ExtraOrdinary Horizons. I will be the EOH and EOH will be us - "land of dreams by deaf". Busy with editing videos, revising work... At the same time, I need some motivation because I'm on my own most of the times. Good thing, the team is in cooperation.
This time seems GE Election season... GE Fever! Alvan Yap shared his thoughts/views with us through emails and I really appreciated his efforts.
Alvan wrote:
"I came across this with regard to Workers' Party manifesto, the section on people with disabilities (http://www.scribd.com/doc/
The first point is:
The government should ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and take a whole-of-government approach to ensure that its key provisions are implemented in Singapore.
Which made me go, huh? We didn't ratify it?
So I googled and.. hey, up pops my Sylvia!
http://www.asiaone.com/News/
Which led me to more googling..
.. and so. This means our government doesn't agree with the convention:
"The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights instrument of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. Parties to the Convention are required to promote, protect, and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities and ensure that they enjoy full equality under the law."
I guess, in the eyes of the government, people with disabilities are less than human.
Hey, that's us!
Update: Alfred has shared the good news with me. (Thanks, Alfred!)
From Dr Vivian's parliamentary speech in March this year:
> And therefore, I would also be in a position to inform Ms Fatimah Lateef that we will accede to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, and we will do so by next year.
Good, right?
One can be a cynic and say, oh, they do it because it's so embarrassing S'pore is the only country in Southeast Asia -- together with Myanmar -- which has not ratify this convention yet. (Thanks, Benedict, for the info. He didn't contribute the cynicism though, please note :P)
Or one can say, wah! our government is so caring and loving! I wanna hug Dr V!
:)"
Some of you may not be his readers. He is one of our Deaf Voices in Singapore, and his area focus is deaf human rights and deaf education. You can see, a few of us have been working hard to emerge as representing the voices of Deaf communities in Singapore. In the same time, we have been protecting our culture and sign language that may be extinct one day. However, deafness still runs in our blood! =)
Alright, I may not update this blog regularly. Gonna be busy with EOH projects... Now, I got fever. On and off... Didn't see the doctor, but I'm on panadol-medication in order to control my work entitlements of 7 days' medical leave. I got to step up on my work progress...! Give me strength... *praying*
May God bless everyone with good health...!
You're right, the government of Singapore should be embarassed that it has not signed up to the UNCRPD.
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