PETALING JAYA: Budget 2023, which has included special incentives to increase the number of new OKU taskas, will help more children with special needs to access early intervention programmes and increase their chances of a brighter future.
National Autism Society of Malaysia (Nasom) chairman Julian Wong said the RM1.2bil to enhance the potential of OKU to earn a living was in line with Nasom’s initiative to train and develop young adults to be employed in the workforce.
“We hope these allocations can help us develop effective programmes as many ageing parents are starting to worry about their growing teenage children on the spectrum,” he said.
Among the incentives for those with special needs is RM1.2bil for chronic patient care aid, an allowance for those unable to work and an allowance for disabled workers.
To encourage entrepreneurship among OKU, the 1 OKU 1 Business scheme will be enhanced by exempting the registration and business licence renewal fees.
In addition, a sum of RM20mil was allocated to improve the facilities and teaching aid/equipment of special needs schools, and funds will be channelled to OKU-friendly call centres (Pusat Panggilan Mesra OKU).
“The aid will reduce the economic burden and pressure faced by Malaysians, especially the B40 group and those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“With RM10mil worth of ehailing travel vouchers, we hope that the OKU will be able to travel more freely,” said Wong.
Paraplegic and founder of social enterprise PWD Smart FarmAbility, Dr Billy Tang, said the allocations for OKU were welcomed but hoped that the impact from the initiatives and benefits would reach the right target groups.
“These allocations must be quantifiable, and there must be figures of how many OKU have benefited and their lives have been improved as a result of such allocations,” he said.
