Remarks from Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua at the Taskforce on Assurance for Families with Persons with Disabilities Press Conference

Good Friday afternoon, everybody. Thank you for being here to shine a spotlight on disability conditions.

1.                  Let me focus on what inclusion should look like in everyday life. Our aim is to empower and enable persons with disabilities to participate more fully in the community, in the spaces where they live, learn, work and play.

2.                  To us, inclusion is not only about having the right services or the right support. At its heart, it is about belonging. It is about whether persons with disabilities feel welcomed, whether they can build relationships with people around them, take part in activities they enjoy, and feel like they are part of the communities that they live in.

3.                  During our engagements with persons with disabilities and caregivers, many of them shared that they may have fewer opportunities to travel or access leisure activities even in Singapore. That makes our neighbourhoods, our leisure spaces as well as our local attractions especially important.

4.                  If you think about it, inclusion should not mean creating separate spaces for persons with disabilities. It should mean making the spaces we already share welcoming for everyone.

5.                  Earlier this year, I organised an informal picnic for families with persons with disabilities that I know from my years in the sector at Marina Barrage. It was a simple experience. It struck me as a bit of a mini epiphany because it was simple, but at the same time very important, of how that experience taught me that families spending time together, whether you have a family member with a disability or otherwise, enjoying a public space and will make you feel like you are part of the wider community.

6.                  My epiphany was this - that simply being a part of the community should be ordinary. Inclusion should be ordinary too. Persons with disabilities and their families should never feel that they have to remain on the margins of community life.

7.                  This is why the Taskforce’s recommendations seek to strengthen support that is close to home, while working with partners to make our malls, neighbourhoods and local attractions more welcoming and accessible.

8.                  We also want community-based support to play a much broader role. Beyond providing care, these services should help persons with disabilities continue learning, develop greater independence where they can, build meaningful relationships and at the end of the day remain engaged in the community throughout their lives.

9.                  To support this, we will evolve the adult disability community care model by first expanding the capacity of Day Activity Centres as well as Sheltered Workshops, and over time, we will transit towards Enabling Skills Centres, which rolls out the Enabling Skills for Life programme. In addition, we will also establish nine new Enabling Services Hubs, bringing stronger support closer to where people live.

10.             Ultimately, services should be a bridge to participation, confidence and a strong sense of belonging.

11.             I have seen this in Queenstown, which is one of five pilot sites of the Enabled Living Programme. Since the pilot started in December last year, ELP residents in Queenstown have joined community celebrations like National Day, family carnivals and many others and they are progressively being introduced to the local hawkers, community leaders, and grassroot leaders. Slowly but surely, they have become familiar faces in the Queenstown community.

12.             This is what the Taskforce thinks inclusion should look like: not a programme on the sidelines, but really, participation in the life of the community.

13.             We want to take this even further - working with our grassroots organisations and community partners on the ground, we want to pilot, in Queenstown and Marine Parade, ways to make inclusion a way of life in our neighbourhoods. Not through one-off activities, but by creating more opportunities for persons with and without disabilities to meet, participate and contribute alongside one another.

14.             Creating an inclusive community cannot be the responsibility of the Government, SG Enable or even service providers alone. We need businesses, community organisations and every Singaporean to play a part.

15.             Sometimes, inclusion can begin with something quite simple. I always advocate for “more care, less stare.”  Instead of seeing disability first, let us first see the person. Instead of holding back because we are unsure of what to do or what to say, let us make the effort to engage, include and understand.

16.             The more opportunities we have to meet, to work alongside and get to know one another, the more naturally inclusion can become part of everyday life. Ultimately, we want every person, regardless of ability, to feel at home in Singapore. Singapore is our home.

17.             Physical accessibility matters too. As part of a local effort recently in Queenstown to look again at our public infrastructure and improve last-mile accessibility, I recently went around Queen’s Close in a wheelchair.

18.             It was frankly an enlightening experience for me. A slight slope, an uneven surface or even a small bump that many of us barely notice can make moving around considerably harder in a wheelchair. It reminded me that accessibility is not only about major projects or moves in terms of infrastructure. It is also about the small details that determine whether somebody can move confidently and independently through the community.

19.             As we continue this journey, not every interaction will be perfect for sure. We may not always know the right thing to say or do, and sometimes we may get it wrong. What is more important is the spirit of it all. What matters is that we are willing to understand, learn and at the same time in the process, to do better.

20.             The Taskforce’s recommendations can put in place the pathways and support. But ultimately, an inclusive Singapore is built through what each of us does every day, in our communities, our workplaces, and our neighbourhoods that we live in.

21.             We want to move beyond care alone, we want to move towards a society where persons with disabilities can participate, contribute, build relationships and belong.

22.             A society where everyone, regardless of ability, can feel at home is one that we can truly call home. That will require all of us to play a part. Thank you.

大家下午好。

1.       今天，我想谈谈，‘包容’在日常生活中应该是什么样子：让‘残障人士’更积极地参与社区生活，真正成为社区的一分子。

2.       包容，不只是‘服务’和‘支援’，包容的核心是归属感。残障人士是否得到接纳，能不能建立关系，真正参与社区生活，才是重点。

3.       我们与‘残障人士和家人’交流时了解到，他们可能较少有机会出行或参与休闲活动。因此，‘社区空间’对他们尤其重要。包容，不应该是另外为残障人士开辟一套空间，而是让我们共同使用的空间欢迎每一个人。

4.       今年5月，我在滨海堤坝为一些我认识的残障人士家庭办了一场野餐。大家聚在一起，享受公共空间，自在地成为社区的一分子。融入社区，本来就应该是一件很平常的事。

5.       因此，我们希望日常生活中的空间更友善、更方便、更包容。社区支援不能只停留在生活上的照顾，我们也应该帮助残障人士继续学习、提升生活技能、建立关系、参与社区。

6.       为了做到这一点，我们将进一步加强社区里的支援。我们将增加‘日间活动中心’和‘庇护工场’名额，并逐步转型为包容技能中心（Enabling Skills Centres）。同时，我们将增设九个包容残障服务中心（Enabling Services Hubs），把支援带到更靠近住家的地方。服务最终应该成为通往参与、自信和归属的桥梁。

7.       在女皇镇，我也开始看到这一点。女皇镇是 Enabled Living Programme（ELP）五个试点之一。ELP居民参加国庆庆祝活动、家庭嘉年华等社区活动，也开始认识附近的小贩和社区领袖。慢慢地，他们也逐渐成为了社区里熟悉的面孔。

8.       这才是包容应该有的样子：让残障人士自然地参与社区生活，成为社区的一分子。我们也会与基层组织和社区伙伴合作，在女皇镇和马林百列试行不同做法，让包容成为邻里生活的一部分，让大家有更多机会相互认识、一起参与、一起贡献。

9.      建设包容的社区，不能只靠政府、新协立或服务机构，也需要更多企业、社区组织和每一位新加坡人的大力支持。我经常说：More care, less stare：多一点关怀，少一点异样眼光。 不要只看到一个人的残障，更要看到他这个人。

10.     我们彼此认识的机会越多，包容就越自然。最终，我们希望每一个人，都能在新加坡感到被接纳，也真正觉得自己属于这个家园。

11.     在推动包容的过程中，我们有时难免说的不对、做得不够好。可是，最重要的是“精神”：我们愿意多了解、多学习、做得更好吗？

12.     工作小组可以建立制度、途径和支援，但一个包容的社区，最终还是要靠我们每个人共同建立。我们希望做到，不只是提供生活上的支援，更要让残障人士能够参与、贡献、建立关系、拥有归属感。让每一个人，都能真正感到：我属于这个家园。而这份归属感，要靠我们每一个人共同创造。

13.     谢谢。