Fruitless struggle for her betterment

After witnessing the predicament faced by my student, I am now bewildered and reserved on the assertion that education is for betterment of life.


Ms Khu, an OKU student of mine, became a quadriplegic after a horrific accident in 1999. She was paralysed from the neck injured and has to be seated in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Because of her immobile and asymmetrical condition, her mother quit her job and took care of her full time. Incidentally her mother was illiterate but she knew the importance and role of education. Under her constant advice and infusion, her daughter, Khu, realized the importance of the education for her survival on the route for her future independent living.


Before the fate-changed accident, Khu was a high school student in Kedah. The accident had derailed her study as her movement was confined to bed and wheel-chair in her daily activities. Realizing the importance to her especially as an OKU, two years after the accident, she went back to school continuing her high school education. After completing her high school education, Khu decided to further her study in Tuanku Abdul Rahman (TAR) college in Penang. This was the time when I knew her through the former President of Society of Disabled Persons Penang.


Since Khu moved to Penang, she had been under my guidance as an English teacher for numerous years. My sharing with her and my constant emphasis to her was that Education was for her life betterment and the solution for independent living. I reiterated that only knowledge with wisdom enriched from education, obstacles and hindrance in life will be solved, cleared or reduced. Khu’s never-say-die attitude had railed her through high school education, first-class honors degree in Social Sciences and finally master-degrees in Sociology.


However, it seemed to me that I had misled her that education would definitely help her as till to date, despite her many attempts she still could not find a job to enable her to gain a humble living. After completion of her master-degree course in USM almost 7 years till now has been struggling but repeatedly failing to get employed both in private and public sectors. Despite her quadriplegic condition, when she was called for an interview she would attend irrespective the distance. Once, she even travelled to Bangi from Penang to attend the interview with her limited monthly income spending on travelling and lodging. But the end result was the same and unsuccessful!


What a sarcasm to my repeated encouragement and advice to her that only education was the right route for her to weather the storm in her future in spite of her quadriplegic. I am in dilemma whether her frequent failures to get jobs would discourage her to share her experience of her achievement to motivate students especially those OKU as she was often invited by some schools showcasing on stages disseminate her challenges in her studying life as a student.


To me, if she gets employed she can be an exemplary model for other OKU to follow. But now clearly and surely her repeated failure may dim the hope as a model for those unfortunate that education is for betterment of life. It is a setback and also a disappointment to her. Hopefully, fighting spirit will be always with her and the present failure to secure a job will not erode her confidence.


Our government has, time and again, called on public sector to employ more disabled people or OKU in the workforce in order to achieve one per cent employment target. To this appeal, I wonder have the various government departments taken the initiative to answer this persuasion?