HONG KONG'S blind and visually impaired people have one of the best opportunities in Asia, if not the world, to make the most of their lives, an expert says.
Ebenezer School for the Blind director and principal Dr Simon Leung Man-on said despite the shortage of welfare the territory's 16,000 visually disabled have higher chances of living more independent lives than those in most other countries.
He said the fact Hong Kong now had so many visually disabled professionals was due to wider acceptance in the community.
Dr Leung said the education opportunities now offered to visually handicapped students were among the best in Asia. And these people now make up a substantial portion of the territory's workforce, with almost 1,600 visually impaired people working in the civil service alone.
Dr Leung said times had changed since employers thought of blind people as being suitable only for jobs such as a telephone operator.
Dr Steven Fung, lecturer in physics at the University of Hong Kong, who is himself visually impaired, agreed that awareness of and education for the handicapped had risen greatly, but believes there is still room for improvement in employment terms.
