Macao Country Report 2014

 Macau People with Visually Impaired Right Promotion Association

 

World Blind Union

Asia-Pacific Mid-Term Regional Assembly

Reporting Country/Territory:         China Macau

Name of Person Reporting:  (Albert) Cheong Chi Pong

                                                President

                 Macau People with Visually Impaired Right Promotion Association

 

 

 

ABOUT THE Macau People with Visually Impaired Right Promotion Association

Macau People with Visually Impaired Right Promotion Association (MPVIRPA) is the first self-directed and non-profit organization established by a group of People with Visually Impaired and their family in Macau. In 2014, we became member of The World Blind Union (WBU) and the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA).  On 2014, beside MPVIRPA, Macau has two organizations they claim they work blind and people with visually impaired.  MPVIRPA is the only self-direct organization in Macau and 80% of our board members are people with visually impaired and 20% are family members. Also we are the only organization who promote self-advocacy and system change advocacy for the blind and visually impaired in Macau.

 

 

Vision

Our goal is to work with the people with visually impaired to adapt to society, reinforce public awareness of the people with visually impaired and their families’ difficulties and inner feelings, promote society to provide support to the visually impaired and their families, and to strengthen connections and mutual help between the visually impaired and their family as they moving forward in their lives.

 

 

Mission

To serve and ensure that the blinds and people with visually impaired are full economic partners, both within their families and in a fully accessible community.  We aim to understand the problems of our members in order to provide assistance, care and counselling services to them. Provide more understanding to the difficulties of the people with visually impaired and blind people faced, foster independence and self-confidence, and explore their potential talents so as to help them overcome obstacles in daily lives. MPVIRPA aims to eliminate prejudice, advocate for their rights and benefits.  Initiate to work with, to consult and cooperate with related organizations worldwide to enhance and to improve services for people with visually impaired and blind people in Macau.

Status of the Blind and Visually Impaired in Macau

 

Population

The blind and visually impaired is around a thousand as reported by the Macau Social Welfare Bureau.

 

Transportation

In Macau, only one bus line (4) has assistive technology to let blind and visually impaired can access the public transportation. The department of transportation is planning to make one more bus line with assistive technology in year 2015.  And when will the whole bus system have the assistive technology to let the blind and people with visually impaired able to access the public transportation; the department have no clue or do not have a time frame for it.

 

Education

The school teachers, assistants, social workers and counsellors, they do not have much training and support of how to work with blind and people with visually impaired students. Some case, the department of special education, their disability evaluation for the blind and visually impaired students that the result always is blind or visually impaired with developmentally disable. If the blind student needs assistive technology for school learning purpose, the department of education will support but base on their family member’s financial situation. Most of the blind and visually impaired in Macau cannot receive higher education (university) and only a few blind and visually impaired can have university education.

 

Medical

In Macau, if the blind or people with visually impaired is carrying visual disability proof issued by Macau Special Administration Region Social Welfare Bureau will receive free medical treatments from public hospital and public medical centres.

 

Public benefit

In Macau, if the blind or people with visually impaired is carrying visual disability proof issued by Macau Special Administration Region Social Welfare Bureau will receive some cash benefits where they will not count the person resource and income.

 

Employment

Most of the blind and visually impaired are unemployed in Macau because they do not have proper education or training. There is not much a service or work from the Macau Department of Labor to improve the employment opportunity for the blind and visually impaired in Macau.

 

Sports

There is not many sports that the government have put effort or resource to encourage the blind and visually impaired to play. However, MPVIRPA have advocate to the Macau sports department and finally they let the blind and visually impaired run the 2013 Macau International Marathon. This is in history that we have five pairs of the blind and visually impaired to run the Macau International Marathon in December of 2013.

 

 

 

Recreation activity

The Macau government do provide subside for many different kind of recreation activities like travel tour, concerts, free meals, exchange visits and grocery gifts and etc.

 

Peer support

MPVIRPA provide peer counselling, support groups and night time hotline for the blind and visually impaired.

 

Family support

MPVIRPA provide family counselling, support groups and night time hotline for families.

 

Politic Participation

In 2013, the first time in the history of Macau to have the people with visually impaired had run for the Macau legislative election campaign and was one of the Candidate for the group 7.

 

 

Working on International Level

 

  1. In 2014, The China Foundation for Disabled Persons, the Internet Society of China,   the China Disabled Person’s Federation and the China Blind Association have invited me to be one of the keynote speakers at the “The 9th Beijing International Forum on   Rehabilitation”, and at “The 10th China Information Accessibility Forum” in Beijing.
  2. In 2014, I had participated in the American Council of the Blind (ACB) Conference in the United States and had met the president of ACB, Kim Charlson to promote the Macau People with Visually Impaired Right Promotion Association to the international level.
  3. In 2014, I had participated in the National Counsel for Independent Living (NCIL) conference in the United States, and participated in the march for UNCRPD in   Washington D.C., also met the United States Senator, Tom Harkin to promote MPVIRPA to the International level and share experience about CRPD and ADA.
  4. In 2014, Macau People with Visually Impaired Right Promotion Association   (MPVIRPA) had joined the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA). MPVIRPA is the only nationally recognize visually impaired sports association of the people with visually impaired in Macau). We have worked hard to promote and to demonstrate to the public that the blind and visually impaired also have the ability and choice to participate in sports once provided the opportunity and training.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things the MPVIRPA Planning to Do

 

MPVIRPA’s plan to improve services in Macau:

About the population

I do not believe just this small number (around a thousand). We need to spend more time to promote and do outreach to the community and we can use radio, newspaper, television, Facebook, twitter, website. And to do the above, we need to look for fund to do it.  Transportation in Macau, we do need to do more advocacies to promote UNCRPD about equal access for people with visually impaired. We need to advocate for blind and people with visually impaired student to receive appropriate assistive technology to access the school system and to get higher education in order to get in the job market. Also give them chance to live with dignity, financially independent and do not need to rely on public benefit.

 

Rehabilitation Service in Macau

The way the Macau Government Implement the Rehabilitation plan is not appropriate for people with visually impaired and blind.  Here is a good example, the Macau government spend too much resource for activity, will make the people with disability not interested to access education, employment and self-advocacy; The disability policy of the Macau Social Welfare Bureau is when a person can meet the qualification of the disability. They do not need to see the person financial situation and they will give the person money, and in other word is the benefit is based on disability and is not based on needs.  When the benefit recipients are divided into four levels (level one is mild; second is moderate; third level is severe and four levels are the extremely severe). The money given to the severe and the extreme severe is double the mild and moderate level, and I THINK THIS IS RIDICULOUS. I have a question, is there any evidence to prove a person with severe disability needs to spend double the daily spending then a person with mild disability.

 

For example, when a person with mild visually impaired(legally blind) needs to watch TV, may need to purchase a HD with big screen TV, but the person with total blindness want to watch TV and he or she has no need to have a HD with big screen TV. If we use this philosophy  to implement to the senior services, when a senior who is 100 years old then this senior can get more cash benefit then the person who just become senior. For this kind of cash benefit policy is totally wrong to my knowledge. For the policy of rehabilitation, our policy maker should spend more resource for quality services to make people with disability to have dignity and self-confidence to live in our community just like everyone of us. The people with disability need a quality of life not a life of just to survive.

 

The mission and vision of Rehabilitation is the people with visually impaired are able to live a quality life (live with choice and opportunity) like you and me.

 

 

MPVIRPA’s core services and they are:

  1. Peer support group
  2. Family support group
  3. Independent Living Skill Counselling services
  4. Phone emotional support services
  5. Off peak hour phone counselling services(6pm to 11pm)
  6. Home-visit
  7. Mobility Orientation Skill Training
  8. Case management
  9. Assistive technology consultation and support
  10. Community education
  11. Simple and practical English training
  12. Fill out forms and information referral     On-going works of MPVIRPAThe MPVIRPA do have a long road to work with the blind and visually impaired in Macau because we do not get much support from the Macau government. The Macau government still running at a traditional mind set to provide services for the blind and visually impaired.   As a self-directed and none profit organization of the Blind and People with Visually Impaired, we do not have much funding and we need financial support to work on our goals, services and to promote UNCRPD. Fortunately, we know and understand the government of China have a same philosophy like the World Blind Union and I believe MPVIRPA will get support from the Chinese government.
  13.  
  14. In 2014, we sent six people to American Council of the Blind in Los Vegas and three members received the certificate for participate in the Audio Description Institute. We also established the Macau Audio Description Association to promote audio description for blind and people with visually impaired in Macau. Recently, we did a visually impaired forum in Macau to promote and advocate for blind and people with visually impaired.
  15. In 2013, we also have five pair of blind and visually impaired people had participated in the Macau International Marathon. The theme is to promote to the general public that blind and visually impaired can and able to do sport when provided the opportunity.
  16. We also have many educational advocacy and informational workshops of 2012-2014, and on 2013, the president of our association had run for the Macau legislative election campaign and I was one of the Candidate for the group 7, and this would be role model for people with visually impaired that to let the general public know that we do have right to access the politic.
  17. Highlights of the past two years

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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