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Max Soh is the Research and Policy Manager at the Disabled People's Association (DPA) Singapore. He joined DPA in 2021 and oversees the organisations various research and policy initiatives - such as conducting original research for the organisation, authoring articles and reports on relevant policy developments facing the disability community in Singapore, and organising educational initiatives through webinars and media outreach and collaborations. In addition to being disabled himself (visually impaired since birth), Max brings experience with disability and disability advocacy through his prior involvements with disability organisations especially internationally. 

For the video recording of this presentation, please see the online symposia page.

Other than lived experience of disability as a blind/visually impaired person, most of my experience in the disability space has been in the activism sphere – whether amongst grassroots initiatives or within NGO networks and advocacy groups. Most recently in 2021, I joined the Disabled People’s Association (DPA) Singapore – the first and (till this date) the only cross-disability organisation in Singapore focused on disability advocacy - where I currently serve as the organisation’s Research and Policy Manager. While I have been privileged to attend higher education, my experience with disability in particular, other than lived experience, is thus predominantly outside of academia and thus the following might be void of intricate analyses of theoretical frameworks that is common in academic spaces. However, from my various advocacy experiences, I shall attempt to explain in the following why now is a potentially opportune time in Singapore to expand the academic discipline of disability studies in the island nation.

Singapore has come a long way in terms of the state of inclusion of disabled people within its borders. National roadmaps outlining the government’s plans to promote disability inclusion through the Enabling Masterplans, vast improvements to the accessibilities of public transport, and fairly generous government subsidies to promote employment of disabled people are all entities that did not exist when I was growing up in the 1990s.

However, despite such advances, there are gaps that remain. The employment rate of persons with disabilities still stands at less than half that of the general public, with persons with disabilities facing economic inequalities such as being twice as over-represented in the lower-income brackets, and with disabled Singaporeans experiencing discrimination at a significantly higher rate – with a 2022 study showing the percentage of disabled Singaporeans experiencing workplace discrimination standing at 28 percentage points higher than that of the general public.^[i] 

Yet fundamentally, the approach towards disability in Singapore, while having made improvements, is still often not where it needs to be. In particular, while Singapore has made significant distance from a pure medical model approach, improvements are needed to realise a social model, let alone any sort of rights model outlined in the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in Singapore.^[ii] Much of the approach towards disability in Singapore still focuses on what can be done for disabled people rather than discussions on implementing structures to foster allyship and empowerment of disabled people. Allow me to provide two examples.

For example, due to Singapore’s rapidly aging population, there have been significant efforts to promote digital inclusion. For instance, there have been efforts to enhance the Assistive Technology Fund (ATF) which provides subsidies to persons with disabilities with a monthly PCHI of less than S$2,000.^[iii] However, for many disabled people, especially those with sensory disabilities, digital inclusion requires regulation for web designers and companies to ensure their digital platforms are accessible. Yet, there is no such regulation or law in Singapore for such private and non-governmental entities to make their digital platforms and subsequently their services accessible - as a result, many are not, with persons with disabilities having little to no recourse should we encounter such prevalent inaccessibilities by the private sector.^[iv]

Another example is with what is known as SkillsFuture – a government-led initiative to foster a practice of life-long learning in Singaporeans. SkillsFuture is an online portal where Singaporeans can sign up for a myriad of vocational education courses to pick up various skills to enhance their vocational prospects. The SkillsFuture system was launched in 2015, and in uncertain economic times of the last several years, the government has focused particularly on enhancing the SkillsFuture system – with almost every major speech from top government leadership in the last several years either noting or elaborating extensively on the SkillsFuture system.^[v] SkillsFuture is an important initiative with great potential. However, from our conversations with disabled people, SkillsFuture remains significantly inaccessible to persons with disabilities – with no requirement for training providers to provide reasonable accommodations to learners with disabilities – resulting in persons with disabilities reporting not receiving reasonable accommodations and thus not being able to take SkillsFuture courses.^[vi]

To address this, the government has launched the Enabling Academy – a separate learning hub where courses are specially curated for disabled people. While the intent was to create accessibility, and while the Enabling Academy is important in the short-term, there is concern that the Enabling Academy may lead to unintentional segregation and may not be sustainable in the long-term to create equal opportunities for disabled people. For example, the Enabling Academy is only available to persons with disabilities, and while the government’s efforts to create 700 accessible courses at the Enabling Academy in a relatively short time span of a few years should be lauded, this is a small fraction of the over 20,000 courses offered through the wider SkillsFuture system.^[vii]

Such examples show that while there is intention to address societal factors such as accessibility, what results may not necessarily be empowering nor inclusive to persons with disabilities, and that the focus on what can be done for disabled people vs. what can be done to empower disabled people will result in vastly different outcomes.

However, there are several recent significant developments in Singapore current events that show potential to change things for the better, and where the discipline of disability studies can play an important role.

For example, Singapore is soon to enact its very first workplace anti-discrimination legislation – known as the Workplace Fairness Legislation (WFL). This is a significant development in Singapore’s journey towards a more inclusive society as there currently exist no anti-discrimination legislation of any kind pertaining to any sector in Singapore. DPA has advocated and published extensively on the WFL since plans for the WFL were announced in 2021.^[viii]

The efficacy of the upcoming WFL is still uncertain. For example, pertaining to reasonable accommodations, the committee overseeing the development of the law has only committed to issuing an advisory on reasonable accommodations.^[ix] This is far from ideal, but in light of the fact that the government has long throughout Singapore history resisted even the thought of an anti-discrimination legislation, and in light of the fact that the provision of reasonable accommodations at one point would not even be addressed, this is a step in the right direction with the government planning to use the advisory to educate employers on the importance of reasonable accommodations.^[x]

Moreover, the government is set to enact guidelines later this year for private insurance companies to implement fair practices – following reports from the neurodiverse community and people with psychosocial disabilities of unfair and discriminatory practices.^[xi] The guidelines while the first of its kind, are also far from ideal as they are not law nor is it likely if there will be an independent body comprising of interdisciplinary experts (including people with lived experience) to weigh in on the adjudication of claims, (as DPA and other advocates have called for). However, engagement with disability organisations including people with lived experience to spread awareness about the guidelines is on the government’s agenda with the upcoming guidelines.^[xii]

Such important developments, along with a political transition in government leadership this year to the so-called “fourth generation” (4G) leadership in Singapore Parliament – a team that have stated their desire to witness more inclusive definitions in measuring success, may not necessarily translate into better inclusion; however, what such significant developments in Singapore current events present, are important opportunities for advocates to make our case for proper inclusion.  

In Singapore, due to various laws, the arena for advocacy is limited and qualitatively different compared to that of other countries, and thus developments such as these are tools that advocates have to work with. Yet, the expressed understanding from the government for the need for better education around relevant topics to the disability community such as reasonable accommodations and aiming to concretise fair practices, and the government’s signal expressed desire to witness more inclusion in the new generation of political leadership, presents the need for the expansion of more spaces where Singaporeans, both disabled and non-disabled, can learn to better articulate disability realities and the realities that surround disabled lives to promote both the inclusion and empowerment of disabled people in the island nation. This is why now is a potentially opportune time to develop more spaces for disability studies in Singapore.

Endnotes:

^[i] The employment rate of persons with disabilities currently stands at 32.7% compared to the 66.2%: Ministry of Manpower (MOM), 7 February 2024, "Statistical Table: Employment Outcomes of Persons with Disabilities," MOM.gov.sg. Accessed May 2024. https://stats.mom.gov.sg/Pages/Employment-Outcomes-of-Persons-With-Disabilities-TimeSeries.aspx; Ministry of Manpower (MOM), 31 January 2024, "Labour Force in Singapore 2023," MOM.gov.sg. Accessed May 2024. https://stats.mom.gov.sg/Pages/Labour-Force-In-Singapore-2023.aspx; According to the latest national census, where disability-related data was included for the first time, persons with disabilities comprise 6.93% of the total resident employed population aged 15 years and older, while comprising 12.03% of those who earn below S$2,000/month: Department of Statistics, 2021, “Singapore Census of Population 2020, Statistical Release 2: Households, Geographic Distribution, Transport and Difficulty in Basic Activities,” Singstat.gov.sg. Accessed May 2024. https://www.singstat.gov.sg/publications/reference/cop2020/cop2020-sr2/census20_stat_release2; Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), 20 September 2022, “1 in 2 experienced workplace discrimination in Singapore over the past five years,” AWARE. https://www.aware.org.sg/2022/09/1-in-2-experienced-workplace-discrimination-aware-milieu-survey/

^[ii] United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 9 September 2022, "Concluding observations on the initial report of Singapore," United Nations. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRPD%2fC%2fSGP%2fCO%2f1&Lang=en

^[iii] SupportGoWhere, Assistive Technology Fund," Accessed May 2024. https://supportgowhere.life.gov.sg/schemes/ATF/assistive-technology-fund

^[iv] Disabled People’s Association (DPA) Singapore, 25 January 2024, “Ensuring Digital Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities in Singapore,” DPA.sg, https://dpa.org.sg/ensuring-digital-inclusion-for-persons-with-disabilities-in-singapore/

^[v] Examples include (but are not limited to) Budget Statements 2023 and 2024, President Halimah Yacob’s address to the opening of the second session of the 14th Parliament in 2023, and NDR 2023.

^[vi] Disabled People’s Association (DPA) Singapore, 18 May 2023, “Ensuring Disability Inclusion in Skillsfuture Ecosystem is a Must as Singapore Looks to Refresh Its Social Compact,” DPA.sg, https://dpa.org.sg/ensuring-disability-inclusion-in-skillsfuture-ecosystem-is-a-must-as-singapore-looks-to-refresh-its-social-compact/

^[vii] Disabled People’s Association (DPA) Singapore, 21 February 2024, “DPA Statement on Budget 2024,” DPA.sg, https://dpa.org.sg/dpa-statement-on-budget-2024/  

^[viii] Disabled People’s Association (DPA) Singapore, 19 April 2024, “Achieving Fairness in Employment for Persons with Disabilities in Singapore,” DPA.sg, https://dpa.org.sg/achieving-fairness-in-employment-for-persons-with-disabilities-in-singapore/ 

^[ix] Ibid, pp. 10-22.

^[x] Ibid, p.34

^[xi] Li Yang Lee, 8 November 2023, “Guidelines for insurance fair practice to be rolled out by middle of 2024,” The Straits Times, https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/guidelines-for-insurance-fair-practice-to-be-rolled-out-by-middle-of-2024; Wesley Loh, 5 November 2022, “Forum: Insurers and employers are not being disability-inclusive,” The Straits Times, https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-insurers-and-employers-are-not-being-disability-inclusive

^[xii] Hansard – Parliament of Singapore, 28 February 2024, “Committee of Supply – Head U (Prime Minister’s Office),” Hansard, https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=budget-2344