Cover SG Enable CEO Ku Geok Boon
SG Enable CEO Ku Geok Boon
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As the focal agency for disability and inclusion, SG Enable seeks to create equitable opportunities for persons with disabilities
Ku Geok Boon works with an executive assistant who is blind—and she is highly competent in her job, not letting her disability slow her down. “[Tan] Siew Ling is a fabulous note taker [in meetings]; she listens [well] and can pick up on cues such as tone of voice,” says the chief executive officer of SG Enable.
Tan later became deaf due to a neurological condition. “Going past our emotional response [that she is now deaf-blind], reality hit: what would her job role be and how do we support her,” Ku shares. “Colleagues rallied around her, and her job had to be redesigned as she wouldn’t be able to do even more tasks.” Together, they decided to tap on Tan’s gift of writing. On top of managing Ku’s schedules, Tan also writes a blog on the Enabling Guide, an online resource related to disability, to inspire other persons with disabilities (PWDs).
This is exactly what SG Enable seeks to do as a champion of disability inclusion in Singapore. “[We want to] create equitable opportunities for persons with disabilities, give them access to different opportunities so that they can realise their potential,” says Ku. But first, it is important to address the barriers PWDs face, be it physical or attitudinal, along with misconceptions about the disability community. For example, one would communicate differently with someone who has a sensory impairment (such as deafness, blindness, or on the autism spectrum). Some experiences stem from a lack of understanding and may lead to misunderstanding.
“[We want to] create opportunities for people with and without disabilities to have meaningful interactions; and to see past the disability and focus on the person.” Through its latest public education campaign and video titled “UnAwkward”, SG Enable hopes to encourage people to share their own awkward experiences, normalise the feeling, and learn how to “unawkward” themselves.
Read also: SG Enable celebrates a decade of championing disability inclusion in Singapore
The organisation has come a long way since its inception in 2013. Reflecting on its progress, Ku considers the opening of the Enabling Village in 2015 an important milestone as it is the whole ecosystem coming together—with more than 30 organisations from the people, public and private sectors—and “putting the focus on disability inclusion to create transformative impact as well as catalyse new scalable solutions to strengthen support.”
The Enabling Village has facilitated key national-level changes through pilot projects in domains such as early childhood education. For example, Singapore’s first inclusive preschool with a non-discriminatory curriculum for both typically-developing children and children with additional needs; sports and wellness with an inclusive gym fitted with special equipment like removable seats for wheelchair users and Braille dots on the treadmill user panels. Its also launched Enabling Academy, a disability learning hub rolled out in May last year to provide lifelong learning opportunities for PWDs, and enable their network of support through training.
Read also: How To Make Your Workplace More Disability Inclusive
The academy is also crucial to advance inclusion in Singapore’s development of human capital. “Work is dignity—and workforce integration harnesses human capital and provides equitable opportunities for PWDs in the workplace,” says Ku, who hopes to grow the number of inclusive employers and key multipliers, as well as expand the range of employment models. Some of the companies SG Enable has worked with include UOB via its inclusive hiring initiative, “The Unlimited”. Besides providing employment opportunities for PWDs at the UOB Scan Hub, its nerve centre for checking, digitisation and archiving of customer documents, the bank also acts as a private sector catalyst for inclusive hiring, engaging companies to raise awareness and generate interest in the hiring of PWDs. Human Capital Singapore, meanwhile, set up the HR Power Bank to offer training and employment opportunities for PWDs in human resource services. It can also deploy those who are ready to jobs in the market.
“These are creative solutions where businesses harness and adapt what they are already doing, and extend that capability themselves, Ku says. “If employers are sincere about giving PWDs an opportunity, the hiring, if done well and with reasonable accommodations put in place, does not just meet a manpower need, it can help change or improve workplace culture.”
SG Enable hopes to rally more partners from various sectors to help drive inclusion. “We are now designing a more holistic disability support ecosystem—and looking across various life stages in the domains of live, work, learn and play.”
Credits
Photography: Munster
Hair: Benedict Choo
Make-Up: Benedict Choo
Photography Assistant: Jovan Teo
As Senior Editor of Tatler Singapore, Hashirin champions and refines the storytelling across platforms—curating and crafting compelling profiles, cover stories and features that spotlight visionaries shaping culture, business and impact. Driven by curiosity, she draws inspiration from the artists, changemakers and trailblazers she encounters through her work. Beyond the pages of Tatler, she is an avid supporter of local theatre and delights in seeking out art in every city she visits.
