MELAKA, 16 July 2024

Muhammad Luqman Hashim, who is speech and hearing impaired, is a man who is proud of his job, which he rightly claims helps indirectly to ensure the cleanliness of his home state, Melaka.

The 34-year-old SWM Environment Sdn Bhd employee, who works in the blower division, expressed his satisfaction at handling what many able-bodied Malaysians consider a 3-D - dangerous, dirty, and demeaning - job as it ensures that the area under his care, the Melaka Botanical Park in Ayeh Keroh here remains clean, tidy and beautiful.

"I’m really proud of being accepted as part of the cleaning crew at SWM Environment since six years ago even though I’m lacking as I’m deaf and dumb from birth and in my time here, I’ve been entrusted fully to carry out the work set for me.

"Every day I will ensure the dry leaves and rubbish around the Melaka Botanical Park are cleaned using a blower as the park is a destination for locals and tourists, especially with this year being Visit Melaka Year 2024,” he told reporters through sign language interpreter Mohd Faizal Hassan here today.

He also shared that he met his wife Hizatul Fateha Fowzi, 32, who is also speech and hearing impaired like him, at SWM Environment and both of them are assigned to clean nearby areas.

Muhammad Luqman also said he was thankful that he had not been given preferential treatment nor discriminated against by his co-workers throughout his time but has been able to work harmoniously together. 

He did recollect that it had been hard to communicate with his coworkers and employers initially because not many of them knew sign language, so they resorted to typing messages on their mobile phones instead.

But today, many of my co-workers, including the supervisor, know sign language and we are able to communicate better and easier… the present workplace environment strengthens my spirit to continue to contribute to my community, state and country,”  he said.

He added that their supervisor would monitor every task and duty given to him and other persons with disabilities to ensure it could be carried out properly and to ensure their safety during work.

Meanwhile, SWM Environment work chief Mohd Faizul Kamaruddin, 32, said that disabled employees need to be given fair opportunities at work as they were capable of contributing in similar fashion as able-bodied workers if they were provided guidance and monitored.

"Since I started supervising Muhammad Luqman in 2021, he was capable of doing his cleaning tasks well and following orders, as were several other disabled workers here,” he shared.

SWM Environment corporate general manager Mohd Norlisam Mohd Nordin also shared that there were currently 34 persons with various disabilities employed with the company and other persons with disabilities were always welcome to become part of their corporate family.

Having a disability did not disqualify anyone from working as they are capable of being a good example and inspiration to the able bodied community to succeed in life, he added.