A documentary made by a Global Jaya School Secondary School student reflects on the life of disabled workers in Indonesia.
As a normal human being, we often forget that it is a gift that we were born without any disabilities. On a day to day basis, most of us often complain about little problems, such as the huge number of school or office work. People with disabilities do not have the privilege to choose the way they were born. It was not their desire to be born with disabilities. It was not their desire to loose their body parts because of accidents. We are the ones who need to start thinking about them. We are the ones that should contribute towards this kind of condition.
Currently, there are around 21 million people with disabilities living in Indonesia. 50% of them are in their productive age. The Indonesian government has already published a law which requires every company to hire people with disabilities for at least 1% of their total number of employees. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of companies that do not uphold this law. Entrepreneurs often underestimate the ability of people with disabilities to work. Sadly, some of them think that hiring disabled workers will just slow their company down and will not help them to gain profit. Some of them see no point in hiring people with disabilities and are just focusing on what they think is good for their company.
“Merajut Asa Menggapai Cita” (Never give up on your dreams) is a short documentary created by Jason Samuel Suwito, a Year 10 student of Global Jaya School as part of his personal project. It is created based on the story of Batik Kultur by Dea Valencia, an apparel company based in Semarang, Indonesia where 50% of the employees are people with disabilities. This 21-minute documentary presents the perspective of the disabled workers. It tells a story of their journey in working as an employee on Batik Kultur by Dea Valencia and how they cope with their physical limitations. The documentary also gives a holistic perspective with interviews from not only the workers, but also the owner and their coach.
As good citizens, we must not only think about ourselves. We need to be able to contribute towards our community. We should work together with other citizens to help the ones in need. It is time for young Indonesian entrepreneurs to start hiring people with disabilities. It is time for us to acknowledge the existence of people with disabilities and their capability to contribute towards the community.
If we can commit to doing so, this would, without a doubt, be the start of something beautiful. Click to watch the film on Youtube.
