KUALA LUMPUR: The government has been asked to amend Section 233 (1) (b) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1988 (Act 588) to impose heavier penalties against individuals who humiliate Persons with Disabilities (PwD) by mocking their physical disabilities.

Senator Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi said the proposed amendment was to stop the spread of the act of making fun of and discriminating against the PwD on social media.

"I would like to stress in this august House that the act of imitating PwD to become popular and as social media content is a despicable and disgusting act.

"This is because the disabled also have hearts, feelings and sensitivities that should be respected by all segments of society," she said when debating the motion of thanks for the Royal Address in Dewan Negara today.

She also urged the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development to take strict action against those found mocking the disabled and made sure that the incident does not recur.

Ras Adiba said the recurrence of such incidents indicated the weakness of the PwD Act 2008, which has yet to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat or Dewan Negara.

The OKU Sentral president also proposed the appointment of a representative from the PwD community in the National Employment Council to ensure issues relating to employment and unemployment among the disabled community would be better addressed.

She said the current COVID-19 pandemic and economic uncertainties have caused people to lose their income including the disabled, who, even before the pandemic had been struggling to secure a job due to their disabilities.

"Therefore, I would like to know the measures taken by the Human Resource Ministry in reducing the unemployment rate among the PwD and new jobs created for them as well as the number of the disabled receiving the benefits through the ministry's programmes such as the MyFutureJobs initiative," she added.

-- BERNAMA