Like many other private-hire car drivers in Singapore, Steven Chong spends long hours on the road.
However, Mr Chong is not like most of the more than 41,000 people here who hold a private hire car driver’s vocational licence (PDVL).
The private-hire car driver of three years has hearing loss of 50 decibels – or about the loudness of a normal conversation.
He is one of about 30 to 40 Grab drivers here who are deaf or hard of hearing.
In September, the Singapore-based ride-hailing firm signed an agreement with The Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf), with the aim of promoting deaf awareness as well as making the Grab platform more inclusive for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
As part of this initiative, the company introduced a scheme that halves the commission it collects from existing and new drivers who are also SADeaf beneficiaries.
On its part, SADeaf will provide skills upgrading programmes for deaf Grab drivers and delivery riders.
The Grab app will notify passengers that their driver is deaf.
A sticker in the vehicle helps inform passengers how they should communicate with their drivers, while flip-cards indicating common requests, are provided to help in communications between drivers and passengers.
Besides the long hours on the road, his friend Aloysius Lee, 32 – who is also deaf and driving with Grab – said the hardest part of being a driver was obtaining his PDVL.
Mr Chong said he had to sit for the test six times before passing.
Deaf drivers are more capable than some might expect, said SADeaf acting executive director Judy Lim.
The response from passengers who are assigned deaf drivers has been positive, said Grab’s Mr Yee, pointing to social media posts praising the move towards inclusivity.
In recent years efforts have been made to make the workplace more inclusive.
In 2014, the government-funded Open Door Programme – which provides grants to employers to hire, train and integrate people with disabilities – was introduced.
And in June, a Job Redesign Guide for Inclusive Employers was launched by SG Enable and the Ministry of Manpower, to educate companies on how to better integrate those with special needs.
On Grab’s part, Mr Yee notes the firm has made other efforts towards improving the accessibility of its services. The firm is also looking at improving its mapping functions, so delivery riders with physical disabilities are directed to routes with ramps or other accessibility features.
What employers can do is make the workplace more accommodating for them, Ms Lim suggested.
She also notes SADeaf is looking into a “serious and professional programme” to allow employment for people with both hearing and vision loss.
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Source: The Straits Times, 30 November 2019