CE visits student intern with disabilities at government department (with photo)

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (August 24) visited Miss Josy Chow, who is on a short-term internship at the Labour Department at Harbour Building, Sheung Wan, to show her care for her.

     Miss Chow, though suffering from spinal muscular atrophy, has been working very hard with the support of her family and is in the fourth year of her undergraduate programme at the University of Hong Kong. During this summer holiday, she has participated in the Civil Service Bureau's internship scheme for students with disabilities and has worked for seven weeks at the Hong Kong Office of the Selective Placement Division of the Labour Department, assisting employment consultants to help job seekers with disabilities and producing publicity materials.

     Mrs Lam has met Miss Chow many times. She said she was pleased to know that Miss Chow's health condition has improved in recent years with drug support and that she has enjoyed her internship and wishes to join the civil service in the future.

     "Despite her serious illness, Miss Chow has always maintained a positive attitude towards life. After being admitted to the University of Hong Kong earlier, she has been planning to enter the job market. Her strong determination is admirable. The Government attaches great importance to the well-being of persons with disabilities. It will continue to implement various measures to promote employment of persons with disabilities, allowing them to contribute to society by showcasing their own abilities in different positions.

     "The Government also actively promotes disability sports to allow persons with disabilities to display their strengths through sports. The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games opened tonight and Hong Kong has sent 24 athletes to take part in eight sports. Given the excellent results achieved by Hong Kong athletes in previous Paralympic Games, I encourage members of the public to support our athletes through TV broadcasts to motivate them to strive for good results," Mrs Lam said.

     The Civil Service Bureau has run an internship scheme for students with disabilities since 2016 to provide opportunities for them to gain work experience in the Government. This scheme is different from other government internship schemes as it contains a lot of training elements.  Relevant departments have to provide appropriate training and briefings for the interns and assign an experienced officer to be the mentor of each intern to enable civil service colleagues to appreciate the talents and potential of the students. A total of 58 students with disabilities from tertiary institutions joined this year's internship scheme.