104
Business
MOP2 million (US$250,000) to help with the establishment of social enter- prises intending to employ handicapped people. The programme was far from successful.
It
tions, of which only one was approved – from the Fuhong Society of Macau. The Fuhong Society is a charity
serving mentally handicapped people. The government gave its laundry a MOP1.8 million subsidy to start up but it must now stand on its own two feet. Director Jennifer Chau says the
association sees the laundry as a way to give mentally handicapped people greater independence and to integrate them in society. They are trained at the Fuhong’s Pou Choi centre. “After training, they can transfer to
our social enterprise to continue their laundry work,” Ms Chau says. “If they are very stable, we will help them nd a job.” The employees are not required to do a full day’s work. “They need a job that is not eight hours because they are in a rehabilitation process,” she explains. The laundry has three mentally
handicapped employees and two other employees at present. More can be re- cruited when business picks up. Keeping the laundry’s nances
healthy is one of Ms Chau’s main con- cerns. “We need to have enough orders as soon as possible to balance [costs and revenue],” she says. The society estimates that the laundry can break even within three years. It may employ up to 11 mentally handicapped people by 2016.
Ms Chau says Macau still largely
ignores social enterprises. If the laun- dry is successful, the Fuhong Society will consider setting up a second social enterprise.
Tradition of charity In an article published in 2009, the pro- fessor of public administration at
the
Polytechnic Institute of Macau, Lou Shenghua, argued that Macau would be a good nursery for social enterprises. Mr Lou wrote that the city had a
long tradition of associations provid- ing social services. Such associations include among others the General Un- ion of Neighbourhood Associations of Macau, commonly known by its Can- tonese name, Kai Fong, and the Macau Federation of Trade Unions. He added Macau’s economy was dominated by the services sector, the perfect environment for social enterprises.
JANUARY 2012
received three applica-
But Mr Lou said obstacles to the
establishment of social enterprises were a shortage of manpower, a lack of clear rules and a need for preferential treatment. In 2002, the Macau Special Olym-
pics created Sociedade de Ngai Chun Se Ltda, a social enterprise that employs mentally handicapped people to clean of ces and wash cars. It continues to operate today, with no support from the government whatsoever. The company was a pioneer of so-
cial enterprises in Macau. Special Ol- ympics director Hetzer Siu Yu Hong says the purpose was to give employ- ment to handicapped people. “We were training people with in-
tellectual disabilities to get skills and nd a job, but there were no job oppor- tunities,” he recalls. At the same time, a change in the rules meant government bureaus could outsource cleaning serv- ices only to the private sector. Both fac-
tors eventually triggered the establish- ment of the company.
Red tape Sociedade de Ngai Chun Se broke even after four years. It now has a workforce of almost 50, more than half of the work- force is mentally handicapped. “Our goal is not to achieve pro t.
When we do have pro t, we share it with the staff,” says Mr Siu. He adds the company also serves to rehabilitate mentally handicapped people, many of whom cannot work eight-hour shifts and so nd it hard to get ordinary jobs. “Social enterprise is a more ex-
ible way to give handicapped people a chance,” Mr Siu says. “And we pay them more.” Mr Siu says the Macau Special Ol-
ympics considered creating a second social enterprise a couple of years ago and applied to the Social Welfare Bu- reau for a grant. But the red tape was so
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