Hands-on opportunities for the blind
By Feng Jianmin |
October 19, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CONSTRAINED by limited job opportunities, many of the blind men in Shanghai exploit the special sense of touch they develop in the darkness of their daily lives and become masseurs.
Ying Weiyuan, 47, is one such case. Blind since he was three, Ying got into massage 11 years ago after he was laid off from a factory assembly line. He was trained in massage classes organized by his local community.
Ying now works for Song Jipeng, 25, who opened a massage parlor in an office area along Kongjiang Road in Yangpu District last year. Among the seven masseurs he employs, four are blind or suffering from some eye disease.
Since 1997, massage parlors utilizing the talents of the blind have emerged as part of a government effort to create jobs for the handicapped as the city's economy began to shift from manufacturing to service industries. Factories for the disabled were among the first to be shut because of their low productivity.
Shanghai's job service center for the disabled reported there were 132 registered massage parlors employing the blind in the city at the end of last year. They offered jobs for around 1,000 people who were either blind or suffered from very weak eyesight.
Ying Weiyuan, 47, is one such case. Blind since he was three, Ying got into massage 11 years ago after he was laid off from a factory assembly line. He was trained in massage classes organized by his local community.
Ying now works for Song Jipeng, 25, who opened a massage parlor in an office area along Kongjiang Road in Yangpu District last year. Among the seven masseurs he employs, four are blind or suffering from some eye disease.
Since 1997, massage parlors utilizing the talents of the blind have emerged as part of a government effort to create jobs for the handicapped as the city's economy began to shift from manufacturing to service industries. Factories for the disabled were among the first to be shut because of their low productivity.
Shanghai's job service center for the disabled reported there were 132 registered massage parlors employing the blind in the city at the end of last year. They offered jobs for around 1,000 people who were either blind or suffered from very weak eyesight.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
