Education Is the Key of Change for The Deaf.

The deaf community have been ignored and discriminated against all this time and our goal is to change the public's perception on them once and for all because they deserve to be treated just like everybody else.

The way of communication for the deaf is through Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia (BIM) as known as Malaysian Sign Language. However, BIM is not taught in conventional primary and secondary schools because a lot of school teachers struggle in learning the system too.

A lot of hearing parents as well as the general public thinks English, Malay and Chinese can be expressed and conveyed through not only writing and pronunciation but also through using sign language. However, according to Anthony Chong, a Master’s Degree in Deaf Studies graduate claims that this statement is not true. There are over 300 different sign languages around the world and every one of these sign languages have similar grammar and structure but are different from spoken languages. Thus, even if two people from two different countries made the same sign word, it might not have the same meaning.

Many deaf people in Malaysia are not aware of their rights because of their level of knowledge. For example, a deaf girl was insulted and molested by her boss in Damansara Perdana but she was too afraid to call him out. Thus, informational videos about deaf culture, people and language is very crucial to disseminate knowledge and understanding.

The general public may help the deaf in Malaysia by providing assistance or financial support in developing more educational and informational videos in BIM so that the deaf people can learn and know themselves better. Also, Chong encourages the public to treat the deaf community as a linguistic minority group like the Kadazans and Ibans instead of a disabled community.

“We technically never lose hearing ability, we just never possess hearing ability,” said Chong. They can still do things that hearing people do and sometimes even better but all they need is a chance and an education system that works for them.

Here's a picture of me and my convergent journalism group mates- Catherine, Jerry and Kathryn with Mr. Anthony Chong.

To know more about the deaf community in Malaysia, here's a trailer and a 3 minutes video of our interview with Mrs. Bridget Chang, Co-owner of Coffee Sprex.