Must language be spoken to be heard?

Sunday, 27 Jul 2014 

By Priya Kulasagaran 

  

It’s hoped that the new dictionary will help children like these communicate more effectively. 

A new dictionary aims to raise awareness about the complexities of sign language and how it is used. 

IMAGINE if you were told that your mother tongue is not a “real” language, but merely a shadow of one. This is what many deaf communities face when it comes to sign language. 

According to the World Federation of the Deaf, some 70 million deaf people around the world say that sign language is their first language. 

Despite this, the common misconception is that sign language is a crude imitation or ‘inferior’ to spoken languages such as English. 

“Sign language is a visual language, which is actually equal to any spoken languages because this visual language has its own grammar, structure and meaning,” says advocate for the deaf, Anthony Chong. 

57 pelajar pendidikan khas sertai kem motivasi

SETIU ‐ Seramai 57 pelajar pendidikan khas dari tiga sekolah di Terengganu menyertai Kem Pelestarian Sahsiah Pelajar Pendidikan Khas (Masalah Pendengaran) bagi mempertingkat ilmu dan motivasi mereka. 

Program empat hari di Agro Resort bermula Selasa ini anjuran Persatuan Orang Pekak Terengganu (POPT) itu disertai pelajar Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Ibrahim Fikri, Kuala Terengganu; SMK Sura, Dungun dan SMK Tembila, Besut. 

MyBIM as academic association

Congratulations! Finally the day has arrived!

A group of Deaf people with excellent education and/or long experience in Deaf Community has gathered and discussed to establish a new association which will employ different methods in bringing new development to Deaf Community in Malaysia. This association does not provide what the current Deaf associations do, i.e. providing BIM interpreting service, sign language courses, counselling on employment issues, and workshops on general knowledge. It is not a necessary to have a new association with same function with other associations.

The new association would focus mainly on the knowledge building on Deaf people, not just their language but their culture, history, identity, education, sport, technology, socioeconomic, art, deafhood (the process of being Deaf) and many more through research, article writing, journal publication, training and courses. It may enable Deaf people become more powerful with new knowledge and understand ourselves.

No offence and I feel it is important to create new knowledge so that the Deaf Community can become stronger and powerful. They would be able to use new knowledge to protect their rights as Deaf in the mainstream society, especially education and employment. Knowledge is power!