See yourself what is happening around you. It is your call whether should you stand up for yourself or a group you like to be with.
Thursday, December 23, 2021
Deaf activist Dr Anthony Alexander Chong outlines plans for literary workshop that highlights Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia
Monday, December 13, 2021
Queer and Deaf in ASEAN Countries
POSTED BY DR. ANTHONY CHONG
POSTED ON ACTIVIST VOICES
Saturday, November 27, 2021
Krishen Jit Fund 2021 doubles arts support, announces 11 beneficiaries
Krishen Jit Fund awards 11 grants to 11 Malaysian artists
Friday, November 5, 2021
Would you mind to use correct term please? Correct term is Jurubahasa BIM (BIM interpreter), instead of Jurubahasa Isyarat (Sign Language Interpreter).
Nobody here in Malaysia or other countries is expert to evaluate interpreters for 200 sign languages.
I could not understand why media keeps using this “sign language interpreter” when the term is not correct.
Government officers will not understand that Malaysian Deaf is capable to communicate in BIM only, not 200 sign languages. People misunderstand that KTBM is a sign language, which is not true too. If we keep promising “sign language interpreter”, the government will say,
Since it is “sign language”, so why not we take sign language from Japan, UK, Australia, Hong Kong for the Deaf students. All sign languages are just same thing. Everyone uses hands.
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Celebrating Thriving Deaf Communities
It is our pleasure to invite you to attend a webinar Celebrating Thriving Deaf Communities, In conjunction with International Week of the Deaf People (IWDP) and International Day of Sign Languages (IDSL) 2021. It is jointly organized by three civil society organization: MyBIM, JUPEBIM and DeafMT. It will be held on 2 and 3 October 2021. The webinar will be in English and BIM.
Please mark these dates and time slots in your calendar. Please register yourself for the webinar: https://tinyurl.com/2021BIMSeminar
More details about the programme can be found in this poster (PDF). Alternatively, you may see the programme below (image).
We sincerely hope to see you there!
Sunday, August 1, 2021
Deaf UM student earns PhD
The Star 1 August 2021 by Yeung Yeu-Mynn
PEOPLE with disabilities are part of our diverse community, and just because they are different does not mean they are incapable of achieving great things – this was the message Dr Anthony Chong (pic) wanted to convey to the public during a recent email interview with StarEdu.
It is also a reality he embodies through his academic achievement as a deaf person.
Recently, the 39-year-old made waves on social media after he shared news about his latest academic milestone – he was conferred a doctoral degree (PhD) in anthropology and sociology from Universiti Malaya (UM).
Chong is the varsity’s first deaf doctorate recipient who communicates using Malaysian Sign Language (BIM) instead of speech.
While he was pleasantly surprised by the recognition, Chong was more interested in raising the awareness and changing the perspectives of society, including policymakers, government officials and hearing academicians serving the deaf community.
“I also hope that this news will encourage more deaf people to pursue a PhD regardless of their struggles,” he said, adding that nothing is impossible if one is willing to step out of one’s comfort zone.
Chong himself had experienced some of the struggles firsthand throughout his journey as a student.
He recalled urging his teachers to give his special education class a timetable on his first day in secondary school.
“Teachers just came to our class to teach whenever they had time. I realised most of us were spending time talking and idling away,” he said.
His proactive approach led to a teacher asking if he was interested in studying with his hearing peers instead, he shared.
It was an opportunity that the Selangorian seized without hesitation. He went on to stun his teachers and 40 hearing classmates when he was subsequently promoted from the 16th class to the third, where he ranked top of his class.
Chong succeeded in doing so, despite having difficulty mastering Bahasa Malaysia and the English language, and coping with communication barriers with hearing people.
“Most of my teachers were not fluent in BIM. This hindered effective communication.
“I could not grasp lessons and relied heavily on notes my deskmates shared. Communication with my hearing classmates was also limited to writing on paper,” he said.
He added that it was only when he was pursuing his Master’s degree in linguistics in UM that he received BIM interpreting services.
“These services, however, were only lecture-limited. Hence, I had to communicate with my supervisors through pen and paper,” said Chong, who received scholarships to pursue a computing degree at KDU College, as well as a Master’s degree in deaf studies focusing on cultural studies at Gallaudet University in the United States.
While he obtained a postgraduate research grant worth RM19,800 from UM, his six-year PhD journey hit a hurdle from the outset as finding a supervisor proved to be arduous.
“I had to email each lecturer. Many said they were not skilled in my area of study until I finally found Dr Rosila Bee Mohd Hussain.
“She had been supportive throughout, tirelessly pushing me and providing resources to help with my thesis writing,” he said.
He also shared that pursuing his PhD studies, while holding a full-time job as an administrative officer and being actively involved in the deaf community, could be overwhelming for him sometimes.
“It was a constant race against time. On several occasions, I would isolate myself and simply hit the books overnight.
“When I needed to complete my thesis, I set aside all prior commitments,” he said.
In his dissertation, Chong zoomed in on the construction of deaf people’s identities through intersectionality in Malaysia’s mainstream society. Through his research, he discovered that deaf Malaysians develop two identities at an intersection, contrary to previous literature.
He found that they identify as persons with disabilities due to their inability to speak society’s language, as well as develop a personalised cultural and linguistic identity as a result of their inability to master BIM.
“Interestingly, these two identities are embraced without realisation,” he said.
According to Chong, these intersectional identities occur due to societal experiences.
“If deaf people do not encounter societal barriers, they would simply be people with a diversified background. They become persons with disabilities because society places these barriers on them,” he said.
He also pointed out that it is important to use the term “BIM interpreter” in the Malaysian context, instead of “sign language interpreter”, as there are over 200 sign languages in the world.
“This is to raise awareness and eliminate misconceptions that sign language is universal,” he said, adding that British Sign Language and American Sign Language have been introduced to the education system, further widening the communication gap between the old and the younger generation of deaf people.
On what’s next for him, Chong said he looks forward to playing a part in shaping the future of the deaf community who, he said, fuels his passion to work for their betterment.
“I hope to be involved in policymaking. i would also like to conduct research projects and collaborate with universities.
“It is time to reform deaf community policies and shift misconceptions, especially those revolving around BIM,” he said.
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Yeung, 21, a student in Selangor, is a participant of the BRATs Young Journalist Programme run by The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) team. Throughout the year-long programme, participants aged between 14 and 22 from all across the country experience life as journalists, contributing ideas, conducting interviews, and completing writing assignments. They get to earn bylines, attend workshops, and extend their social networks. To join Star-NiE’s online youth community, go to facebook.com/niebrats.
From the source: The Star.
Saturday, March 27, 2021
BIM Poetry: Deaf LGBTIQ
Deaf LGBTQ (Malaysia) We are Anthony (he/him), Velma (he/him), Banderas (he/him), Eddy (he/him), Riana (she/her), Dino (he/him) and Alex (he/him). All of us are Deaf persons. Each of us has a unique personality. Most of us are not fluent in Malay and English. We communicate in Malaysian Sign Language (BIM) on a daily basis. BIM is just like any languages you know. BIM is not an art, but a language. BIM is a visual language, but not Visual Vernacular. BIM cannot be expressed through writing or speaking, however, BIM can be a translation of any other spoken or written languages or vice versa. BIM or other sign languages have been misunderstood that each sord (sign word) represents each written/spoken word. BIM literature, which includes ABC stories, number stories, classifiers stories, handshapes stories, narratives and BIM poetry, has not been a part of Deaf culture in Malaysia yet. This is our first time attempting to invent a BIM poetry. The process was very interesting. The poetry was written in English first, instead of BIM, based on our personal experience as a Deaf LGBTIQ. The poetry was then translated into BIM and Visual Vernacular, which combines strong movement, iconic BIM sords, with gestures and facial expressions, to articulate the poetry. The poetry was magnified when we blacken everything so that the focus would be on our facial expressions and beautiful hand movements. We hope the focus will enable the audience to sense our music. A film by Deaf LGTIQ (Malaysia) In Partnership with VOICE Global and ASEAN SOGIE Caucus Stay in touch with Anthony Chong https://www.facebook.com/veeyeechong https://www.facebook.com/anthonychong... Twitter @anthonychong123 Learn more about the Southeast Asia Queer Cultural Festival 2021 https://seaqcf.net/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fg_9DlrS9E&feature=emb_imp_woyt
BIM Poetry: WALLS
Friday, February 26, 2021
Malaysian Sign Language and poetry combine in virtual event 'Walls'
Reported by DINESH KUMAR MAGANATHAN
A virtual poetry event that celebrates the Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia will premiere today at 6pm.
Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia (BIM), also known as the Malaysian Sign Language, is the officially recognised language of the d/Deaf in Malaysia and is integral to their identity.
Called The Poet Is The Poem: Malaysian Sign Language Poetry, the event will be streamed live on the co-organisers’ - University of Nottingham Malaysia’s (UNM) School of English and MY Poetry School (a KL-based arts & poetry education centre) - Facebook pages.
Helmed by poet educator/community theatre maker Elaine Foster, the virtual event is supported by the British Council’s Connections Through Culture grant (£5,000/RM28,400).
Other participants include Deaf community leader Anthony Chong, Ana Jonessy (community organiser of Bentarakata) and educator/author/performance poet Sheena Baharudin.
Foster shares that the project is an extension of her Applied Theatre masters thesis on sign language poetry and intersemiotic translation.
"When Covid hit, the project was redesigned to still enable a sharing between the Deaf community in Malaysia, Malaysian poets and educators in the UK to share knowledge and exchange ideas.
"The objective was to learn together how to create a BIM poem translation so that eventually the research could be transformed into a teaching methodology that could be used in schools for deaf children to help improve education for the Deaf in Malaysia," explains Foster.
As one of the pioneers of poetry education in Malaysia, she has coached young aspiring poets around the world for over 10 years. Foster was the recipient of the British Council’s Connections Through Culture Grant 2019-2020.
"My hope is this project will inspire others to want to learn more about BIM, about BIM poetry, about the deaf experience in Malaysia and that it will be a small contribution to a wider body of research on Deaf cultures and identities, sign languages and sign language poetry and arts," she adds.
The Poet Is The Poem will be in English with aMalaysian Sign Language interpreter and English captions.
Expect poetry reading in English, Bahasa Malaysia and the Malaysian Sign Language by UNM’s School Of English students, Shivani Sivagurunathan, spoken word poet Abby Latif and advocate Jessica Mak.
A multimedia poem film in Malaysian Sign Language by Deaf community leader Anthony Chong, called Walls, will also premiere tonight. It is based on a BIM poem about Chong's experience growing up deaf in Malaysia.
The five-minute-long short film, which took six weeks to complete, is the culmination of a year-long online collaboration between Malaysian and British artist/educators.
"People should watch the film because BIM poetry is an exciting and dynamic literary art form that can teach hearing people a lot about the power of non-verbal communication, about language itself.
"It will give people a rare insight into the world of someone who is deaf in Malaysia, their struggles, their world view, their desires, their lived experiences," says Foster.
In tandem with the creation of the film, the team developed a potential teaching methodology for using poetry and other creative signing literary forms to support the education of d/Deaf people in Malaysia.
Hear more from the artists involved after the premiere today and stick around for a question and answer session.
Sunday, January 3, 2021
English ranslation for BIM video: Is BIM worthless?
English translation for
BIM video (fast speed version): https://youtu.be/NEVzc3PXmFk
BIM video (normal speed version): https://fb.watch/2N0EFFu8qq/
Opening:
Hello. I have a question. Do you think BIM is worthless?
My answer is yes.
BIM is very “cheap” or does not have any value.
Why? Let me explain.
Scenario: Malay
Do you remember? At school, we learned BM words. One of them was “baru”. We understand this meaning. We use this word all times until we graduated from the schools. Then only the government told us the correct word is “baharu” instead of “baru”. Both of these words have different meaning. So we adapted to the word “baharu” accordingly. We were so used to using “baru” but now we need to use correct word “baharu”. We follow suit the change well. There is another word, “bincang”. After years of using “bincang”, the government prefers “diskusi”. We also adapted to the new word.
Scenario: English
The word “selfie” did not exist in the past. We may have seen the word on Facebook. Hearing people find that the word is cool, hence the use of the term “selfie” became increased until it was accepted into English.
Scenario: ASL
It was based on my experience in the USA. Whenever, there was no sord existing that express what we mean, we will have to fingerspell it first. We keep fingerspelling it until someone show a sord which is matching to the meaning we sought. Then we will use the sord.
Scenario: BIM
Do you remember the BIM sord “grab”? MFD suggested the sord. However, many Deaf people did not accept it and gave negative feedback about how the sord looked like. It looked like some of action a priest trying to banish a ghost. They had a lot of negative ideas. That was how the Deaf community responding to this.
Do you know the new BIM greeting for “happy new year” was already used for the new year 2019. When the BIM video on this greeting was posted on social media, some Deaf people refused to accept it and suggest another one. Another commented that the sord introduced in the video look like a boiling water. Then there were more feedback about how they could not accept the sord. There was a Deaf person telling his friend that we should follow the new BIM greeting, however, his friend told him, that he has right to use the old BIM greeting instead! Like this, BIM could not be standardised.
Do you still remember about we discussed sords for telecoms, such as Digi, Maxis, Celcom etc? Someone already suggested sords for each of telecoms in Malaysia. However, someone else did not want accept them and then proposed another new sords. Another person also did not like both, hence proposed new sords, and it never ended there! These sords were never accepted. If I were you, I would just accept the first suggestion. I had no issue with these sords because these were just for communication purposes. But many Deaf people were not satisfied. They only keep refusing any sords. Like that, how BIM could be developing? What do you think?
Closing:
So what do you think about these four languages? Do you think they have same equal status?
Based on my explanation, do you think all the four languages are equal?
Alright. Let’s review what I explained just now.
Our government told us to use the correct word “baharu” and we followed suit.
For English, the selfie was totally accepted and used around the world.
For ASL, we will have to fingerspell first until someone shows the matching sord.
For BIM, once a BIM sord was suggested, superstorm arrived. A lot of commotion. They cried out that the BIM sord was ugly. They proposed another one to replace it. For example, there was a Deaf person suggested a sord which I totally accepted it. No question at all. Then another one suggests to replace it.
The incident also happened when the video of BIM greeting “Happy New Year” was shared on social media, another suggested one to replace it. The suggestion never stopped. Many never came to an agreement. If we continue doing like this, we cannot expect BIM will be developed. All these actions will only cause the worst and it may cease the BIM existence. It is because you refused to compromise each other. You prefer your own way. You refused to follow suit. It is your own world. BIM is a mess.
Are we able to standardise BIM? The answer is “no”.
Is BIM worthless? The answer is “yes”.
It is because many of us NEVER accept anything. The suggestion never ends. No result at all. It became uncontrollable. BIM is not able to be standardised. How we could expect the standardisation will happen?
Malay language, English and ASL are true languages because the users totally accept new changes. No question. No discussion. Everyone shares same languages. The only reason is these words/sords are for communication purposes.
BIM does not have same status with these three languages. BIM is vulnerable. BIM is hardly recognised as a language like Malay language, English and ASL. It is because nobody in Malaysia wants to share same BIM.
Malay translation (Google)
Pembukaan:
Helo. Saya ada satu soalan. Adakah anda fikir BIM tidak bernilai?
Jawapan saya adalah ya.
BIM sangat "murah" atau tidak mempunyai nilai.
Kenapa? Biar saya jelaskan.
Senario: Bahasa Melayu
Adakah awak masih ingat? Di sekolah, kita belajar perkataan-perkataan BM. Salah satunya adalah "baru". Kita memahami maksud ini. Kita menggunakan perkataan ini sepanjang masa sehingga tamat sekolah. Kemudian kerajaan kita memberitahu bahawa perkataan yang betul adalah "baharu" dan bukan "baru". Kedua-dua perkataan ini mempunyai makna yang berbeza. Oleh itu, kita menyesuaikan diri dengan kata "baharu". Kita sudah biasa menggunakan "baru" tetapi sekarang kita perlu menggunakan kata "baharu" yang betul. Kami mengikuti perubahan dengan baik. Ada perkataan lain, "bincang". Setelah bertahun-tahun menggunakan "bincang", kerajaan kita lebih memilih "diskusi". Kita juga menyesuaikan diri dengan perkataan baru.
Senario: Bahasa Inggeris
Perkataan "selfie" tidak wujud pada masa lalu. Kita mungkin pernah melihat perkataan itu di Facebook. Orang Dengar mendapati bahawa perkataan itu menarik, maka penggunaan istilah "selfie" meningkat sehingga ia diterima dalam bahasa Inggeris.
Senario: ASL
Ini adalah berdasarkan pengalaman saya di Amerika Syarikat. Bila-bila masa, jika kita tidak ada iskata yang menyatakan apa yang kita maksudkan, kita harus mengeja dengan jari terlebih dahulu. Kami terus mengeja jari sehingga seseorang menunjukkan iskata yang sesuai dengan makna yang kami cari. Kemudian kita akan menggunakan sord.
Senario: BIM
Adakah anda ingat iskata "Grab"? MFD mencadangkan iskata itu. Walau bagaimanapun, banyak orang Pekak tidak menerimanya dan memberikan maklum balas negatif tentang bagaimana rupa iskata itu. Ia kelihatan seperti tindakan seorang guru yang cuba mengusir hantu. Mereka mempunyai banyak idea negatif. Begitulah cara masyarakat Pekak menangani perkara ini.
Adakah anda tahu ucapan BIM baru untuk "selamat tahun baru" sudah digunakan untuk tahun baru 2019. Ketika video BIM mengenai ucapan ini disiarkan di media sosial, beberapa orang Pekak enggan menerimanya dan mencadangkan yang lain. Yang lain mengulas bahawa iskata yang diperkenalkan dalam video itu kelihatan seperti air mendidih. Kemudian ada lebih banyak maklum balas mengenai bagaimana mereka tidak dapat menerima pedang tersebut. Ada orang Pekak memberitahu rakannya bahawa kita semua harus mengikuti ucapan BIM yang baru, namun, rakannya memberitahunya, bahawa dia berhak menggunakan ucapan BIM lama! Seperti ini, BIM tidak dapat diseragamkan.
Masih ingatkah kita tentang perbincangan mengenai telekomunikasi, seperti Digi, Maxis, Celcom dll? Seseorang sudah mencadangkan iskata untuk setiap telekomunikasi di Malaysia. Walau bagaimanapun, orang lain tidak mahu menerimanya dan kemudian mencadangkan tuan baru. Orang lain juga tidak menyukai kedua-duanya, oleh itu mengusulkan iskata baru, dan tidak pernah berakhir di sana! Semua ini tidak pernah diterima. Sekiranya saya adalah anda, saya akan menerima cadangan pertama. Saya tidak mempunyai masalah dengan iskata kerana semua ini hanya untuk tujuan komunikasi. Tetapi ramai orang Pekak tidak berpuas hati. Mereka hanya menolak iskata. Seperti itu, bagaimana BIM dapat berkembang? Apa pendapat kamu?
Penutup:
Oleh itu, apa pendapat anda mengenai empat bahasa ini? Adakah anda fikir mereka mempunyai taraf yang sama?
Berdasarkan penjelasan saya, adakah anda fikir keempat-empat bahasa itu sama taraf?
Kerajaan kita menyuruh kita menggunakan kata “baharu” yang betul dan kita mengikutinya.
Untuk bahasa Inggeris, selfie diterima sepenuhnya dan digunakan di seluruh dunia.
Untuk ASL, kita harus mengeja jari terlebih dahulu sehingga seseorang menunjukkan iskata yang sesuai.
Bagi BIM, setelah cadangan BIM dicadangkan, ribut taufan besar tiba. Banyak kekecohan. Mereka berseru bahawa iskata BIM jelek. Mereka mencadangkan satu lagi untuk menggantikannya. Sebagai contoh, ada orang Pekak mencadangkan satu iskata yang saya terima sepenuhnya. Tidak ada komen. Kemudian yang lain mencadangkan untuk menggantikannya.
Kejadian itu juga berlaku ketika video ucapan BIM "Selamat Tahun Baru" dikongsi di media sosial, yang lain mencadangkan untuk menggantikannya. Cadangan itu tidak pernah berhenti. Ramai yang tidak pernah mencapai persetujuan. Sekiranya kita terus melakukan seperti ini, kita tidak boleh mengharapkan BIM akan dikembangkan. Semua tindakan ini hanya akan menyebabkan yang terburuk dan boleh menghentikan kewujudan BIM. Ini kerana anda enggan berkompromi antara satu sama lain. Anda lebih suka cara anda sendiri. Anda enggan mengikutinya. Ia adalah dunia anda sendiri. BIM serabut.
Adakah kita dapat menyeragamkan BIM? Jawapannya adalah "tidak".
Adakah BIM tidak bernilai? Jawapannya adalah "ya".
Ini kerana banyak daripada kita TIDAK PERNAH menerima apa-apa. Cadangan itu tidak pernah berakhir. Tidak ada hasil sama sekali. Ia menjadi tidak terkawal. BIM tidak dapat diseragamkan. Bagaimana kita dapat menjangkakan standardisasi akan berlaku?
Bahasa Melayu, Bahasa Inggeris dan ASL adalah bahasa yang benar kerana pengguna benar-benar menerima perubahan baru. Tiada soalan. Tiada perbincangan. Semua orang berkongsi bahasa yang sama. Satu-satunya sebab ialah perkataan / iskata ini adalah untuk tujuan komunikasi.
BIM tidak mempunyai status yang sama dengan ketiga-tiga bahasa ini. BIM terdedah kepada yang bahaya. BIM sukar dikenali sebagai bahasa seperti bahasa Melayu, bahasa Inggeris dan ASL. Ini kerana tiada siapa nak berkongsi sama BIM.