Being deaf is no handicap (31 August 2006)

New Straits Times Thursday 31 August 2006.

ANTHONY CHONG VEE YEE

Teacher, facilitator and author 

ANTHONY Chong Vee Yee, 24, defied the perception people have of the handicapped. He scored 8As for his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, graduated with a degree in Computer Studies and is currently working on two book projects on sign language titled "Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia" and "Deaf Culture". 

No small feat for someone who was born deaf to a family of hearing people. His mother had a lot to do with who Chong is today. Her support and encouragement spurred the young man on. 

Despite his disability, Chong is an intelligent young man. Up until he was 14, he was in an integrated primary school for both deaf and hearing. 

聋哑电召车司机考执照 不满被强制戴助听器 24 June 2019 (No English translation is available)

记者: 司徒洧齐独家报导 

(吉隆坡24日讯)聋哑电子召车司机声称考取商用车辆执照(PSV)期间，在体检阶段称 遭到刁难，除了被要求测试听力，更被强制规定需佩戴助听器，眼看距离下月12日获取商 用车辆执照的期限接近，令他们心急如焚。

代表这些聋哑电子召车司机的大马聋哑人士权益分子张伟义，及雪州聋哑青年组织成员哈 尔马苏丹透过手语师吴小姐接受《中国报》访问时说，早前政府虽然阐明聋哑电子召车司 机可在全国的医院接受体检，现在却规定他们前往蕉赖康复医院体检。 

Deaf Community Merdeka

Malaysia has gained independence since 31 August 1957. Every citizen, with or without disability, celebrates the Merdeka every year. Deaf people also celebrate Merdeka.

For me, Merdeka is where everyone can enjoy the privilege of being Malaysians in the country. But is the Deaf community really Merdeka yet? We encounter many obstacles. People decide our destiny. People decide how we should receive our education. People do not see us as a cultural and linguistic minority. We are not allowed to use our official language, BIM, which is Malaysian Sign Language or Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia, to learn Bahasa Malaysia in schools but instead are forced to use an ineffective coding system. Without BIM, we were not able to excel in Bahasa Malaysia.

We have been trying to tell People about our language but our messages never reached them. Deaf children grow up without BIM and was expected to be fluent in Bahasa Malaysia. The children would struggle in acquiring Bahasa Malaysia because they could not make any sense of the language without BIM. We are Malaysians, we should not have to struggle in acquiring Bahasa Malaysia. 

To cut a long story short, we are surviving the society, with minimal proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia. We are pleading the Ministry of Education to replace the current coding system with BIM to allow Deaf children to acquire Bahasa Malaysia without obstacles. Just as Malaysia fought for Merdeka, we will keep fighting until our rights as a Deaf person are rightfully recognised.  It will be truly Merdeka for us when Malaysia hears the cry from our community and recognise the Deaf community as a community with different language, just like Chinese, Indian and Malay, Iban, Kadazan and other linguistic minorities instead of seeing us as a person with disability.

Deaf Community Merdeka! 

Written on 30 August 2018

听障者心声 你听见了吗 ? (Nanyang Siang Pau) July 15, 2013 [English translation is available]

天生失聪的张伟义（中）从不放弃学习。目前他正报读马来亚大学的博士学位。

听障者拥有发言权。在2008年，马来西亚颁布了“残疾人士法令”，马来西亚手语（BIM）受承认为国家的规范手语，意味着手语已被确认为一种语言，听障者也有发言的权利。

天生失聪的张伟义，不久前发给本报一封英文电邮，字里行间一一陈述听障者生活上所面临的情况，并希望自己能够成为这个弱势群体的发言人，透过与媒体合作的管道，让人们听见听障者的心声。

他写道：“I would like to take stand for them...”，为听障者争取及维持公平与合理的社会待遇，促进听障者与健听人士之间互相尊重及了解，双方一同建设伤健共融的和谐社会。再者，“Time is not waiting for us.”

Communication gap amongst Deaf people within the Community

Only today I realized that there is a huge gap in the communication amongst Deaf people using sign language.

I realized that I have some difficulties in determining whether the persons I signed were able to grasp what I said to them. They may say they understand what I said. I would take it that they understood the signs I made to them, but my question is whether do they really understand the meaning I tried to convey.