Who are Deaf people?

Who are Deaf people? 

Should we be seen as a Deaf person because of our deafness? 

Should we be seen as a Deaf person because we use different language to communicate daily? 

This is the question many hearing people as well as Deaf people struggling to answer. Both hearing and Deaf people could not understand how Deaf people should live in Malaysia? 

I asked many Deaf people throughout Malaysia whether they see themselves as having a hearing disability. Most of them answered yes. Why did they answer yes to such question? Is it because they can’t hear sound? I have a question for myself. How do they know that they do not have hearing ability when they actually never experience it for themselves?

I met many hearing people. I told them that I am Deaf. They responded me, “Oh I am sorry for your hearing loss.”. Initially I thought it was normal response I should have received and I should be identified as a person with hearing loss. 

But wait. Did I actually lose my hearing ability? I did not come to this world with hearing ability, how could I experience the loss? Therefore, we do not need anyone to feel sorry or pity for us because we are not with hearing loss. We actually acquired deafness which led us towards a new life culture, which would be different from those people with normal hearing ability. The acquisition of deafness is good news, and it makes us differently from people here. 

Intersectionality

Are women all the same? Are men all the same? Are Chinese all the same? Are Deaf people all the same? 

The answer is intersectionality. It means each person is born with different traits and grew up with different experiences, some bad and some good leading to differing identities in each individual. What counts is oppression against these differing identities. 

Intersectionality was initially meant for women who experience discrimination based on both colour and gender simultaneously. Kimberle Crenshaw, a legal scholar, saw it and coined the term in 1989. She realised that anyone would treat these issues separately. 

There was a case: 

There was a group of African American women who sued a company for racial and gender discrimination. However, the courts found that women in general were not discriminated against when it came to jobs as secretaries in the company. Therefore, the court dismissed their suit relating to discrimination based on gender. The company also employed African American factory workers and the courts found that this disproved racial discrimination. So the court saw race and gender as two separate issues and therefore dismissed the suit. 

What is the problem? The court failed to consider that the majority of secretaries were white women, and factory workers were all men. The women of colour were not seen to be doubly discriminated against and should be treated as a facing a separate category of oppression.

Deaf gay man on dealing with rejection from everywhere

By ANTHONY CHONG.

After I came out of closet as a gay man to my parents, I remember clearly something my mother said. She said, I would inherit her house entirely, but only if I chose another path. In other words, marry a woman. She would even accept any woman she had previously warned me not to marry. I said I would be more than happy to share the house with my two elder brothers.

The house is not my life dream anyway. I don’t plan on sitting at home. There are many things to explore outside the house and the country. I want to live my life without any kind of discrimination or oppression. We could practice our freedom to do the things we wish, yet remember never to cross the line: we should not mind the business of others. Others could do the same. However, this is not the case. 

LGBTQ oppression happens. Audism happens. (“Audism is a set of beliefs that include: hearing people are superior to Deaf people; Deaf people should be pitied for having futile and miserable lives; Deaf people should become like hearing people as far as possible; and shunning of sign languages.” — Wikipedia)

Deaf and Gay and Proud to be Both

By ANTHONY CHONG.

After struggling to fall in love with women, I finally affirmed my identity as a gay person at the age of 21. But I did not have the strength to open up to anyone as I feared losing my family, my friends, and my reputation as a deaf community leader. 

The deaf community in Malaysia is small. Without any intention, I had emerged as an exemplary deaf person in the eye of the deaf community. But it wasn’t until I entered the deaf community at age of 18 that I found someone to guide me. As I lost much time, I expedited my learning of deaf culture and language until I was ready to live as a cultural deaf person. 

What is a cultural deaf person? A cultural deaf person looks at oneself as part of a linguistic minority. He is proud of being fluent in Malaysian Sign Language and has sufficient cultural knowledge to survive mainstream society. He also does not see his hearing disability as a disadvantage. The disadvantages we experience are produced by mainstream society.