KUCHING: The Ministry of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development will look into the common problems faced by the deaf community in Sarawak.
Its Assistant Minister Mohammad Razi Sitam said a three-day workshop organised by the Sarawak Society for the Deaf (SSD) was to identify the issues and seek solutions.
He said the six focus areas of the discussions were education, employment, healthcare and welfare, accessibility, social recreation and culture as well as advocacy and rights.
“The purpose of the workshop was to discuss and identify issues and problems faced by the deaf communities.
“With this, we are able to improve our strategies and policies to address the various issues affecting the deaf community,” he said at a press conference held after the closing ceremony of the workshop here today.
Razi assured the state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, will continue to provide better service to everyone, including the deaf community in Sarawak.
The Deaf Empowerment Workshop 2022, which kick-started on Feb 18, was attended by 50 representatives from over 20 associations and government agencies, involving both the deaf and hearing community, from within and without Sarawak.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Society for the Deaf (SSD) president Albert Wong Tuong Chui said several brainstorming sessions were being carried out, which has identified stakeholders involved, and has led to specific target setting, which has measurable outcomes.
He said targets were all tailored to the need of the deaf community.
Among the proposed solutions include setting up guidelines on early identification, intervention and awareness for newborn deaf, in attempt to improve the overall deaf literacy.
“A daycare centre in Kuching for deaf children of 0 to 6 years old, which will adopt the bimodal approach was also proposed, to act as a pilot project for further expansion to all 12 divisions in Sarawak in the future.”
To improve communication between the deaf and hearing community, he said, SSD has also urged the government to consider making Sign Language or Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia (BIM) an elective subject in school, with a target to let at least 50 per cent of students to acquire the skills to communicate via BIM.
He said the targeted BIM course for specific groups such as healthcare workers were also proposed to help improve the communication of deaf community easier in daily lives.
Besides that, the groups have also hope for an improvement in the implementation of policy to achieve the target of at least one per cent job allocation for the deaf community in public sector.
By the end of 2025, the participants targeted for at least five ministries to meet this target.
At the end of the workshop, all recommendations and proposed outcomes were presented to the government agencies involved It is hoped that with the help of the involved government agencies, the mentioned targets can all be achieved and the overall welfare of the deaf community in Sarawak can be significantly improved.
The workshop has also witnessed the signing of the MOU between 6 different societies, including Sarawak Society for the Deaf (SSD), Sarawak Deaf Sports Association (SSDeaf), Malaysian Sign Language and Deaf Studies Association (MyBIM), Deaf Media and Technology Association Kuala Lumpur and Selangor (DeafMT), Sarawak Deaf Dance and Culture Society (SWDAC) as well as Sarawak Deaf Youth Society (SwDY), which promised closer collaboratoon between the association to strive for improvement in the deaf community.
Sarawak Society for the Deaf, since its establishment in 1982, has been functioning as an important organization with and for the deaf community in Kuching, focusing on providing support, job opportunities as well as empowerment of the deaf individuals.
