Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,164
- Reaction score
- 6
New Straits Times - Malaysia News Online ...
Goh Soo Leng can communicate in four languages, but she only speaks in three. For the fourth she uses her hands.
It is known as the Malaysian Sign Language or Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia.
Goh is one of seven full-time sign language interpreters in the country, a drop in the ocean for a country with 26,500 registered deaf people.
She works at the Centre for Malaysian Sign Language (MYSL) set up in 2005 by the Malaysian Federation of the Deaf (MFD).
The 27-year-old’s job involves helping deaf people to communicate with the hearing world.
She accompanies them to job interviews or medical check-ups. Or, she can be called on to interpret for a deaf person in court.
MFD president Sazali Shaari says through an interpreter there was a lack of awareness of how the deaf were struggling to integrate with society.
"Interpreters are needed to bridge the communication and information gap," he said, adding that deaf people who attend university or get jobs in hotels or fast food restaurants were the minority.
"Ideally, interpreters for the deaf should be provided by the Government."
In most countries, interpreters are provided by state welfare or other agencies. In Malaysia, it is the deaf who are helping the deaf.
MYSL, which Sazali describes as a one-stop centre, provides classes in sign language and interpreting. It also functions as an employment agency for its graduates.
At present, 20 new interpreters are being trained at MYSL, "but this is only a tiny step towards building a support network for the deaf", says Sazali.
Others include convincing employers of the need for interpreters, and the interpreters’ need for an official job designation. A related challenge, said Sazali, was convincing people that being an interpreter was a real job, because MYSL was a non-governmental agency.
MYSL can issue certificates to its graduates but there is no governmental body which provides endorsement and legal certification for sign language interpreters, as in the case of accountants for example.
Also, the pay is low. The Welfare Department provides RM36,000 a year to pay the five full-time interpreters based in Kuala Lumpur, which means that each receives only about RM600 a month. The other two full-time interpreters in the country, one in Kedah and the other in Kelantan, receive a similar salary.
For now, all the MFD wants from the Government is additional funding for interpreters, says Sazali. MFD is willing to provide the classes and work towards endorsement and legal certification for interpreters.
Eventually, it is hoped that the Government will handle the sign language interpreter programme so that MYSL can focus on other things such as research and closed captioning on television. "We have a strong spirit and don’t give up easily. Whatever assistance we get, we will utilise it."
Goh Soo Leng can communicate in four languages, but she only speaks in three. For the fourth she uses her hands.
It is known as the Malaysian Sign Language or Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia.
Goh is one of seven full-time sign language interpreters in the country, a drop in the ocean for a country with 26,500 registered deaf people.
She works at the Centre for Malaysian Sign Language (MYSL) set up in 2005 by the Malaysian Federation of the Deaf (MFD).
The 27-year-old’s job involves helping deaf people to communicate with the hearing world.
She accompanies them to job interviews or medical check-ups. Or, she can be called on to interpret for a deaf person in court.
MFD president Sazali Shaari says through an interpreter there was a lack of awareness of how the deaf were struggling to integrate with society.
"Interpreters are needed to bridge the communication and information gap," he said, adding that deaf people who attend university or get jobs in hotels or fast food restaurants were the minority.
"Ideally, interpreters for the deaf should be provided by the Government."
In most countries, interpreters are provided by state welfare or other agencies. In Malaysia, it is the deaf who are helping the deaf.
MYSL, which Sazali describes as a one-stop centre, provides classes in sign language and interpreting. It also functions as an employment agency for its graduates.
At present, 20 new interpreters are being trained at MYSL, "but this is only a tiny step towards building a support network for the deaf", says Sazali.
Others include convincing employers of the need for interpreters, and the interpreters’ need for an official job designation. A related challenge, said Sazali, was convincing people that being an interpreter was a real job, because MYSL was a non-governmental agency.
MYSL can issue certificates to its graduates but there is no governmental body which provides endorsement and legal certification for sign language interpreters, as in the case of accountants for example.
Also, the pay is low. The Welfare Department provides RM36,000 a year to pay the five full-time interpreters based in Kuala Lumpur, which means that each receives only about RM600 a month. The other two full-time interpreters in the country, one in Kedah and the other in Kelantan, receive a similar salary.
For now, all the MFD wants from the Government is additional funding for interpreters, says Sazali. MFD is willing to provide the classes and work towards endorsement and legal certification for interpreters.
Eventually, it is hoped that the Government will handle the sign language interpreter programme so that MYSL can focus on other things such as research and closed captioning on television. "We have a strong spirit and don’t give up easily. Whatever assistance we get, we will utilise it."