Miss-Delectable
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- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
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Wasted opportunity
Without access to information, the deaf were sidelined in the elections.
IN THE recent elections, Malaysians with disabilities – specifically the deaf and the blind – were at a disadvantage.
Many of them, unfortunately, still have hardly any access to information in our society, either because they cannot afford online services or their needs have been forgotten.
“I was just as thrilled as the entire nation over the recent election campaign but I simply could not stop thinking about how unfair it still is for deaf and blind people in our country who, though citizens of Malaysia, do not enjoy equal status with non-disabled Malaysians when it comes to having access to information,” said Lucy Lim-Yip, a freelance sign language interpreter, in an e-mail.
“The challenge ahead is for all our elected representatives to bridge this gap in order for them (the disabled) to also enjoy a high quality of life,” she added.
Lim-Yip, an advocate for the deaf for over 20 years, said that a certain political party had been urgently looking for people to |translate its manifesto into Tamil.
“Did any of the parties think about making their manifestos available in Braille for blind voters who are said to number around 20,000 in the country?” Lim-Yip asked. “What about making DVDs with Malaysian sign language for the deaf community?”
Lim-Yip related an incident in which a deaf man was eager to attend a ceramah in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, during the election campaign. He changed his mind at the last minute when he found out that no sign-language interpreters were going to be present. He did not want to end up staring blankly at the speakers’ faces.
Lim-Yip pointed out that even as far back as 1995, Canada had a deaf MP who had as many as six full-time sign-language interpreters working for him on regular shifts.
The MP managed to reach out to the deaf, said Lim-Yip, but his job also required him to cover the hearing constituents’ needs as well.
“Like all of us, the deaf also want to know – and they have the right to know – about what is going on in their neighbourhood as well as around the world,” she pointed out.
“RTM’s TV1 did well when it introduced sign language in its daily news at 8pm,” she added. However, Lim-Yip said, there must be improvement in its services.
According to her, the current three-inch square picture on the TV screen is too small for the deaf to read the signs properly.
“It is also very taxing on the eyes,” said Lim-Yip.
“If they cannot make the inset larger, then it would be better if TV1 (and all other TV stations, too) include subtitles in Bahasa Malaysia or English in order to make their services more friendly to the deaf community.”
TV stations overseas run a simultaneous separate channel specially catered to the deaf. “It was good that the election results were aired for everyone through crawling commentaries on the TV screen,” observed Lim-Yip, “but did anyone stop to think how deaf people would follow the live discussions by the invited guests on TV when no subtitles were provided?
“This deprived the deaf from knowing what candidates and elected representatives from their constituencies had to offer them.”
Lim-Yip said that information from the Internet is of no use to the deaf as many cannot afford online services.
As a result, many deaf persons had no clue where to register in order to vote. And those who were registered did not know which candidates were standing for election. When you think about it, it was a waste of potential good votes for all the candidates who ran recently.
Without access to information, the deaf were sidelined in the elections.
IN THE recent elections, Malaysians with disabilities – specifically the deaf and the blind – were at a disadvantage.
Many of them, unfortunately, still have hardly any access to information in our society, either because they cannot afford online services or their needs have been forgotten.
“I was just as thrilled as the entire nation over the recent election campaign but I simply could not stop thinking about how unfair it still is for deaf and blind people in our country who, though citizens of Malaysia, do not enjoy equal status with non-disabled Malaysians when it comes to having access to information,” said Lucy Lim-Yip, a freelance sign language interpreter, in an e-mail.
“The challenge ahead is for all our elected representatives to bridge this gap in order for them (the disabled) to also enjoy a high quality of life,” she added.
Lim-Yip, an advocate for the deaf for over 20 years, said that a certain political party had been urgently looking for people to |translate its manifesto into Tamil.
“Did any of the parties think about making their manifestos available in Braille for blind voters who are said to number around 20,000 in the country?” Lim-Yip asked. “What about making DVDs with Malaysian sign language for the deaf community?”
Lim-Yip related an incident in which a deaf man was eager to attend a ceramah in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, during the election campaign. He changed his mind at the last minute when he found out that no sign-language interpreters were going to be present. He did not want to end up staring blankly at the speakers’ faces.
Lim-Yip pointed out that even as far back as 1995, Canada had a deaf MP who had as many as six full-time sign-language interpreters working for him on regular shifts.
The MP managed to reach out to the deaf, said Lim-Yip, but his job also required him to cover the hearing constituents’ needs as well.
“Like all of us, the deaf also want to know – and they have the right to know – about what is going on in their neighbourhood as well as around the world,” she pointed out.
“RTM’s TV1 did well when it introduced sign language in its daily news at 8pm,” she added. However, Lim-Yip said, there must be improvement in its services.
According to her, the current three-inch square picture on the TV screen is too small for the deaf to read the signs properly.
“It is also very taxing on the eyes,” said Lim-Yip.
“If they cannot make the inset larger, then it would be better if TV1 (and all other TV stations, too) include subtitles in Bahasa Malaysia or English in order to make their services more friendly to the deaf community.”
TV stations overseas run a simultaneous separate channel specially catered to the deaf. “It was good that the election results were aired for everyone through crawling commentaries on the TV screen,” observed Lim-Yip, “but did anyone stop to think how deaf people would follow the live discussions by the invited guests on TV when no subtitles were provided?
“This deprived the deaf from knowing what candidates and elected representatives from their constituencies had to offer them.”
Lim-Yip said that information from the Internet is of no use to the deaf as many cannot afford online services.
As a result, many deaf persons had no clue where to register in order to vote. And those who were registered did not know which candidates were standing for election. When you think about it, it was a waste of potential good votes for all the candidates who ran recently.