Coco’s visit in Malaysia

A childhood friend of mine, Christine Roschaert (Coco) will arrive on the 24^th for a week and half to provide workshops and seminars on deaf-blindness. The MFD is excited about her visit that they sponsored her flight ticket from Cambodia to Malaysia, and will host her during her stay here.

Deafblind children in Malaysia are sent to a school for the blind in Penang, and interpreters are not trained to work with deafblind people. With that being said, I truly believe Coco’s visit will open people’s eyes and allow people gain a newfound awareness/respect of working with deafblind people.

At the meeting today, we planned an itinerary for her stay here. She will give a workshop this Sunday in Johor, a state south of Kuala Lumpur. The MFD will also prepare a formal seminar on deafblind next Tuesday, and they will invite important people and the press to publicize her seminar.

The Kuala Lumpur Society Of Parents and Guardians of Deaf Children

I visited this society last Saturday and met with parents and guardians of deaf children. This society was founded ten years ago, and provided tutorial and elective classes for deaf children along with other leisure/support programs. The parents wanted to bolster their children's education by placing their children in these classes. In this case, there are diverse classes from religion, martial arts to math classes every Saturday between 9 or 10 am until 3 or 4 pm. The parents I met at this society were wonderful, and I will be sure to return before I leave for the United States.

By the way, I’ve decided to spend my two-week break this May in North Vietnam – as always, much appreciation and gratitude goes to my lovely ma and pa!

Jalan Petaling & Chinatown

Jalan Petaling is located in Kuala Lumpur’s vibrant Chinatown, boasting a bustling outdoor marketplace lined with stalls selling food to fake designer products. You will also find hawkers in every corner of the marketplace. Alleyways intersecting the Jalan Petaling are lined with old shops, traditional medicine shops to kepdai kopis (coffee shops) selling coffee and noodles for el cheapo. You will also find a large Indian temple, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple close by; however, it's in the midst of renovations.

BIM Training

I attended a BIM training as an observer, and to provide feedback if needed. In the past, I taught Level 1 ASL classes, so the workers at the MFD thought I could give some feedback if there is any because the SL instructors at the MFD have not received any formal training. A good number of people attended the training to become future BIM instructors. Since BIM is new, some students still use KTM to this day, and it is apparent it is difficult for some of them to go through the transition from using KTM to BIM.

I didn’t have any feedback to offer except suggesting proper attire for the BIM instructors (solid-colored shirts) – like mentioned earlier, the BIM teacher is fantastic and he is in this profession for approximately 10 years. He uses techniques from the Vista series, and comes up with creative visual solutions to teach certain signs. Sign language is a visual language; therefore, it makes more sense to carry out the importance of visibility while teaching signs or such.

At this training, I was able to reach four participants for my first-ever focus group interview. With that being said, it is important to attend different functions to reach interested participants.

BIM

BIM, known as Malaysian Sign Language in English, is a recent form of communication among people in deaf communities. Since Parsons’ visit in the 70s, deaf Malaysians and people who work with the deaf community use KTM (could be compared to SEE in the states) and deaf Malaysians felt that using KTM complicates their communication to a certain extent that they wanted to re-introduce BIM to their country. People have been working on BIM books for the last few years – trying to spread word on the importance of BIM use.

In this case, I decided to attend a BIM class to learn how to use BIM so I would be able to communicate with ease, given the fact that I work with deaf Malaysians. Some signs I learned are similar to those in ASL. The teacher I had was great because of his flamboyant personality – students love him, and unfortunately I will not be able to take his classes on a regular basis because it conflicts with my interview appointments.

Flood @ the MFD

There was a flood at the administration office for the THIRD time to date. After a heavy downpour early in the evening, one of the ceiling block collapsed, and water leaked all over Zu (an interpreter) and the director of the MFD’s computers, desks, carpets, and elsewhere! We stayed in late that night figuring out a way to dry the carpet in the lobby, an area interlocking the offices. Naturally, we ended up eating pizza and left the dirty work to the professional carpet shampooers.

Note: Malaysians are big on food, and in one local magazine, it stated that a majority of Malaysians choose to spend money on dining and entertainment over fashion and such.

People of Malaysia

Malaysia has three major ethnic groups: 1) the Malay, 2) the Chinese, and 3) South Asians (especially Indians). The largest ethnic group of Malaysia is the Malay; ironically, the Chinese dominate the Malaysian economy. Each group practice different religions, Islam for the Malay, and Christianity, Buddhism or Hinduism are common practices of people from other ethnic groups in Malaysia.

Generally speaking, family units (both nuclear and extended family members) are very important to Malaysians. To this day, I cannot remember who’s who. All the mentioned nieces, aunts, uncles, tok-ma, tok-pa, or for that matter, cousins -- the list goes on, really. Malaysian family units in general live within each other or live within the same proximity of one other.

Currently, the Malaysian government is promoting ‘ONE MALAYSIA’ to create an emphasis that all Malaysians are Malaysians despite their faith or culture. Naturally, people are free to practice certain religion or tradition of their choice, but they need to respect one other.

Time and Tide Wait for No Man

Port Weld

On our way back to Kuala Lumpur, we stopped by at a fishing village, well known for its prawns. At the port of this village, we were able to observe fishermen haul their catch of the day. Under the shacks, children were playing around, the elderly minded their own business, and fish lined on metal sheets under the hot and ferocious sun. Just outside of the village, stood a stall selling coconuts with two flimsy chairs under an umbrella. Viva la Life.

MFD Board Meeting

When I landed Kuala Lumpur, Sazali, the president of the MFD, and Zu, an interpreter and fellow worker of the MFD took me to Penang, a state five hours north of Kuala Lumpur to attend the MFD board meeting. The fresh fruit we had on way to Penang was unbelievably delicious as expected – we had mangos, dragon fruits, and much more.

Penang is well known for its fish head curry. When I had a dinner at one café tucked in between of an alley in Georgetown (a city in Penang) – I saw a huge fish head and could not believe my eyes. This is something I will not try, given that I love food. However, I was told that it’s really good, so if you are in the area and love fish, be sure to give it a try.

The MFD hosts its board meetings biannually (or thrice a year -- pardon my feeble memory) so regional presidents and representatives from other states can assemble and discuss various agendas they have on hand. Nearly 95% of the board members are males, and I was told later on that women were encouraged to participate in the regional chapters of the MFD but due to their household obligations, they chose not to. By attending this meeting as an observer gave me an opportunity to meet people from other states, gaining network for my research.

Prioritizing Needs in Malaysia

Gallaudet University (GU) intends to collaborate with the University of Science Malaysia (USM) and the Malaysian Federation for the Deaf (MFD) to establish a pilot outreach center to improve the quality of life of the deaf population. In this case, I will conduct a needs assessment to identify deaf Malaysians’ needs, and examine the fundamental root of their needs. Hopefully, this needs assessment will allow the stakeholders implement effective and sustainable programs at the outreach center.

In the past, programs are implemented without the deaf community’s involvement in prioritizing their own needs [generalization]. By conducting a needs assessment, programs will be designed with the deaf community rather than for them.

To conduct this needs assessment, I will use three approaches to gather data: 1) focus group interview, 2) one-to-one interview, and 3) survey. For those who are not familiar with the focus group technique, this technique is more of a holistic approach to data collection--the set up of my focus group interview(s) would allow the participants discuss their responses and rank their needs. In this case, by allowing the participants rank their needs, they will be able to participate in/contribute towards the research activities.

Like mentioned in the disclaimer, I feel it is inappropriate to share my research activities in Malaysia. Instead of outlining details on my research activities, I will share my experiences at the MFD.

Disclaimer:

The deletion of my past entries was intentional.

1. I decided to change the content of my blog so my entries will be more “friendly” for the viewers in general.

2. Due to the nature of my work in Malaysia, I will not share my data collection activities to respect the participants’ privacy; however, I will share my experiences or activities at/within the Malaysian Federation of the Deaf (MFD).