http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/6/8/focus/17963429&sec=focus

Friday June 8, 2007

Deaf people communicate mostly in Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia

GLAD to hear that the term “Bahasa Malaysia” for our national language is back. I am proud to be a Malaysian.

Since I was a kid, I had been good in Bahasa Melayu but sometimes I could not make sense of what difference there was between Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Malaysia, especially when the teacher wrote on the blackboard.

The deaf community, of which I am proud to be a part, has its own culture and language known as Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia (BIM).

Deaf persons communicate mostly in BIM, not only in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya but also in other parts of the country.

BIM is not the same as the spoken language. It is a unique language of signs with a grammar and structure of its own, and successfully enables deaf persons to describe nouns concretely.

Some hearing and deaf foreigners who are articulate in sign language are able to recognise and understand BIM when we express our thoughts.

Many races can converse in Bahasa Malaysia in its spoken form. However, Deaf people can understand the language through reading and writing only.

Also, deaf students are able to take up tertiary or higher learning easily as Bahasa Malaysia is used in the local universities and institutions of higher learning in the country.

Bahasa Malaysia is one language that deaf people use to be easily understood when they seek information.

KEVIN MAK,
Subang Jaya, Selangor.