The Macau Deaf Association (MDA) yesterday held a press conference at its Service Centre for the Deaf in Fai Chi Kei to introduce a promotional campaign comprising a community event scheduled for this Saturday and a series of fundraising activities next month, as a means to mark the International Sign Language Day and the International Week of the Deaf.
According to a statement by the MDA, the campaign will be carried out with the objective of enhancing society’s understanding of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in Macau, as well as promoting sign language to the public.
The International Sign Language Day was initially proposed by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and proclaimed in 2017 by the UN General Assembly to be September 23, in order to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the realisation of the human rights of people who are deaf. This year, the day is themed “A World Where Deaf People Everywhere Can Sign Anywhere!”.
The International Week of the Deaf, initiated by the WFD in 1958, is marked during the last full week of September.
At the press conference, MDA President Wong Kam Sun elaborated on the association’s work for its service users. He highlighted that the association’s goal was to foster a more inclusive and barrier-free community for deaf and hearing-impaired people. Wong added that the MDA would continue to further work on the rights and needs of deaf people, and to promote sign language to Macau’s residents.
MDA Director Nerissa Lau Sut Man said that the association will hold a community promotional event on Saturday (the International Sign Language Day) on the first-floor foyer of Broadway Hotel in Cotai. According to Lau, the event will start at 2 p.m. and incorporate a series of stage performances and booth games, as well as an inclusion-themed bus parade.
According to the statement, a fundraising campaign will be held between October 28 and 29, for which more than 1,000 volunteers will be recruited from about 30 local primary and secondary schools. The statement added that during the 2-day fundraising campaign a raft of sign language workshops will be organised by the association simultaneously at Rotunda de Carlos da Maia, Largo Camões, and Largo Eduardo Marques, as a means to encourage interaction between deaf people and the general public.
Four representatives of the Macau Deaf Association (MDA) held a press conference yesterday at its Service Centre for the Deaf, to introduce their upcoming activities (with sign language simultaneous interpretation).
– Photo provided by the Service Centre for the Deaf
