Interview by Rui Pastorin
The Macau Deaf Association (MDA) was established in 1994, and since then, its dedication to supporting Macau’s deaf and hard-of-hearing community has remained steadfast.
Among the group’s most important early undertakings was the promotion of sign language to the public, MDA Executive Director Nerissa Lau Sut Man told the Post in a recent interview at their headquarters on Travessa dos Estaleiros (船廠巷).
Continuing these efforts today, Lau said that courses have been set up for schools and members of the public, while they also teach sign language through various means such as their website and on TV programmes through public local broadcaster TDM, where news segments also feature sign language interpretation throughout the year.
The association also has news wrap-ups using sign language that can be viewed on its platforms like its official YouTube and Facebook pages, where its “Kids Can” series of videos dedicated to younger audiences can also be found.
“You can see how we want the public to receive more information about sign language”, Lau said, pointing out the difference to when she was younger, when some might have held certain stigmas or even thought sign language users to be “quite weird”.
Today’s generation understands that sign language is an important means of communication, Lau said, highlighting: “We are very happy to see the acceptance from the public”.
However, in terms of application, Lau said she believes there is still “considerable room for improvement”, emphasising four key areas that she hopes can be explored.
The four areas
First among them is if there can be a permanent or more frequent use of sign language interpretation, going beyond government press conferences and public events. This also applies to textual information for those who are deaf or hard of hearing but cannot understand sign language yet.
Moreover, offering stable sign language support, and other accessible services, available for deaf or hard-of-hearing students in the city’s education system is also an important factor to note.
Lau’s second point, meanwhile, involves qualification, particularly how assessment criteria for qualified sign language interpreters can be established. “This involves building a formal certification system alongside a long-term career pathway”, she noted.
Third, Lau highlighted a need for understanding in terms of the misconceptions in civil society have regarding the deaf and those who are hard of hearing, with many thinking that they should instead rely on lip reading or oral speech. These underestimate the “vital role of sign language for their cognitive development and for their mental health”.
Fourth, in the era of the rapid advancement of AI, Lau asked how one can enrich the sign language vocabulary through its integration, as well as how one could keep pace with the times and drive the development of the digital sign language translation technology.
Concluding her remarks, Lau said that overall “I think everyone is equal. Everyone has their talents or something that needs other people to help. So, in my point of view, I hope that all the people with deafness can have respect and can live an equal, independent and professional life. These words may seem simple, but we still have a lot of work to do and many barriers to overcome”.
*This article is the first of a two-part interview, with the second part set for this week focusing on deaf blindness.
Macau Deaf Association (MDA) Executive Director Nerissa Lau Sut Man poses in front of a poster of their recently-concluded “TOUCH the Heart” exhibition (https://macaupostdaily.com/news/28644 & https://www.macaupostdaily.com/news/28626 ), along with books and artworks by association founding president Cyril Axelrod.
