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By DayakDaily Team KUCHING, Oct 27: For the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, language access is not merely a convenience—it is a bridge to education, employment, healthcare, safety, and full participation in society. In a Sarawak Public Communication Unit (Ukas) report, Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng described the effort to integrate inclusive practices into early childhood education as an act of nation-building. He added that early exposure is vital for all children—whether hearing or deaf—to understand that differences are not deficiencies and called on parents and guardians to play their part at home by learning a few basic signs and celebrating their children’s small milestones. “Imagine if every front-line counter in Kuching could use just 30 basic BIM (Malaysian sign language) signs—the daily experience of the deaf community would be completely transformed,” he said. He said this during the officiation of the Hand & Sign Day 2025 programme held here on Sunday (Oct 26). At the same time, Wee emphasised that the spirit of inclusivity must extend to all public spaces, including clinics, police stations, houses of worship, banks, workplaces, and supermarkets. He also stressed that inspiration must be translated into infrastructure—through policies, budgets, training, and sustained practices—to ensure that inclusivity continues long after events conclude. On the programme, which was organised by the Sarawak Society for the Deaf (SSD) in collaboration with SeDidik Sarawak, he said it underscored the State’s commitment to inclusive and universal early childhood education. He said that the event was celebrated as a symbol of the ongoing effort to make communication a right for all, not a privilege for a few. “May today not just be a celebration, but a commitment to making communication truly belong to everyone,” he said. — DayakDaily
