KUANTAN – The Communications and Multimedia Ministry is targeting to have at least one certified Bahasa Melayu (BM) sign language interpreter in each district nationwide, said its minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.
He said there are only 60 certified BM sign language interpreters in the country so far, with the majority being in Kuala Lumpur, prompting the ministry to commence efforts to increase the number of such personnel.
“For the time being, the ministry is preparing a sign language interpreter course with the cooperation of the Malaysian Federation of the Deaf, with an intake of candidates from July onwards. For a start, it will involve Bahasa Melayu, before being followed by other languages.
“We are also making efforts such that the role will not be a permanent post. Nonetheless, when their services are required, a specific honorarium may be determined according to the number of hours and so on,” he said.
Saifuddin, who is also Indera Mahkota MP, told reporters this after presenting Ramadan contributions to members of disabled people associations here today.
The presence of a certified sign language interpreter in each district, according to Saifuddin, would help facilitate delivering messages at official government programmes in districts involving the disabled community.
Even though the course will be open to all, priority will be given to physically disabled people as it would provide an additional source of income whenever their services are required.
Apart from that, Saifuddin said the ministry would also cooperate with the Malaysian Islamic Development Department so that sign language interpreters can be deployed during Friday sermons in at least one mosque per major district to facilitate deaf and dumb congregants.
So far, only a handful of mosques in Malaysia have voluntary sign language interpreters.
Saifuddin said the Panglima Perang Tengku Muhammad Mosque in Sg Karang, Indera Mahkota would be the first mosque to have such an interpreter. – Bernama, April 24, 2021
