Deaf Youth in Today's World: On Leadership and Building a Better Future for the Deaf Community Malaysia 2023

This time, my good friend and I attended an RC Deaf Missions Malaysia special event titled Deaf Youth in Today's World: On Leadership and Building a Better Future for the Deaf Community on 23th September 2023, which is quite unique in that all speakers are Deaf and willing to share their perspectives with us. It is an honor to invite three International Speakers, Ms. Sherri Radenacher, Mrs. Nishani Mccluskey, and Mr Tissa Peiris to share their knowledge and experience on a related topic via ZOOM in the morning.

Mrs. Nishani Mccluskey talked about how she began to help Deaf Parents due to communication issues in Sri Lanka. Then she studied and researched Sri Lankan Sign Language, collaborating with a Sri Lankan Deaf Leader to create Sri Lankan Sign Language books for Deaf Children and Parents to communicate with each other. She designed and published sign language books using her graphic design background. While Tissa Peiris talked about his background, studies, and experience as an ASL instructor. He teaches his students to be confident in social interactions. He is currently working on recording himself on video and promoting the video to raise awareness about the Deaf community. Anyway, Nishani Mccluskey and Tissa Peiris from Sri Lanka are excited to work together to raise awareness, empower and guide Deaf people, and improve the Deaf community in their country. Without a doubt, it is a lack of awareness among society in their country as well.

According to Sherri Radenancher, she explains about Deaf Leadership and Center for International Disability and Advocacy Diplomacy(CIDAD) at St.Cloud State University. She expressed her belief that a Deaf person should focus on developing skills, and abilities, empowering others, and collaborating to ensure a better future for the Deaf community around the world. CIDAD is a center for interdisciplinary research and advocacy where they teach, guide, motivate, and train Deaf people in Deaf Leadership courses and advocate for the rights of people with disabilities locally and globally. 

In addition, She talked about her experiences with Disability Advocacy in China and School Partnerships in China and America. She mentored and trained a few students who learned American Sign Language(ASL) from them and came to America to learn a variety of leadership courses. Finally, her students received the certificate, and they returned to their lovely home country to empower and guide other Deaf and improve the Deaf Community with their passion, skills, abilities, and knowledge to spread awareness about the Deaf Community, Rights, and Advocacy. This will greatly improve the Deaf Community and raise awareness of the Deaf Community in society.

It is a pleasure to have two speakers, Ms Wong Sey Gin in person and Mr Wan Arif Mahmud via ZOOM, in the afternoon; they recently attended the 8th World Federation of the Deaf Youth Section's Camp (WFDYS Camp) in Jeju, South Korea in July 2023. They talked about their camp experiences and lessons. 

She discusses how to learn to be responsible and independent without parental guidance when performing actions based on real-life situations and dealing with difficulties. All of the lessons can be learned during the camp, and they are given to learn how to be good leaders, such as making a schedule, planning what to do list, being in charge of activities or projects, and being accountable for their actions, and cooperating with the team to complete a task successfully. They can also learn how to set goals, make decisions, motivate others, and keep learning new things to gain new experiences. It gives them the confidence they need to become good leaders. 

The camp is a great way to learn management and leadership skills such as how to direct, lead, delegate, manage, inspire, and work in a team. Participants must also understand everyone's strengths and weaknesses, including their own. They must also express their opinion, voice, and ideas, as well as exchange and communicate with one another verbally and in writing. It indirectly helps them to improve their communication skills. Furthermore, it helps them to build confidence and self-esteem by providing a challenge or test to demonstrate their abilities and talents during the camp. It is especially valuable to learn self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. 

While Mr Wan Arif Mahmud stated that to be a leader, he or she must have an in-depth awareness of Deaf culture and community. It can encourage more Deaf people to learn from a good leader's role and model. This helps the Deaf Community. The best example is Bahasa Malaysia Isyarat (BIM), which is widely used by Deaf people for communication. Leaders can advocate for the recognition and promotion of BIM as an official language that can be used in schools and public services.

RC Deaf Missions Malaysia

909, Level 9, Menara 9 PJ,

18, Persiaran Barat,

46050 Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03-7931 8958 or Whatapps at 019 261 9920