BRIDGING LANGUAGE BARRIERS
// Story by Benita Teo
// Photos by LCP Lionel Lee & Courtesy of LCP Yong
Lance Corporal (LCP) Yong, 23, picked up sign language by chance as a student in Singapore Polytechnic, when his friend asked him to join the school's Sign Language Club as a co-curricular activity.
What started as a school activity soon became a love for the language. Hungry to learn more, LCP Yong began looking to meet deaf friends who could help him practise his new language skills.
"If you were learning Spanish, the best way would be to learn from a native speaker, right? It was the same with sign language," he explained.
"So, I started going to social events for the deaf, called Deaf Hangouts. Every weekend, we would meet to practise, with four to six deaf people and about 20 learners such as polytechnic and university students from all over Singapore. I did this religiously every single week because it's so interesting and exciting to learn a new language!"
He and his friends also found interesting uses for his new-found language skills: "We would use it to communicate in class and discuss things like which food court to go to for lunch – and then our teacher would catch us!
"Or if our friends were queuing for drinks at a distance, we could sign our orders to them. We could also 'talk' through glass doors or across different floors in a building."
Interpreting for NDP performers
Three years later, the Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf) approached LCP Yong to be an interpreter, and he began volunteering as a freelancer.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and most face-to-face activities turned digital, he found more interpretation opportunities. This included spending a semester interpreting for an undergraduate who was attending classes online.
In January 2022, LCP Yong enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces. During his Basic Military Training, he was roped in as a community interpreter for the National Day Parade (NDP), playing an integral role interpreting for deaf performers during meetings, media interviews or filming.
The Full-time National Serviceman (NSF) is currently a documentation clerk at Headquarters Infantry Training Institute, seeing to administrative matters such as promotion and Operationally Ready Dates for NSFs.
"On set at NDP, I helped to cue the performers – for instance, at the filming of the Show Film, whenever the director yelled 'action' or 'cut', Ammar (a deaf actor) wouldn't be able to hear. I would run in front of him behind the camera (to sign to him), or we would use a laser pointer to cue him. It was a really fun experience."
He also recalled working with deaf media producer Lily Goh
on the set of the NDP 2022 Virtual Choir shoot, counting the beats of
the music and cuing her to sign the lyrics at the right time.
Learning to be part of the Deaf community
The NSF has a talent for languages – he not only speaks English, Mandarin, the Hakka dialect and some Malay, but also knows both Singapore and American Sign Language.
To him, sign language is more than a means of communication. "It's not just about the language but adopting a whole lifestyle. You have to learn about Deaf culture, be part of the Deaf community, and make deaf friends."
"Deaf people see themselves as a cultural or linguistic identity with its own way of life, norms and values. They are proud of who they are in the same way that we are proud of our cultural or racial identity," he added.
He recalled an incident in the beginning when he stepped in front of his deaf friends to make their food orders for them without asking. "That's considered inappropriate and rude, because I'm making them feel like I don't believe they are able to live their own lives and be independent."
Noting that some people learn sign language out of pity for the Deaf community, LCP Yong hopes that they see themselves instead as allies, who act as a bridge between people who understand different languages.
An ally of the disabled
Working to empower the deaf and disabled continues to be LCP Yong's passion – before National Service (NS), he had interned with the Ministry of Communication and Information where he wrote a research paper on the Deaf community and access services.
"Learning sign language opened up my world to a community that many people don't know about, and allowed me to make new friends in Singapore and other countries."
"I want to do what I can to push for change in society, and hope to develop myself professionally as an interpreter and continue working in the field of access and accessibility after NS."
