Struggling for Rights of the Deaf

KOMPAS/ZULKARNAINI

Mubaraq

Teman tuli, or members of the hearing impaired community, do not have easy lives in Aceh province, where they are yet to enjoy their rights to education, employment and self-development. Unwilling to give in to the situation, Mubaraq, 34, has called on other deaf people to join forces.

Hundreds of members of the Movement for the Welfare of Deaf Indonesian (Gerkatin) marched on the main thoroughfare of Banda Aceh in Aceh province on Sunday (25/9/2022). They were campaigning for sign language to bring together differences on the occasion of the International Day of Sign Languages (IDSC) 2022, themed “Sign Languages Unite Us”.

Mubaraq was enthusiastically leading participants of the march. He moved both hands briskly and gestured to the participants, who all hailed from the hearing impaired community. Sign language enabled them to communicate eloquently.

Mubaraq is also hearing impaired and is the chairman of Gerkatin’s Aceh branch. As a leader of the teman tuli community, Mubaraq is constantly campaigning for equality and the rights of the deaf.

“We are all equal. No discrimination anymore,” Mubaraq said during the height of the IDSC celebration at Banda Aceh City Hall. Also present were officials of the Banda Aceh municipal administration and representatives of the Aceh Social Affairs Office.

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Mubaraq was born on 13 Oct, 1988 in West Peureulak, East Aceh regency. He is the only member of his family who is deaf.

In the 1990s, West Peureulak was one of the province’s least developed regions where public schools were limited, let alone a special needs school. So Mubaraq had to attend public school.

Being a disabled student at a public school was not easy. He had difficulty in following the lessons, and Mubaraq never learned sign language. He strived hard to learn to write and do arithmetic. He was frequently mocked by his classmates with normal hearing.

East Aceh was plagued by armed conflict at the time. His parents, who ran an oil palm business, relocated the family to Jakarta. The decision opened a favorable path for Mubaraq. In Jakarta, he could attend a good special needs school.

“From the time I started junior high at a special needs school in Jakarta, I learned that there was sign language for the deaf,” said Mubaraq.

Mubaraq finished high school at the Santi Rama Special School in South Jakarta. He felt fortunate to have received proper education while in Jakarta. But his parents were reluctant to allow Mubaraq to go to university. “Father said, just manage oil palm estates. But I wanted to help teman tuli,” said Mubaraq.

In 2010, Mubaraq returned to Aceh to find the teman tuli community. He was disturbed to discover that many hearing impaired people received no formal education, and they even had no knowledge of sign language. Their condition was even more restricted in Aceh, which had no sign language translators or interpreters.

The lack of sign language interpreters made it even harder for deaf people to access public services. Especially when dealing with legal matters, deaf people had difficulty defending themselves.

Along with other members of Gerkatin Aceh, he launched a series of campaigns to advocate for the rights of deaf people.

Mubaraq later joined Gerkatin Aceh and he was eventually appointed as its chair for the 2018-2023 period. Along with other members of Gerkatin Aceh, he launched a series of campaigns to advocate for the rights of deaf people.

One of these was the march in downtown Banda Aceh held on Sunday, 25 Sept. 2022. The participants carried posters to mark the International Day of Sign Languages and wore T-shirts illustrated with the gestures used in sign language.

To ensure the success of the march, Mubaraq left his wife and children in East Aceh and traveled to Banda Aceh, where he and other Gerkatin members actively sought support, especially from the local administration. While they had very little funding, the IDSC event had to succeed, as the celebration signified the existence of teman tuli in Aceh.

Equal

In 2015, Mubaraq married Mastura. He feels grateful, as his wife is a person with normal hearing who treats him as an equal. Mubaraq taught his wife and children sign language.

KOMPAS/ZULKARNAINI

Mubaraq

To fulfill his family’s needs, he opened a pottery business. Mubaraq frequently travels between East Aceh and Banda Aceh to manage Gerkatin and to look after his family.

Mubaraq says that all humans were created by God, so deaf people should be equal to people with normal hearing. But stigma remains against deaf people as a minority group.

Not all hearing impaired people enjoy the right to education. Their development is impeded by their families, as well as the environment around them.

Their internal impediment stems from their families, who often deem it unnecessary to give their deaf family members access to higher education, doubting the ability of hearing impaired people to become self-reliant. Families with a low income also relegates their education to be of secondary importance.

Educational facilities for teman tuli are still concentrated in urban centers.

Their external impediment comes from the unavailability of educational facilities for the deaf. Educational facilities for teman tuli are still concentrated in urban centers.

“Only a small number of deaf people receive proper education. Some of them are unable to use sign language,” said Mubaraq.

During his interview with Kompas, Mubaraq was accompanied by Feby, a sign language interpreter. Aceh currently has only two sign language interpreters who live in Banda Aceh, whereas teman tuli live across 23 regencies and cities in the province.

Mubaraq hopes that many more people with normal hearing will be willing to learn sign language and become sign language interpreters. “I hope sign language will help us understand each other,” he added.

Mubaraq

Born: East Aceh, 13 Oct. 1988

Education: Santi Rama Special School, South Jakarta

Present activity: Executive chairman, Gerkatin Aceh

Wife: Mastura

Children:

- M. Sabilia Jinan

- M. Hafiz

- M. Abilzard

(This article was translated by Aris Prawira).