1,500 join charity walk to raise over $320k for deaf community

As a Deaf student in a mainstream secondary school in the 1990s, Ms April Chia struggled to communicate with her peers, who did not know sign language.

- Wong Yang

Unfazed, Ms Chia continued attending workshops for deaf individuals by The Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf), which her parents had taken her to when she was a child.

She also received help from SADeaf's resource teachers, who are specially trained to provide sign-language interpretation and address the learning needs of Deaf students. Deaf, with a capital D, refers to people with hearing loss who use sign language as their preferred communication mode, and identify as members of the Deaf community.

Such programmes and resources helped her to become more confident and made her more comfortable expressing herself, said Ms Chia, who is in her 40s.

Some three decades later, Ms Chia, who recently landed a new job as a public servant, has come full circle and teaches sign language and serves as a community interpreter at SADeaf.

Programmes by SADeaf that Ms Chia has engaged with throughout her life will get a boost following the association's fundraising of more than $320,000 through a charity walk—with 3km and 5km routes—at Marina Bay and Gardens by the Bay on May 25.

SADeaf, which marks its 70th anniversary in 2025, estimates there are half a million people here with some form of hearing loss.

Besides deaf education courses, the charity also provides sign-language interpretation and employment support—among other services—to people with hearing loss.