| Fizah HAB |
DEAFNESS and loss of hearing can be isolating for young people, who often struggle to find new ways to express themselves in the world.
With that in view, the Hearing Awareness Exhibition and ‘Better Hearing, Better Living’ Charity Bazaar was launched yesterday at The Mall, Gadong, with Hajah Anis Faudzulani binti Haji Dzulkiflee, the Acting Director-General of Education, as the guest of honour.
The project was initiated by the Hear Better Services (HBS) Company to provide a voice for hearing-impaired children, with the support of the Ministry of Education’s Special Education Unit (SEU).
In her welcoming speech, Hajah Noorafzah binti Dato Paduka Haji Ahmad, the General Manager of the HBS Company, said that the five-day exhibition is aimed at promoting awareness that special needs people also have hopes, aspirations and capabilities like everyone else.
“A disability is a condition, not an identity. We must learn to separate the two,” she said. “Celebrating the hearing-impaired for their abilities and to stop focussing on their disabilities is equally important.”
The event continued with a presentation of hearing aids to three SEU students, sponsored by the HBS Company.
Certificates of appreciation were presented to the exhibitors, event partners and sponsors, including Brunei Press Sdn Bhd, the Rainforest Gallery, Pusat Ehsan Al-Ameerah Al-Hajjah Maryam, the Oil and Gas Discovery Centre, Big BWN Cookout, the Pen Fire Protection Company and the National Association for the Hearing Impaired (OKP).
This is the second art exhibition jointly organised by the SEU and the Rainforest Gallery.
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