Dr Anthony Chong

Being born deaf did not stop Dr Anthony Alexander Chong Vee Yee from reaching for the stars. He was the University of Malaya’s first Deaf doctorate recipient in 2021. He graduated with a PhD degree in Sociology and two masters, namely in Linguistics and Deaf Studies, with a focus on Cultural Studies. His second master’s degree was funded through the Nippon Foundation’s World Deaf Leadership Scholarship

The challenges he went through during his academic journey, namely the discrepancy in sign language taught and used by the Deaf, spurred Anthony to do more for the Deaf community. Anthony and his colleagues established MyBIM (Malaysian Sign Language and Deaf Studies Association) in 2014.

Dr Anthony has been an activist for the Deaf and a BIM educator for more than 20 years. He has spoken about the improvements to be made for the Deaf community at various conferences. Being a researcher at its core, Dr Anthony published written articles and organised programmes highlighting the Malaysian Sign Language (BIM) and the barriers faced by the Deaf.

In 2021, Dr Anthony was the recipient of the Krishen Jit fund and currently working with Deaf communities to create a bank of literature utilising BIM.

An impact means meaningful influence and effect. All advocacy work needs to be impactful enough to create an opening for the Deaf community to go through to make themselves known. Continuous work is important to keep the opening intact and wide so that we can sustain our existence and importance in society.