Signs of change as tv newsman 'Talks' to deaf
Bo Bo Kyaing is breaking ground as the first interpreter for the hearing-impaired to appear on the country's broadcast airways, but he says that when it comes to wider rights for people with his disability, the authorities are not listening
- Published: 27 Jan 2013 at 00.00
- Newspaper section: Spectrum
Bo Bo Kyaing and his colleagues at the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) are having an animated discussion at a Chiang Mai eatery. Bo Bo, deaf since he was a teenager, is using sign language, while a few of his colleagues who are not well-versed in using it, pretend to respond in kind.
SIGNING OF THE TIMES: Bo Bo in the Democratic Voice of Burma studio.
Bo Bo, also known as Maung Lu Nge, laughs, unoffended. Coming from Myanmar, he knows real prejudice and considers Thailand a relative haven for the hearing impaired and disabled. He is attempting to fight prejudice against the deaf in his home country, and breaking ground with DVB, by appearing on its news broadcasts delivering the news using sign language for the first time in the country's history.
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