'Sampul Duit Raya' Help Boost Sign Language Awareness

SHAH ALAM, March 21 (Bernama) -- For many of us, ‘sampul duit raya’ (money packets) are merely a colourful complement to the Aidilfitri tradition, filled with money as a token of goodwill.

However, for hearing-impaired Mohd Armi Rusli, 43, each packet carries great potential as a medium for education and awareness.

Mohd Armi, who is the founder of #SignOn, which offers free Malaysian Sign Language (BIM) learning programmes, has come up with an initiative to produce money packets printed with the basic alphabet and numbers in BIM.

He said the idea came about during Ramadan last year, when he was thinking of a more relaxed approach to introducing sign language to the public, especially children.

“This approach is seen as easier because every festive season, sampul duit raya are very popular among children, so this is an opportunity for us to introduce it to them. In fact, adults who receive these packets will surely be excited to learn as well.

“The main message of this initiative is to highlight that the deaf community has its own language of communication, and by introducing the basic alphabet and numbers, those who receive the packets can try practising spelling in BIM,” he told Bernama.

The design on the packets features hand symbols for the letters A to Z as well as numbers one to 10, which he described as two basic components, and the first step towards communicating in sign language.

As a hearing-impaired person himself, Mohd Armi understands the communication gap that often exists between the deaf community and the general public, but he believes that the limitation does not lie in the inability to hear, but rather in the lack of exposure to, and understanding of, sign language.

As such, he sees the raya money packets as a small medium which can spark conversations when family members and friends gather during the festive season, while at the same time encouraging the public to learn the basics of BIM.

In terms of producing the packets, Mohd Armi said that the process was not complicated, as he only needed to convey the idea to his graphic design team, which had previously produced T-shirts, posters and pamphlets featuring the same basic alphabet and number prints, before adapting them into the form of raya money packets.

The father of one said that this year has seen a significant increase in sales, with 30,000 packets printed, three times more than last year.

“So far, nearly 500 packets have been sold, equivalent to 5,000 envelopes, priced at RM8 per packet, containing 10 envelopes,” he said, adding that he hopes corporate organisations will take the opportunity to purchase the packets for distribution to staff or customers, while at the same time helping to spread knowledge of BIM.

According to Mohd Armi, part of the proceeds from the sales is channelled to support free sign language classes, organised throughout the year, in addition to his yearly routine of giving duit raya to children who attend the free classes during the month of Syawal.

“I hope that both the giver and the recipient will gain basic knowledge of sign language, and then teach it to the whole family during the festive season. Not only do they receive duit raya, but also knowledge, and for the giver, insya-Allah, there will be rewards for helping to share this knowledge,” he said.

-- BERNAMA