Budget 2022: All tv stations to provide sign language interpreters

KUALA LUMPUR: All television networks, including the private sector, will provide sign language interpreters in their news segments to facilitate access of people with disabilities (PwD) to the media, with the assistance of the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama).

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the initiative would enable PwD to keep up with the latest news and information.

"Probably not many people know Tan Lee Bee, Khairunnisa Kho Abdullah, Wan Zuraidah Abu and Goh Soo Leng who serve as sign language interpreters, we often see in the corner of the television screen," he said.

Tengku Zafrul said this when presenting the 2022 Budget themed "Keluarga Malaysia, Makmur Sejahtera" (A Prosperous Malaysian Family), in Dewan Rakyat today.

Since the beginning of this year, 24-hour news channel, Bernama TV has made history by becoming the second television broadcasting station in the country to use the service of a sign language interpreter for its news segments.

Starting Jan 4, its news broadcast features a sign language interpreter, and Bernama TV, which was launched in 2008, became the first broadcasting station in the country to use the service of a sign language interpreter for its sports news.

-- BERNAMA