This Spring, My husband and I were given a rare opportunity to stay in Malaysia for three months while he completed a project at the Dell factory in Butterworth. While here, I had the pleasure and honor to do some volunteer work for the Malaysian Federation for the Deaf (MFD), lecturing and teaching at various Deaf schools, teacher conferences, and camps. Along my journey, I visited the Federation School for the Deaf in Penang and was asked to give a motivational speech to the students. At the end of my speech, I asked for questions and was faced with a quiet audience. One student, however, came forward with questions about educational and work opportunities for the Deaf in Malaysia and America. This student was 18-year-old, Chinese student, Tan Ruey Jiuan (Jeannie) who will graduate this November. After the speech, Jeannie asked for my email address and to ask if she could contact me. I was so impressed with her courage and curiosity, as well as her ability to approach me and introduce herself. The next day, my husband and I joined her family for dinner, and we all became fast friends.
While getting to know Jeannie, I became even more impressed with her many accomplishments. She was born and raised in Penang, and lost her hearing at the age of two after having a high fever, leaving her with a moderate hearing loss in both ears. Her parents did not know anything about hearing loss, but this did not stop them from providing Jeannie the same opportunities that hearing children have. She has attended schools for the Deaf since primary school. I was amazed to discover that Jeannie was able to communicate in five different languages (Chinese-Hokkien, Malay, English, Malaysian Sign Language-BIM, and American Sign Language (ASL). The primary language spoken in her home was Chinese, but she was able to learn English, Malay, and Malaysian Sign Language at YMCA camp, which she attended every year from age six to ten.
The most impressive thing about Jeannie is her artistic talent in drawing and painting. Her parents recognized her artistic abilities at age five when she first began to draw. They supplied her with crayons and stacks of computer paper, and she created hundreds of pictures reflecting her daily life in Malaysia. She moved quickly to using pastels, learning the art of blending colors to enrich her art. She also taught herself how to draw on the computer at age 8. Her favorite color growing up was blue, which is reflected in much of her early artwork. She won her first coloring contest (World Young People’s Art Competition and Exhibition-YMCA Ipoh) in 1993 when her mother sent in one of her pictures. Her parents, wanting to encourage her and give her the chance to develop her potential as an artist, enrolled her in private art classes at the age of 11. She attended these classes on the weekends until the age of 16, increasing her skills by learning how to use charcoal pencils and watercolors. Watercolors became her favorite medium after being the most frustrating and difficult to learn. She learned first to copy from other pictures and then to alter them using her own elements and details. She also continued to create many of her own designs using her vivid imagination.
Jeannie’s art teachers in school and in her private classes realized that she consistently surpassed the other students and entered her artwork in numerous art competitions. She has won the following many awards throughout the years:
• Majlis Pengelola Pertandingan Mewarna untuk Kanak-Kanak 1994
• Friendly Relationship Through Picture Ke- Lima Malasyia -Jepun 1998
• Pameran Seni Lukis Pelajar-Pelajar Malaysia dan Jepun Ke-Enam 1999
• Pertandingan @ Pameran Seni Lukis Pelajar-Pelajar Sekolah Pulau Pinang 2000
• Pertandingan @ Pameran Seni Lukis Pelajar-Pelajar Malaysia -Jepun ke-tujuh 2001
• Pertandingan @ Pameran Seni Lukis Pelajar-Pelajar Malaysia -Jepun Ke- lapan 2002
• Pertandingan @Pameran Seni Lukis Pelajar-pelajar Malaysia-Jepun ke- 9 2003
• Pertandingan Melukis Poster Sempena Hari Penduduk Sedunia 2003
• Pertandingan Melukis Poster "Sambutan Hari Tanpa Tembakau 2003
• Karnival Pertandingan Seni Pendidikan Pencegahan Dadah2003
• Pertandingan melukis 'Sambutan Hari orang Kurang Upaya Peringkat Kebangsaan Ke-11
2004
• Pertandingan @Pameran Seni Lukis Pelajar-Pelajar Malaysia-Jepun Ke -10 2004
• Pertandingan @Pameran Seni Lukis Pelajar-Pelajar Malaysia-Jepun Ke 11 2005
• Pertandingan @p Pertandingan @Pameran Seni Lukis Pelajar-Pelajar Malaysia-Jepun
Ke-10 2004
• Pameran Seni Lukis Pelajar-Pelajar Malaysia -Jepun Ke 11 2006 (first place)
Jeannie continues to develop her art talent at school and is now learning how to do oil painting.Her favorite color is now pink and her favorite art style is abstract modern art. Her goals include a career in artist,art teacher,or graphic art design. She also hopes to display her art one day in a gallery and perhaps sell her art to use in the field of advertising.Jeannie has a generous spirit and sacrifices some of her time on the weekends to teach sign language to adults at the community center at the Sri Lanka Temple in Penang. I am so blessed to have met Jeannie and her family. She is an inspiration to Deaf children and adults alike, that they do not have to let their hearing loss prevent them from pursuing their hopes and dreams and being an active contributor to society. Jeannie is a valuable member of the Malaysian Deaf community, demonstrating that Deaf people CAN achieve their goals with hard work and dedication.- wrote by Rebecca Seamon 
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