Sarawak HEAR, officially established on 9th June 2016, is a new non-government organization and the only regional society devoted to support the hearing-impaired people and their family who use verbal communication as their main communication method. It is dedicated to work collaboratively with various organizations including government and non-government bodies to raise hearing health awareness and help these hearing-impaired people to be able to hear and communicate verbally.

One of the main impacts of hearing loss is on the ability of an individual to communicate with others. In order to be able to reconnect to this hearing world and communicate verbally, the hearing impaired needs proper amplification devices, fine tuning services as well as frequent aural rehabilitation to help those affected one to hear and speak.

Sarawak HEAR, as the only charity devoted to helping the hearing-impaired achieve better quality of life, has an urgent need to raise funds in order to organize events throughout the next year which includes public awareness campaigns, parent workshops, professional training, speech and rehabilitation programs, funding for the needy and many more. In addition to monetary donation, the society also welcomes sponsorship in the form of equipment, hearing devices as well as services such as professional hearing and speech rehabilitation training.

Year 2017, a total of RM150, 000.00 was successfully raised to help in the society’s cause. As of July 2019, 30 children and 81 adult members has benefited from the donations. This year, with the theme ‘My Hearing, My Life, My Style’, Sarawak Hear aims to achieve RM 200,000 – 300,000 to ensure that we are able to achieve our plans and goals for the next year and to help even more of the hearing-impaired.

Hearing impaired children need to undergo hearing loss management, including medical and non-medical management, as soon as possible before they reach the critical age for hearing and speech acquisition which is before the age of four. If this dateline is not met, these children will face challenges and difficulties in their learning and communication. Without hearing loss management and rehabilitation, they will then become mute – no hearing, no speech and no language ability.

Those who suffer from severe to profound hearing loss will need hearing implants immediately. Before the implant surgery, they must undergo a hearing aid trial, attend audiology and speech therapy sessions as well as lifelong therapy and rehabilitation which includes individual therapy, group therapy and parents’ coaching. These costs will usually be borne by the parents, and thus become a burden when the parents are of low-income and cannot afford these costs. 

In addition, there are a big number of patients from rural areas who simply cannot afford to travel to cities such as Kuching, Sibu, or Miri for these treatments and managements. Logistic is a constant challenge and is an added expense on top of hearing devices, audiology and speech rehabilitation expenses. 

Sarawak HEAR funding will be fully utilised to subsidise hearing equipments, lifelong audiology and speech rehabilitation after the surgery. The Sarawak government’s sponsorship and funding also helps to subsidise some of these expenses, however, it is still limited and not enough to meet the demands of the population in need.