Parents seek help for deaf boy

The Star Online, 28 june 2006

By NGU IK YING

HE cried when his parents sang birthday songs to him on his first and second birthday. He could not hear them.

Penang-born Lau Chun Jie, three, was diagnosed with profound hearing loss in both ears in February this year.

His father Lau Eng Boon, 30, said Chun Jie need to have a cochlear implant soon at Penang Loh Guan Lye Specialist Centre to enable him to hear.

The family hoped that they could give their eldest son the gift of hearing for his third birthday on Aug 22.

HEARING DEFECT:Tan(right)looking at Chun Jie who is in the arms of Lau.

“We hope that he can hear us and smile when we sing the birthday song to him,” he said.

However Lau, an optical shop assistant, and his wife Cheong Soo Fen, 30, who is a clerk, could not afford the RM100,000 operation.

They have approached the Penang MCA Public Services and Com-plaints Bureau for help.

Bureau chief Tan Yok Cheng said the family had not gone to the Penang Hospital as they do not have the facility and expertise to carry out the operation.

“We have studied Chun Jie’s case and feel that we need to help him so that he can lead a better life in future,” he said.

Those who wish to help Chun Jie can make cheques payable to the Penang MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau.

They can send cheques with the name of Chun Jie written behind to 15, Jalan Pahang, 10400 Penang.

For details, call the fund’s clerk Woon Guat Yoong at 04-2267827/ 2267830.