Peng Tsu Ying: Singapore's Pioneering Deaf Educator
Coming in April
When Peng Tsu Ying came to Singapore from Shanghai in the late 1940s, he could not find a deaf person like him. Determined to improve the situation for the deaf community, he founded Singapore's first school for the deaf in 1954. Librarian Nathaniel Chew tells us about Peng's advocacy, his own journey learning the Singapore Sign Language and the different ways it has evolved.
What Nathaniel Talked About
02:13 – Who Peng Tsu Ying was
04:07 – What Singapore was like for the deaf community before WWII
05:34 – How Peng started the first school for the deaf
07:42 – Peng’s foray into car racing
10:12 – Joining forces with the Red Cross
11:13 – What the Singapore Sign Language is
19:00 – How Nathaniel got interested in sign language
19:40 – Peng’s influence on Singapore’s deaf community
22:17 – Nathaniel’s research interest in linguistics
23:56 – Nathaniel’s take on Singlish
25:28 – BiblioAsia is…
About the Guest
Nathaniel Chew is a librarian with the National Library Singapore. He works with the Singapore and Southeast Asia Collection, and his research interests lie at the intersection of language and society.
Resources
Rosxalynd Liu and Nathaniel Chew, “Signs of Progress: Deaf Education in Singapore,” BiblioAsia 21, no. 1.
Singapore Association for the Deaf, Basic Singapore Sign Language (SgSL), Level 1 Course (Singapore: Singapore Association for the Deaf, 2020).
Credits
This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Doppler Soundlab. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Natheniel for coming on the show.
About the Podcast
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.