By BAVANI M

The Lindens on an outing at Sunway Pyramid recently. The Swedish family faces problem communicating with locals, not because they are foreigners, but because they are all deaf and mute.

THERE was a lot of gesticulating, drawing and jotting that went on at a corner table in a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur recently.  

A European family was trying to order lunch. 

Anniken...'we loved the beaches'

The four, from Sweden, were struggling to get their orders across to the wait staff.  

Someone at another table understood what they wanted and translated their orders for the family.  

It is a typical scene for the Lindens.  

Whenever they travel abroad the Lindens create quite a stir. The reason has little to do with not understanding a language. The family members, Stefan Linden, 34, his wife Anniken, 48, daughter Malin, 13, and son Olle, 10, were all born deaf mute.  
The shortcoming has never made them feel sorry for themselves, nor did it limit them from achieving their dreams.  

The Lindens love to travel. Every year they visit a different country on a different continent. Communication becomes a problem, but it has never deterred them.  

Stefan...'we had to flap our arms to describe chicken'

“Even when we were in Europe, we faced problems when ordering our meals,'' said Stefan through sign language.
 
“Most of the time we get through by writing our orders down on a piece of paper,'' he said, adding that it became worse in a country where English is not a main language.  

For instance, in Tunisia, the Lin-dens couldn't even point to their orders on the menu.  

“Everything was in Arabic,'' Stefan. 

“We had to flap our arms to describe chicken and wave our hands in a swimming motion to describe fish,'' he said. 

In Malaysia, the Lindens' friend Joe Chennaya acted as guide and interpreter. He said the family was independent and resilient.  

“They have never been disheartened about their condition,'' said Chennaya. “Instead they smile constantly and are always cheerful.''  

It's not only at restaurants that the Lindens face problems. At airports where Immigrations forms had to be filled out, for instance, causes some disadvantages.  

Having discovered most of Europe, the Lindens are now finding out more about Asia. Malaysia is their first destination. Already, the family has visited Langkawi and after Kuala Lumpur, it's up north to Phuket, Thailand.  

“We like Malaysia, especially Kuala Lumpur and the beaches on the outskirts,'' said Anniken.  

Malin loved visiting Petronas Twin Towers and shopping at Chinatown.  

“We had no problems with communications in Malaysia,'' said Stefan. “Most people understood us. The others made an effort to find out what we wanted.''  

The Lindens have one disappointment about visiting Malaysia. They dislike taxi drivers.  

Malin and Olle love being in Malaysia just as much as their parents do.

“They charged us RM55 from KLCC to Subang Jaya and RM20 from Subang Jaya to Sunway Pyramid,'' said Stefan. 

“It's quite an exorbitant rate for a short distance.''