By STUART MICHAEL

About 140 hearing-impaired youths from seven countries will be coming to Malaysia for the 30th Anniversary YMCA International Deaf Youth Camp. 

Camp organisers and participants showing the ‘Peace be with u' sign at the launch of the camp.

The participants from India, the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Myanmar and Singapore with their peers from Malaysia will be staying at YMCA in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, in Cameron Highlands, Pahang, and Penang over the course of the week-long camp which starts today. 

The camp, themed “Be One,” is aimed at getting the hearing-impaired youths to communicate with each other and learn about different cultures. A part of the programme focuses on self-development. 

“This is a chance for these youths to learn new things. The camp will also get them to interact with each other and work as a team,” said YMCA board member Wan Thong Choon at the camp's launch in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.  

(From left) Esther Wong and Miyuki Nakagawa (from Japan) look on while Foo Ruishan and Janet Chow Choy Leng prepare to thread beads at the launch.

YMCA community development programme assistant manager Lucy Lim said 2,863 participants, of whom 350 were Malaysians, had attended the international camp since the programme was introduced in 1975. The camp was held in Malaysia in 1983, 1990 and 2000. 

The camp will start with a welcome dinner at YMCA Kuala Lumpur. 

Participants will also get time for shopping and visiting Putrajaya and KL Tower. A sports carnival will be held this Sunday (July 31) where members of the public are welcome to join. 

To know more about the programme, visit www.ymcakl.com/hhcamp