Was sign language interpreter at Mandela memorial fake? Pinoys can't tell

(Updated 7:16 p.m.) Contrary to popular belief, sign languages around the world differ from one another, as each language has its own equivalent sign system.

 

This is the reason why sign language interpreters in the Philippines can't tell whether the man who was supposed to be signing for the deaf at Nelson Mandela's memorial service was a fraud.

 

"We can't tell. African Sign Language and Filipino Sign Language are different," Maria Veronica Perez, dean at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies, told GMA News Online.

 

"The only ones who can say if the interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial ceremony was not qualified – I'm not comfortable calling him 'fake – are the deaf community of South Africa and the recognized interpreters there," she added.

 

According to an earlier Reuters report, DeafSA, South Africa's leading deaf association, condemned the presence of a man at the memorial for Mandela for allegedly gesticulating gibberish before a global audience of millions.

 

"He was basically gesturing. He didn't follow any of the grammatical rules and structure of the language. He just invented his signs as he went along," said Delphin Hlungwane, an official South African sign language interpreter at DeafSA.

 

"There was zero-percent accuracy. He couldn't even get the basics right. He couldn't even say thank you," she told Reuters.

 

As his response, the interpreter, identified as 34-year-old Thamsanqa Jantjie, claimed he suffered a schizophrenic episode while on stage.

 

Quoting Johannesburg's The Star newspaper, Reuters said he started hearing voices in his head and hallucinating, resulting in gestures that made no sense to outraged deaf people around the world.

 

"There was nothing I could do. I was alone in a very dangerous situation. I tried to control myself and not show the world what was going on. I am very sorry. It's the situation I found myself in," he told the paper.

 

Gestuno

 

Perez said there is no such thing as an international sign language, although a signing system called "gestuno" is commonly used in international conferences.

 

"These are signs that have been agreed on to represent certain words. But outside these conferences, gestuno is not used by the deaf community. And not all deaf people know gestuno," she explained.

 

"As for what should have been used during the memorial service, that was dependent on who the interpreting service was for. If for South African deaf, then (it was) okay to use their native sign language. If they wanted an international audience... Well, I'm still not sure if getting someone to sign gestuno would have been the way to go," she added.

 

For his part, John Baliza, DLS-CSB's Filipino sign language learning program coordinator, explained that "gestuno" is "just an aggregation of gestures common to all communities."

 

However, he noted that most Filipinos do not understand gestuno as it requires special training.

 

Public events

 

On the other hand, most deaf Filipinos in the country use Filipino Sign Language, Perez said.

 

Though she could not give the specific size of the deaf community in the Philippines, she stressed the importance of translating public events into sign language.

 

"If we truly want to be a country that respects human rights, then I believe all public occasions should be accessible to the deaf through sign language interpreting. But right now, that's a long shot so we can start with interpreting news programs, including breaking news segments," she said.

 

"Interpreting messages from the government to the people, whatever these messages may be. And providing interpreting services for the deaf availing of social services. And also interpreting for the deaf within the justice system," she added.

 

She also noted that learning Filipino Sign language is "just as easy of difficult as learning any language," but with aptitude and interest, it would be easier.

 

"Learning to sign never stops. FSL is a living language and new words are added all the time," she added.

 

Baliza noted that without the sign language translation, members of the deaf community feel like "outsiders." — JDS/HS, GMA News