Missha’s father, Michael Teng, said they realised their daughter had a hearing problem when she was two years old.
“We tried to use the normal hearing aid but it did not help her much. So, we decided to go for the cochlear implant surgery,” he said.
Missha’s mother, Angelia Lim, said her daughter’s hearing and speech started to improve after she underwent the surgery in December 2017.
She said her daughter is doing well at the moment and even attended a normal kindergarten.
“It was very comforting for us because at least now, she is able to share with us her feelings and what is happening at school,” she said.
Before, Teng said he was worried that his daughter would not be able to express her feelings or communicate with them.
“We worried about her future. How would she tell us if she is being bullied? How would she communicate with others? How was she going to survive?”
Thankfully, they said a friend shared with them about the cochlear implant surgery and Missha was referred to a specialist.
“Now, she goes for speech therapy once every two weeks. Thanks to it, she can now share with us about her life in school.
“Though her sentences are incomplete, we can understand what she is trying to say,” said Lim.
The cost of the surgery was RM20,000. The cochlear implant devices cost around RM80,000, she said.
Sarawak Local Government and Housing Minister Dr Sim Kui Hian said one to five children out of every 1,000 births develop hearing problems.
“We are fortunate we have the facilities and experts in Sarawak. What we are lacking are funds to help with the surgery.
“We also want to raise awareness among the people about rehabilitation programmes for patients and their family members,” he said.
Sim said the government can help fund the cost of the surgery but the devices are costly and need to be sponsored partly.
Sim said the Sarawak HEAR fund-raising concert dinner will be held on Feb 15 next year to help raise funds for the hearing-impaired.
Sim said the dinner, with the theme “My Hearing, My Life, My Style”, aimed to raise between RM200,000 and RM300,000 in funds.
“I urge all Sarawakians to contribute generously and assist in providing this group of people, especially children, the chance to live a better life,” he said.