文：馮曉雯
撰於2018年2月23日
刊於「香港01」(https://www.hk01.com/article/163034)
過去的十多年，我在香港也好、在美國也好，做的工作都是和某個社群有關的，我們經常稱呼他們為「聾人」。當然，社會上不少人會問：「不是聽障人士嗎？」我會問：「為什麼不問問身邊的這個朋友？問問他／她是怎麼稱呼自己的？」
記得在美國留學時經常被問到：「Are you Chinese? （你是中國人嗎？）」我的第一個反應是：「No. I'm Hong Konger. （我是香港人。）」接著是一大堆香港歷史和身份認同問題的討論。對於我個人來說，「身份」並不是誰可以強加在我個人身上的東西，而是我由出生至現在，我的成長和經歷讓我知道，我該如何稱呼我自己的一個名稱。
身為一個譯者，我最怕的是我自己帶著既有的經歷，去假設眼前這個朋友跟其他人有著相同的背景。不，每次工作，我都盡量找機會去問：「你怎麼稱呼你自己？」得出的答案多不勝數，有「聾人」、「弱聽人」、「失聰人士」、「聽障人士」、「聽不到的人」、「聽得不清楚的普通人」等等。最令我抓狂的是同一位朋友，在不同的地方、不同的時間，他／她對自己的稱呼也可以變得不一樣。
每個人、每個個體，如何稱呼自己是不是需要由另一個社群的人去告訴我們呢？以往我在工作環境裡被稱為「健聽」和「健視」人士。最近，我學會了一個新的名詞，原來我也只是社會上另一個「未受障人士」。跟「健聽」和「健視」比起來，我更接受「未受障」，因為所謂殘疾的概念是我們社會加諸到一個人身上的，而每一個人也可以從「未受障」走到「受障」的那一天。
是「聾」，還是「聽障」？不如我們問一問你眼前的那一位朋友，他／她是如何稱呼自己的，好嗎？這是人與人之間最基本的一個「尊重」。
Author in Chinese: Cat H.-M. FUNG
Translated to English by Cat H.-M. FUNG
Over the past decade, in both Hong Kong and the United States of America, I have been working with a community composed of people commonly known as “Deaf people”. Of course, you might ask, “Shouldn’t they be called Hearing Impaired persons?” Oh well, “Why don’t you ask our friend in front of you? Let’s ask them how they call themselves?”
When I studied in the States, people often ask me, “Are you Chinese?” My instant response is “No, I’m Hong Konger.” The conversation often goes on with the history of Hong Kong and a discussion of self-identity. To me, identity is not given by anybody or implied by our society. It is something I own and develop from birth to growth. How I call and identify myself is all about my experience in the world.
As an interpreter, I often afraid to bring assumptions to friends who have their particular backgrounds. Everybody is unique. When getting ready for an assignment, I would ask, “How would you address yourself?” Answers include, “Deaf person”, “Hard-of-hearing person”, “Hearing impaired person”, “A person who can’t hear”, “An ordinary person who can’t hear clearly”, and so on. It could drive me crazy because some people might call themselves in a different way in different circumstances.
Very often in our society, an outsider of a community might attempt to label ‘the others’ instead of asking a simple question. In my previous workplaces, I was called “hearing” and “visually-abled”. More recently, I accept the term “not-yet-disabled” (literal translation from Cantonese) because the concept of disability is what our society imposed on an individual. All of us could walk from “not-yet-disabled” to “disabled” in a second.
Is it “Deaf” or “Hearing Impaired”? We could just ask the friend standing in front of us. “How do you address yourself?” This is simply mutual respect in humanity.