ONE FM 91.3 Interview Transcript
Original Link to Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/onefm913/videos/1411817176092439/
Aired on Tuesday, 6 Feb 2024
Speakers: Carol (DJ), Lavinia (DJ), Shehzad (DJ), Daniel (Guest), Lily (Guest)
[TRANSCRIPT BEGIN]
>> CAROL: We're going to be talking about the most powerful insanity here on ONE FM 91.3, Good times, greatest hits, good morning to you and welcome to The Bright Side. We are joined in the studio by two very extraordinary individuals and I think this is the first time something like this is happening on national radio, you guys. We are chatting with Daniel Yong who is a sign language interpreter and our very special guest Lily Goh who is also a Deaf artist and you know a Deaf performer. And right now as Daniel is here in the studio, Lily is here with us and he's actually signing for her as well. So join us on Facebook live at facebook.com slash ONE FM 91.3. Now for the first part of this interview, we are going to be chatting with Daniel and for the second part, Daniel is going to be interpreting for Lily. Okay. All right. So good morning, Daniel. Welcome to the show.
>> DANIEL: Hello.
>> LILY: Good morning.
>> LAVINIA: Morning! Morning!
>> SHEHZAD: Guys. Yeah. So good to have you both with us here. Daniel, let's start with you because what are some of the things that the general public should kind of take note of regarding the Deaf community?
>> DANIEL: Wow, I think I'm going to leave the details to Lily later, (SHEHZAD: Okay.) but I think I can talk more about the access and everything in Singapore. So I'm an interpreter, a sign language interpreter, so I'm one of the access services provided for Deaf communities in Singapore. Erm…
>> SHEHZAD: How did you get into it? What made you start this, interpreting?
>> LAVINIA: Yeah.
>> DANIEL: So that was about eight years ago, I was in Poly and one of my friends just asked me to join this really cool CCA, this club, which is the Sign Language Club at the time. And it was really interesting, right? I had no CCA then I was like, okay, let me just go with it. And then I started to learn sign language from there and then started to meet deaf people and started making a lot of friends. And then a couple of years in, I started to explore it as a career option, so started to interpret for it. (CAROL: Wow.) And then it's been about five years since I started interpreting. So it's really cool. I get to meet so many people, so many talented Deaf people from artists to performers, to academic researchers. Yeah.
>> CAROL: That's amazing.
>> SHEHZAD: Can I just, I just have to interrupt and I'm just going to tell our listeners right now that as Daniel was telling us about that, Lily was interpreting that and signing it. It was really cool.
>> LAVINIA: It’s very precious. It's an amazing sight.
>> CAROL: Please join us on Facebook. Yes.
>> DANIEL: Lily says…
>> LILY via interpreter: It's because I'm lip reading Daniel.
>> SHEHZAD: Exactly. She's lip reading this.
>> CAROL: That's amazing.
>> SHEHZAD: And saying what, and interpreting what he's saying, brilliant, brilliant to see.
>> LAVINIA: So we want to ask, you know, we got you guys in here because both of you were so integral in the recent spate of concerts by Coldplay. Daniel, I do believe you were actually there interpreting, you know, as a concert went on.
>> SHEHZAD: I saw Daniel. I saw you!
>> CAROL: That was amazing.
>> SHEHZAD: I saw you.
>> DANIEL: You saw me in-person?
>> SHEHZAD: Because I was, I was maybe about 20 meters away in the seats to where you were interpreting to your right. And I saw this guy doing something. You looked very excited and you were gesticulating quite wildly. And I couldn't see what, why were you doing that? And then I kind of looked a bit closer and then I saw you, with a lot of emotion and I realised you were signing for the concert. So yeah. Tell us what that was like.
>> LAVINIA: What was it like to interpret for Coldplay at the concerts?
>> DANIEL: It's been such a great experience, honestly, because also I'm a part of a team of three, me and two other interpreters, Shawn and Azzam. And, you know, I think for the longest time, I think Lily can talk more about this later that the Deaf community never really had access to concerts at this scale ever because, you know, sign language interpreters have never really been gotten, not like other countries, which you may have seen online, you know, that you see a lot of concert interpreters.
>> SHEHZAD: Sure.
>> DANIEL: So when we got this opportunity, we were super excited to provide this access to the deaf communities.
>> SHEHZAD: Fantastic.
>> DANIEL: And when we saw the Deaf crowds, you know, every night, really enjoyed the show and just be super blown away. Some of them really wrote really touching messages about their experience there.
>> LAVINIA: Awww…
>> DANIEL: So yeah, it's just been a really amazing experience. It's a great opportunity. And we also want to, I also want to say that we really hope for more accessible concerts like this in the future, because I think this is just a first step. And I think moving forward, yeah, we hope to see more of these things, right? And I also want to say that there is talented Deaf artists and musicians. You may have seen, have you seen the Superbowl in America, you know, when Rihanna's performance a couple of years ago,
>> LAVINIA: Yes!
>> DANIEL: There was this, it went viral, this Deaf nursing student named Justina Miles, right? She was amazing, and she herself is Deaf. So what we want to see more in Singapore is also to get Deaf interpreters, Deaf performers to be the ones that are doing these concerts for the Deaf community, by the Deaf community.
>> CAROL: We are so blessed to have you and Lily here today, you know, breaking it down for us and shining a light on how Deaf people can actually appreciate concerts just like regular people as well. But you know, maybe with a slight difference, there is a place for everyone at musical concerts here in Singapore and all around the world. Now the conversation continues on Facebook. Join us there at facebook.com slash ONE FM 91.3. Back with more of Daniel and Lily in just a bit.
[SWITCHES OFF-AIR TO FACEBOOK LIVE]
>> CAROL: Oh, you guys!
>> LAVINIA: Hey guys!
>> SHEHZAD: Hello.
>> CAROL: Thank you so much for joining us. And of course, in the studio, we've got Daniel, he is signing a very busy morning for Daniel and Lily. Oh my gosh, Daniel, we want to ask you, how different is it signing for a concert compared to daily conversations?
>> DANIEL: Wow. Okay. So, let me, I'll talk more about, Lily says…
>> LILY via interpreter: Maybe you’d want to talk about the misconceptions of the public thought, that Deaf people cannot enjoy music.
>> DANIEL: Maybe you can answer that?
>> CAROL: Yeah. Later when we come back.
>> DANIEL: (to Lily) Later on, later on. But I'll talk about the interpreting process first. (clearly into microphone) So for the concerts, right, for the preparation process, we get the setlists beforehand. We would prepare, I would read the lyrics, we would, my team and I would research the context behind it, (CAROL: Wow.) what it means, because, you know, English lyrics have so many metaphors, right?
>> CAROL & LAVINIA: True.
>> DANIEL: Like, I can think of a couple of lines already, like, that don't mean exactly what it says. Yeah.
>> CAROL: Because it's not always literal.
>> DANIEL: Yes, exactly. So when that happens, we have to really understand what happened around that time, whether something happened to one of the members, like, “Fix You” was because of, you know, a quite public and romantic situation. I don't remember exactly, so I will not comment.
[CAROL laughs]
>> DANIEL: So then we really have to come up with more visual interpretations of it, because if we say exactly that word-for-word, it is not as visually stylistic or artistic and it's not—Yeah, for example, if the line (in) “Fix You”, if I just purely sign, I would try to mechanically fix you. It doesn't make any sense.
[CAROL laughs]
>> SHEHZAD: I repair you.
[CAROL laughs]
>> DANIEL: Exactly. It doesn't make any sense. So what we as a team came up with was something really beautiful. It was essentially me feeling better about myself, my heart is like inflating, and then you, I'm supporting you, then I'm giving you a part of my heart, (CAROL & LAVINIA: Oh wow!) forming half a heart, and then I'm fixing you back together, forming half a heart, and then my that half forms the other half.
>> ALL: Oh wow! Wow!
>> DANIEL: So you may have saw that in a video that went viral with that. So we try to come up with these visual things. On the other hand, if I'm interpreting for a class, or in school, or a meeting, I can't do that, right? (CAROL: Sure.) So then that would be more meaning accurate, with of course some preparation as well. Sometimes if I were to do something for a school class, then I'll get the lecture slides and everything in advance.
>> LAVINIA: Like try to prepare as much as possible.
>> DANIEL: Yes, exactly. Because as interpreting is like any other interpreter, you work in two languages.
>> CAROL: It's almost as if you are on stage performing too, in a sense.
>> DANIEL: In a way, but I wouldn't say I'm the performer, because they are still the performers. (CAROL: Yeah.) It's the same thing as if I'm interpreting for a lecture, I'm not the teacher, right? I'm still just saying exactly what they're saying, just trying to convey in a different language.
>> CAROL: Yeah.
>> SHEHZAD: Daniel, Daniel, from what I saw, you were performing, man.
[ALL laughs]
>> SHEHZAD: Yeah, that wasn't just regular signing, that was a lot of emotion, I could see it. That's what I said, I was wondering who's this guy, like he's really dancing to it, I was like, oh, I see what's happening.
>> CAROL: It's so amazing, your performance, so emotive, and you know, it moved us to tears, just the way you brought all this, you know, energy and passion to signing the concert.
>> DANIEL: Thank you so much. I think all us interpreters really want to do the same, right? We want to visually represent everything that you can hear in many ways, because us hearing people, as in not deaf, hearing people, we all have tone, you can hear our emotions through the radio, just by sound, right? But we need to, that needs to be visual in sign language, and it's actually part of sign language grammar, and it's very, I think Lily later can expand more on this. You were about to say something, Lily? Lily says…
[brief pause]
>> LILY via interpreter: So it's not only that the sign language interpreters are providing an interpretation of the concert as well, because the performers themselves are the ones performing, they also provide a lot of visual elements to the show, right? They're the ones performing up there, there's everything else that comes with it. For example, the interpreters for the concert also doesn't only sign the songs, they also say everything they are saying, and then it also adds different effects in line with the performance that's on stage, happening on stage, for example, the Coldplay, not only just the music. For example, there are two interpreters, the one doing the lyrics, which you saw on the video, and then the other one's doing the instrumentals.
>> LAVINIA: Oh. What?!
>> SHEHZAD: Oh, whoa!
>> DANIEL: Daniel speaking now. So if you saw, there are two interpreters at all times in the videos, right?
>> SHEHZAD: Yeah, I’ve always seen two of yous.
>> DANIEL: A lot of people in the comments are very confused, someone was like, oh, the other guy's having his own concert, which is quite funny.
[ALL laughs]
>> DANIEL: So what happens there, is that, so during the preparation, we have a bunch of songs, for example, (SHEHZAD: Right.) and we would split it up so that we each would prepare one, so it's easier for us, (SHEHZAD: Yes. Yes.) because we also have quite a tight schedule and we have to prepare everything. So because there are three of us, there are only two of us that go for each night, right?
>> CAROL: Oh okay…
>> DANIEL: So we have to prepare ours and a little bit of someone else's. So when we do that, we have our own songs, right? So when our song comes up, we come up and interpret for it, the lyrics, and then the other guy would do the sound effects, the instruments and everything, background.
>> CAROL: Okay, all right, we're going to pause there and go back live on air. Do join us. It's ONE FM 91.3.
[SWITCHES ON-AIR]
>> LAVINIA: [“Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake fades out] A rocking one here, Whitesnake with “Here I Go Again”. It's kind of like what we want to ask Daniel and Lily with the six nights at the Coldplay concerts. My goodness, that really is full on. And now I'm really learning more about how this whole idea of interpreting for the deaf community happens at a concert with, you know, what Daniel does, what Lily does. It's amazing.
>> CAROL: So we are chatting with Daniel Yong, he's a Singapore Sign Language interpreter. And we're also chatting with Lily Goh, she's a deaf arts and music practitioner, entrepreneur and community leader. Now earlier on, we spoke with Daniel and we are having such an amazing time learning about the Deaf community and how they appreciate concerts, not just here in Singapore, but all around the world in a very special way. And just because they're deaf, it doesn't mean that they cannot appreciate a musical concert. And we're going to find out more from Lily, Daniel is going to take the time to interpret for Lily. Okay, so this is something very unusual for a radio interview. I don't think it's been done before. So you might hear some pauses, but that's okay. Join us on Facebook to see more of the action. Okay, facebook.com slash ONE FM 91.3. All right, Lily, thank you so much for joining us this morning. Daniel is interpreting for you. How did it feel to attend Coldplay?
>> LILY via interpreter: Wow, it was really, really exciting. It's the first ever experience that, you know, because with this Coldplay concert provided this access for us. So if you may have seen also, they are (SHEHZAD: The vests!) the vests, the SUBPAC vibration vests that they got all the deaf attendees to wear as well. So it would vibrate according to the music that's being played live. (SHEHZAD: Oh wow.) So we could feel the bass on our backs. And together with the sign language interpreters, it really just added to the entire experience. Not only this, some of us will also have a hearing device. So I use a hearing aid and my hearing aid is connected to the IEMs, the in-ear monitors that's directly to the sound system. So I could hear the sound clearer. So it streams directly to my hearing aids.
>> CAROL: Wow. Amazing.
>> LAVINIA: So yeah, we want to ask, you know, like how, what else can be done to sort of like support the Deaf arts and music, you know, like how does the Deaf community appreciate music at a concert?
>> LILY via interpreter: Yes, of course, some, not only me, you know, there are also other Deaf people who saw this Coldplay and, you know, have really, really liked Coldplay for the longest time and wanted to attend these concerts, but there hasn't been any interpreters, right. So until they saw this opportunity, in fact, some of them after this concert has also asked me if there are any interpreters provided for the Taylor Swift concert.
>> CAROL & LAVINIA: Oooh!
>> SHEHZAD: Hey, now that is a really big thing. And I know Taylor Swift's very progressive as well. I'm sure now word has gone, it's kind of gone viral, what you guys have done. Yes. How are you guys going to try and make representations to Taylor Swift and her, her people to try and get–
>> DANIEL: We hope for that, we hope for that, yes. But actually Coldplay, it's the, it's the one that started this, because, you know, I think in Asia, this is, hasn't really been developed much, so it's very few and far in between, you know, having these access. So it's actually the first time for many of the other Southeast Asian countries that Coldplay has toured also recently, including Singapore, that have interpreters for such concerts. And I said, and I'm saying that if any other concerts ever provide interpreters, I think I'm going to definitely be super excited, including myself, to attend these concerts.
>> CAROL: Yeah. Lily, you know, you had such a special role for this year's Coldplay concert because you actually signed the movements and the lyrics and the interpretation for Chris Martin's, you know, to copy it. So the song was “Something Just Like This”. And he actually used your interpretation for the concert.
>> LILY via interpreter: Yes. So when Daniel got me to film this video, I really had to look up all the lyrics of the song, and then I had to come up with my own interpretation of it. And I had to check to make sure that all the meanings is accurate and correct. You know, at first, I wasn't really comfortable with having Chris, you know, sort of, copy from a video from my signing, but, you know, because I was just thinking that this concert has already been made fully accessible with the SUBPAC vests, with sign language interpreters already. And I'm saying that, you know, Chris signing the song for like half a song in the concert, you know, is more like a message, right, because I saw him sign in-person. And even though, you know, he is a little bit, he's not super clear, but I think that's really cool.
>> SHEHZAD: It's the intent.
>> LILY via interpreter: It's the intent. It's the intent. And it's also super cool because some of the songs even had lyrics on screen.
>> CAROL: Wow…
>> LILY via interpreter: So still overall, it's really accessible. I think Coldplay has already started this way before, even before Singapore for years, for this tour, to provide interpreters in the local, everywhere they run their shows.
>> SHEHZAD: So as much as you tried, it wasn't quite something just like this, as what she was doing, but you made the effort, right? We have to give him credit. Very, very quickly, what are things that are important for the Deaf community? Because we need to tell people that “hearing-impaired” is not actually something that you want people to say about Deaf people. Is that correct?
>> LILY via interpreter: Yes. So the term “hearing-impairment”, in fact, it can be quite offensive to the deaf community because it implies that we have a problem, right? We are focusing on the lack of our hearing sense, which is very in line with the medical view of viewing disabilities. It's something that needs to be fixed. It's a problem that needs to be cured, right? So I don't think that should be used to address us, the Deaf community. The more appropriate terms to use is “Deaf” or "Hard-of-Hearing”, or “Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing people”. There are many different ways of viewing disability, for example, and also there are different terms. So the lowercase d, “deaf”, refers to general people with hearing loss. The capital, the uppercase d, “Deaf”, refers to the Deaf community, the ones with the shared sense of culture, of identity, of a shared language, typically who already know sign language, which then is the part of this community that we are talking about now, and talking about providing access with sign language interpreters. Yeah.
>> CAROL: Wow. Thank you so much, Lily and Daniel, for joining us here today on ONE FM 91.3, shedding such an important light on how the Deaf community can participate and can take part in concerts here in Singapore, despite having… having a hearing-impaired-ness. So we are going to be wrapping up this conversation on Facebook. Do join us there. It's Facebook.com slash ONE FM 91.3. Thank you so much, Daniel and Lily, this morning.
>> DANIEL: Thank you so much. Lily says thank you as well.
[SWITCHES OFF-AIR TO FACEBOOK LIVE]
>> CAROL: Guys, this has been so insightful. What a meaningful time. I'm sure to hope that there will be more opportunities for the Deaf community at future concerts here in Singapore.
>> SHEHZAD: And I'd love for Taylor Swift to be the next one, and future concerts as well, to have this Deaf signing that you guys can enjoy as well, like us.
>> LAVINIA: I have to say that the presence of the interpreters, of the Deaf community on stage, I think it really gets people thinking about it, (SHEHZAD: Yeah, exactly.) even the normal hearing individuals. So definitely, I think you guys are starting something really amazing here. Thanks to you guys. And I hope to see that more in the upcoming concerts. Two thumbs up! I got full approval from Lily. Yeah.
[SHEHZAD laughs]
>> CAROL: Who do you want to see in future in concert?
>> SHEHZAD: Yes.
>> LILY via interpreter: Actually, I am a huge…
>> CAROL: BTS? BTS?
>> Lily via interpreter: No, Backstreet Boys fan.
>> CAROL: Backstreet boys? Wow!
>> LILY via interpreter: I really want to see them. I think I'm also… I'm also want to see Calum Scott, upcoming maybe?
>> CAROL: Oh wow. He’s beautiful.
>> LAVINIA: Yeah. He's great. Great vocals.
>> CAROL: Good choice. Coming soon? Yeah.
>> LILY: Hope. Hope.
>> CAROL: Yeah? Fingers crossed!
>> LILY via interpreter: I hope that we will see him in Singapore soon.
>> CAROL: Okay. would love to see them, you know, signing to your moves as well. “Larger than life”? Haha.
>> LILY via interpreter: Yes. I know that song.
>> CAROL: Yeah.
>> SHEHZAD: Excited. Getting very excited here.
>> CAROL: Awesome. Lily, it was so nice. Nice to meet you. It was beautiful talking to you and Daniel, thank you so much.
>> LAVINIA: Maybe we can just share with everyone about how we can see more. I know Lily, you create a lot of like videos as well as your art on Instagram. Maybe you can share with us. Social media details.
>> LILY via interpreter: So Lily speaking, I also make some songs as well. For example, the recent NDP song, “Stronger Together”, so I made my own interpretation on it on a video and last year I did “Shine Your Light”, the theme song for NDP. Yeah.
>> LAVINIA: And where can we see all these beautiful videos?
>> LILY via interpreter: So I have you on YouTube and Instagram. So, Instagram is @lilygoh.sg, L-I-L-Y-G-O-H.S-G.
>> SHEHZAD: Okay.
>> LAVINIA: Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much. Was it “thank you” is like this?
>> CAROL: Thank you.
>> SHEHZAD: Thank you. Thank you.
>> LAVINIA: How do you say thank you so much?
>> SHEHZAD: So more? So, it’s a more—yeah.
>> LAVINIA: Oh, two hands. Ah.
>> LILY via interpreter: Yes, double the thank you.
>> LAVINIA: Double the thank you.
>> CAROL: Thank you, guys. Nice to meet you.
>> LILY via interpreter: Nice to meet you, too.
>> CAROL: Thanks for joining us, Facebook.
[Outro music plays]
>> VOICEOVER: Good times. Greatest hits…
[TRANSCRIPT END]
