Surya Sahetapy Reveals the Struggles of His Father Raising a Deaf Child

"Dad inspired many people; he was one of the founders of a theater for deaf children. I hope his legacy continues in the future, thank you for being here," said Surya.

Surya explains that Ray is a proud father of his children, including Surya himself who is deaf. According to him, Ray actively introduces communication with deaf people to the wider community.

"Maybe you already know that dad has four children, two deaf, two hearing, so parents are proud to show us deaf and introduce to others how deaf people communicate and not to be ashamed and not to be afraid to communicate with deaf people. Also, parents who have deaf children might initially feel inferior, but dad and mom always say we should be proud to have a deaf child because they know the situation in Indonesia in the past where disabled deaf people were marginalized and fought for deaf individuals to be equal. So, I am very proud to have deaf children, my parents," he said.

During his life, Ray was also known for supporting inclusivity for the deaf community in religious life. He was even known to have converted to Islam at Istiqlal Mosque and was prayed for there before being buried.

"It's interesting because I came to Istiqlal several times and just found out two days ago that I met the ustaz who converted my father in 1981, and this mosque advocates for deaf people to access Islamic teachings through deaf individuals," said Surya.

Surya reminisced about the moments spent with Rey in 2017 when he took care of his father for one and a half years. From that experience, he understood more about the importance of educating the wider community about the deaf community.   "Yesterday I talked with my father, I took care of him for 1.5 years before moving to America, and I learned a lot about why deaf children are discriminated against because people don't know about deafness," he explained.

One of the memorable moments for Surya was during the graduation. He said it became the last expression of pride from his father before he fell ill due to a stroke.   "This is the last expression of pride from my father because after the graduation he had a stroke, so communication was always intensive before the stroke through a sign language interpreter, WhatsApp, and so on," Surya revealed.

Regarding the burial location, Surya mentioned that his father had expressed a desire to be buried in Sibowi, Palu, near his parents' graves.   "And I haven't communicated with the family yet, but my father once said he wanted to be buried in Sibowi, close to his parents' graves," said Surya.

Although still in mourning, Surya expressed readiness to continue his father's struggle in the academic and artistic world. He is currently pursuing education in the United States and hopes to make a real contribution to the Indonesian deaf community.