Heavy burden: Chee Boon sought the help of Ng (left) for his son’s potential cochlear implant surgery.
KLUANG: It has been one blow after another for Mark Chee Boon and his family – his son was born with a hearing impairment, which also led to a speech impediment.
While dealing with that, his wife was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer.
The prognosis is dim, and now his wife just wants to hear her four-year-old son call her “mama”.
Chee Boon, 44, said he and his wife sensed something was amiss about two months after Mark Wei Chen was born prematurely in 2019.
“We brought him for a medical examination and found that his hearing was impaired in both ears.
“We tried a hearing aid but it could not solve the problem as he was still having difficulties hearing and speaking,” Chee Boon said.
Wei Chen had only 5% to 10% hearing in both ears and holds a person with disability (OKU) card for hearing issues, added his father.
“While we were busy trying to get our son treated, my wife, who is a Chinese national, was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer last year, so we face a heavy financial burden.
“She has since returned to her hometown in Changchun, China, for medical treatment as we cannot afford to pay for all the medical bills here.
“Her health has not improved much and her wish now is for our son to gain hearing and speech abilities so she can hear him call out ‘mama’,” he added.
Chee Boon, who works at a traditional Chinese medicine shop here, said he brought his son to an ear, nose and throat specialist in Hospital Sultanah Aminah in Johor Baru early last year, and was told that a cochlear device costs about RM80,000.
“It is a hefty cost for us to bear as both his ears are affected.”
Chee Boon said he recently learned that Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) can perform the surgery at a cost of about RM120,000, and the couple is hoping to raise that amount for their four-year-old son’s cochlear implant surgery.
He decided to seek the help of Kluang Municipal Council’s Suria zone councillor Ng Geok Yin to raise funds for his son.
“I am hoping to raise enough money to give my son, who is a fast learner, an opportunity to lead a normal life.
“Otherwise, my last resort will be to take him to China for naturalisation in order to receive medical treatment in that country for half the price, but that will require more time,” he added.
Ng said she would seek advice from Johor health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon for Wei Chen to undergo the surgery in UKM as soon as possible to prevent his condition from worsening.
“I will help with the fundraising through my charity Persatuan Kebajikan Kasih Sayang Kluang, and hope the public can lend a helping hand as well,” she added.
For more information, contact Ng at 012-711 5188.
