Social enterprise helps deaf bakers earn a living and thrive on their own
KUALA LUMPUR: Their freshly made cookies look irresistible but the story of the bakers is even more compelling.
They are deaf or hard of hearing and have picked up skills from a small learning centre here, a social enterprise which provided free lessons and vocational training for them.
“Some of those we taught have become our employees. Their talent and skills are very good and on par with others, despite all of them being deaf or hard of hearing,” said Cindy Leong, who founded the Community Service Centre for the Deaf.
The bakery, which has 15 workers, is known for its cashew nut cookies, chocolate chip cookies and pineapple rolls, among others. They also bake muffins, bread and cakes.
Leong explained that the bakery does not serve walk-in customers directly, as most of the baked goodies are delivered to customers through pre-orders.
“As such, the deaf employees rarely interact with customers on a daily basis, except when they participate in events organised by the bakery,” she said.
She acknowledged that one of the main difficulties faced by deaf employees is communication, especially during events where they need to interact with people.
“However, most customers are understanding and accommodating of their situation,” she said.
Those who were previous students of the centre had been taught sign language and given food and beverage-related lessons from a young age.
“But not everyone working here was our student before. Some came from other states and applied to work with us.
“So we need to take a longer time to train them because communication and hands-on learning take more time compared to normal training,” she said.
She said the name of the bakery – Silent Teddies – was inspired by a teddy bear drawing by a former student who was visually impaired.
For Leong, the deaf community has always been a deeply personal journey after witnessing her late mother’s dedication in helping deaf people.
She has also witnessed the daily struggles faced by her sister, who is hard of hearing.
“My mother was not wealthy but she always wanted to help others. At that time, there were limited schools for the deaf, so some students who came from far away stayed in our house in Kuala Lumpur.
“In that small home, we learned together and helped one another,” she said.
As for the bakery, Leong said the initiative was about restoring confidence and independence for the deaf.
“For many parents, they used to worry whether their children could ever work independently. Now they can see them earning a salary and contributing to society like everyone else,” she said.
Leong admitted that it was increasingly difficult to keep the bakery due to rising operational costs and the challenges of running an inclusive workplace.
However, she said profit had never been the main priority for her bakery, as most of the proceeds are channelled back into workers’ salaries and training programmes.
