Onkyo Braille Essay Contest 2006 -- International Section (Asia-Pacific Region) ĦOtsuki Prize for First Place (Groups A & B) "How Braille Has Changed My Life" Mr. Mg Pyay Pyo Paing (Myanmar: Male, 20-year-old) |
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There is a saying in Myanmar that goes like this: "An illiterate person is like a blind Man". This is because like the blind man, he remains at the lowest level of society and has no means to gain knowledge and wisdom. For thousands of years, all kinds of inventions have benefited only the sighted by enabling them to gain access to education, literature and skills. For the blind, the big change came only about 200 years ago with the invention of the system of reading and writing for the blind known as Braille. The inventor himself was a blind man in France named Louis Braille. This has made it possible for a blind person like me to go to school at the age of six. I started learning Braille at a very young age but at first I was more interested in playing than in studying. But gradually as I grew older, I began to realise that Braille was a very important educational tool for the blind. So I decided to work hard in order to become a literate blind man. I am very glad that I did so because this has enabled me to pursue my life's ambition to become a successful musician with the help of Braille music notes which had been invented by blind musicians. I was very fascinated by the Braille system of twelve international music notes which had been devised for the blind. The scale of twelve notes can be divided into seven natural tones and five flat tones and I could use them to compose songs and create music. I was so happy! This gave me much hope to become a famous and successful musician. I enjoyed studying the songs and music of experienced and well-known musicians by using the Braille music system. Even though the computer was very helpful to me in creating musical notes easily, Braille was still necessary for me to write down such things as the number of bars to be played, the number of lines to be used for sound recording, and how the decorations are to be created. With the help of adapted technological equipment, I also found it much easier to write letters and to gain access to Braille books that were very useful in helpping me to achieve my aims. Even though the Braille pages of my letters and books were so many and so bulky, I could carry them around easily with the help of my high-tech machines. Finally, I have achieved my ambition and I am now a successful musician. I am so grateful to Louis Braille because I know I owe my achievements and success to t he system of Braille without which I could have done nothing. |
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