Peng Tsu Ying


Peng Tsu Ying was a pioneer deaf educator in Singapore. Peng died of heart failure due to old age on 24 October 2018, aged 92.

Personal life

Born in Shanghai, Peng lost his hearing at the age of six after a childhood illness. He was educated in Shanghainese Sign Language in Hong Kong.
When he arrived in Singapore, he noticed the lack of education for the deaf in Singapore. He approached the authorities to start a school but was not successful. In 1951, he began to teach sign language at his own home.
In 1954, he and his wife started the first deaf school in Singapore, the Singapore Chinese Sign School for the Deaf, with the support of a few Chinese merchants.
In 1963, the Singapore Chinese Sign School for the Deaf merged with the Oral School for the Deaf to form the Singapore School for the Deaf. Peng became one of the two principals and took charge of the Chinese Sign Section. The school closed in 2017 due to dwindled enrolment.
Peng had devoted 35 years to educating and inspiring generations of deaf students so that they can become useful citizens of the society.