There are about 70 million deaf people who use sign language as their first language or mother tongue. It is also the first language and mother tongue to many hearing people and some deafblind people (tactile sign languages). Each country has one or sometimes two or more sign languages, although different sign languages can share the same linguistic roots in the same way as spoken languages do (WFD. Sign language is a language that involves the combinations of hand and body movements together with the facial expressions to communicate without sound (Sutton-Spence & Woll, 1999). Malaysian Sign Language was established in 1998 and was first introduced to Malaysia in the early 1960s by Mr. Tan Yap. Malaysian Sign Language (MSL) based on American Sign Language (ASL) but the two are considered different language.

In Malaysia there are three sign language, namely Malaysian Sign Language or Kod Tangan Bahasa Malaysia (KTBM), Penang Sign Language, and Kuala Lumpur Sign Language. Between 1980 and 1986, Kod Tangan Bahasa Malaysia or Manually Coded Malay (KTBM) was created by hearing educators and linguists. KTBM is a sign language borrowed from ASL mixed with some local signs. Additionally, every parent of deaf children has own signs called home signs to make a gestural communication. The use of such home signs among peranakan or ethnic Chinese users of BIM may be behind controversy over the supposed influence of Chinese Sign Languages, which does not seem to be documented and may