King Charles Visits Melanoma Clinic in Sydney and Meets Cancer Survivors

 Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla pose for pictures in front of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney on October 22, 2024, as the Sydney Harbor Bridge is seen in the background. (AFP)
Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla pose for pictures in front of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney on October 22, 2024, as the Sydney Harbor Bridge is seen in the background. (AFP)
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King Charles Visits Melanoma Clinic in Sydney and Meets Cancer Survivors

 Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla pose for pictures in front of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney on October 22, 2024, as the Sydney Harbor Bridge is seen in the background. (AFP)
Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla pose for pictures in front of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney on October 22, 2024, as the Sydney Harbor Bridge is seen in the background. (AFP)

King Charles visited a skin cancer clinic in Sydney on Tuesday where he met cancer survivors and researchers working on cures for the disease.

The visit to the Melanoma Institute Australia was one of the final public appearances Charles made on his 16th official visit to the country, his first major overseas trip since being diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer.

There was no mention of the King's own diagnosis during the visit, where Charles met melanoma survivor Adam Brown and his family. Brown was given 12 months to live when he was diagnosed in 2015.

Brown, along with wife Kristy, introduced their children as their “two miracles”.

The King offered his congratulations to Brown although jokingly wondered why the children were meeting him during school hours.

Charles also met renowned melanoma researcher and brain cancer survivor Richard Scolyer. Diagnosed with brain cancer last year, Scolyer underwent world-first surgery and his tumor is in remission.

Scolyer was joined on Tuesday by fellow researcher Georgina Long. Both were named Australians of the Year in January for their research into melanomas.

"That was an amazing opportunity for us to tell the king about what we're doing here trying to deal with Australia's national cancer, and to talk about how we're trying to get to zero deaths from melanoma," Scolyer said.

Earlier in the day Charles met Indigenous elders in inner-city Redfern, the home of the urban Aboriginal civil rights movement, and was embraced by elder Michael Welsh

The moment was in sharp contrast to Monday when Charles was heckled at Parliament House in Canberra by independent senator and Indigenous activist Lidia Thorpe who shouted that she did not accept his sovereignty over Australia.

The Royal couple will close the day with a fleet review of the Royal Australian Navy in Sydney Harbor.



Songs of Silence: Young Actors Perform Indonesia’s First Deaf Musical

 Members of theater troupe Fantasi Tuli (Deaf Fantasy) perform a show titled "Senandung Senyap" (Songs of Silence), during Indonesia's first musical with mostly deaf artists, in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 26, 2024. (Reuters)
Members of theater troupe Fantasi Tuli (Deaf Fantasy) perform a show titled "Senandung Senyap" (Songs of Silence), during Indonesia's first musical with mostly deaf artists, in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 26, 2024. (Reuters)
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Songs of Silence: Young Actors Perform Indonesia’s First Deaf Musical

 Members of theater troupe Fantasi Tuli (Deaf Fantasy) perform a show titled "Senandung Senyap" (Songs of Silence), during Indonesia's first musical with mostly deaf artists, in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 26, 2024. (Reuters)
Members of theater troupe Fantasi Tuli (Deaf Fantasy) perform a show titled "Senandung Senyap" (Songs of Silence), during Indonesia's first musical with mostly deaf artists, in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 26, 2024. (Reuters)

In a Jakarta theatre, the music pulsed from speakers as a group of young artists danced in a musical, bathed in multicolor stage lights. But no one was singing.

Theatre troupe Fantasi Tuli (Deaf Fantasy) was performing Indonesia's first musical with mainly deaf artists and crew on Saturday, using screens around the stage showing dialogue and lyrics as actors performed with their facial expressions and hand signs.

The musical "Senandung Senyap" (Songs of Silence) depicts the plight of students in a middle school for children with disabilities. Directors Hasna Mufidah and Helga Theresia created it to raise awareness and promote the use of sign language.

"My hope is, going forward, inclusivity can be strengthened, that between deaf and hearing people, hearing is not superior - we're equal," Mufidah, who is deaf, said through Indonesian sign language.

Involving more than 60 deaf actors and crew, aged 16 to 40, the musical took three months to prepare. It is inspired by Deaf West Theater in the United States, Helga said.

The performance examines special-needs education in Indonesian schools, where deaf students are often taught with an emphasis on speech training and lip-reading, more than on sign language, amid a wider debate about the best education methods for children with hearing disability.

Some in the deaf community argue oral education can lead to a sense of alienation, and that sign language is a more natural way to communicate for them. Proponents of such a method say it could better integrate people with hearing disability with the more dominant hearing community.

For deaf actor Hanna Aretha Oktavia, the musical was her introduction to sign language and the wider deaf community.

"Throughout dialogue rehearsals we had to use as much expressions as possible and to follow the storyline," Hanna said.

"What's interesting is in rehearsals we have to feel the tempo and vibrations and match them with the choreography. I think that's the most intriguing part because I love to dance. And we paid close attention to the beats with the help of hearing aids. We use big speakers to help guide us," she said.

More than 2 million of Indonesia's 280 million people have a hearing disability, including 27,983 students in special-needs schools.