By: Ng Choon Hau (Sr1A)
Photography: Yee Wen Shuen (Sr1C)
With teenage suicide and depression rates on a rising trend nowadays, efforts surely had to be made to curb this issue. The school was honoured that several disabled celebrities accepted invitation to give a talk and perform in front of Sr1 students during the weekly assembly and first period on 5 August 2019. These special guests included Liu Li Hong, a famous handicapped Taiwanese anchor and dancer; Lim Xiu Xia, another famous handicapped dancer who has won numerous accolades, and Jack Cheng, a mentally retarded singer.
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The talk started at 7:30 a.m. with all students having gathered in the auditorium. It kicked off with two handicapped women dancing onstage, a tremendous feat that surely surprised many. Liu Li Hong began introducing herself as the only Taiwanese dancer in crutches and metal boots. Her narration of her life story followed, which was deeply touching. Ever since she was a child, she was ashamed of her defects so she would always be the first to show up to class and the last to leave. This situation persisted till sophomore year of university when she first powered through her shortcomings by walking 12.4 km out of spite. Her breakthrough was when she got a job as an anchor which continues till this day. In an effort to increase other handicapped people’s self-worth, she once hosted a 5 day 4 night camp for them to engage in extreme things like wilderness survival, diving and skydiving. Her quote, “you’ll never know till you try”, absolutely struck the hearts of many students. Her segment concluded with a performance of the song “Invisible Wings”.
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Lim Xiu Xia was up next, and her segment began with a bang, namely her showing off some spectacular wheelchair dance moves. An alienated and mocked child for having polio, things turned for the worse for her when her leg correction surgery failed, rendering her legs useless and leaving her in a wheelchair. Though, she did not let that stop her; instead, she turned her handicap on its wheels by learning dance in an athletic wheelchair. Reluctant at first, she quickly came through and won numerous international handicapped dance competitions. This surely put her in the pink of health, as she was able to perform other stellar athletic feats like swimming 3300 km and climbing Mount Kinabalu and Yu Shan, respectively the highest peaks in Malaysia and Taiwan. “Success ain’t for those who can, it’s for those who persevere till the end” was her motivational quote for the students. Then, an incredible dance routine of “Desert of Passion” ended her part of the talk.
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The next celebrity up was Jack Heng, who is not your typical singer. Due to his brain palsy, he had to be helped onto stage, so you could imagine how hard his childhood must have been. He had always been laughed at for being a moron or a retard, so much so that his mother had to accompany him through all six years of primary. When no secondary school would accept him, yet again, his extremely patient mother put him through four years of intense life skill training so that he can live independently. As someone who once needed an hour to put on socks as an adult, with a month of training, he eventually only needed 3 minutes! Not that much of a feat for us, sure, but it was certainly an accomplishment for him given his condition. The talk concluded with him performing “Snail” by Jay Chow, which took him months on end just to be able to get the song right.
The talk and show ended at 8:30 a.m. with presentation of souvenirs to our guest speakers, followed by a group photo of the entire auditorium. Students walked away from the auditorium feeling emotional and blessed. What many took away from this is to feel lucky and grateful for having all functional body parts and a good health. It was definitely a beautiful talk, with many students expressing interest in inviting them again next year, if possible.
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