Miss-Delectable
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- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
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A different beat
ONE can hardly be blamed for wondering how a musician can lack the sense of hearing.
Even the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven, whose hearing steadily deteriorated after the age of 25, contemplated suicide and mournfully wrote, “How sad is my lot, I must avoid all things dear to me ... of course, I am resolved to overcome every obstacle, but how will it be possible?”
However, Beethoven continued to compose and it is heart-warming to know that deaf musician Lim Fui Ping, 22, is of similar mould.
A member of Deafbeat, a 14-man drum troupe comprising deaf musicians, Lim’s story is the stuff of dreams.
Interested in music from an early age, Lim learned how to play the drums at YMCA’s “Y” Self-Reliance Centre for the Deaf (PMY). However, her parents did not respond well initially.
“My parents were unhappy and scolded me,” she gestures, in sign language. “They thought that I was wasting my time.”
Adamant that her disability was no barrier to entry, Lim continued to practise despite the discouragement and apprehension.
“It was, and is, a big challenge because I can’t hear,” she concedes. “Learning is hard and I had to practise everyday €” mentally running through a lesson when I’m in a train or bus and playing before bedtime.
“I was scared when the instructor first told me to play sequences but it helps that I have friends and it is nice coordinating with them.”
Slowly rising to prominence, Lim and company now hog the big stage €” performing at The Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards, the YMCA’s Senior Citizen’s Club Dinner, the Pulsing Spirit concert at KLPac and DIGI’s Amazing Malaysians programme among others.
Their fame culminated when they were studio-recorded by Hong Kong’s Asia TV in relation to the recent Beijing Paralympics.
“My parents are now happy and confident about me now,” she smiles. “They like watching DVDs of my performances. Also, my friends were happy and surprised when they saw me on television and many SMSed me!”
A teacher-cum-clerk at the PMY for the last three years, Lim encourages deaf people to pursue their dreams.
Once convinced that the deaf could not enjoy the same things that normal-hearing people do, she is now living proof that the deaf can indeed march to the beat of the drum.
ONE can hardly be blamed for wondering how a musician can lack the sense of hearing.
Even the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven, whose hearing steadily deteriorated after the age of 25, contemplated suicide and mournfully wrote, “How sad is my lot, I must avoid all things dear to me ... of course, I am resolved to overcome every obstacle, but how will it be possible?”
However, Beethoven continued to compose and it is heart-warming to know that deaf musician Lim Fui Ping, 22, is of similar mould.
A member of Deafbeat, a 14-man drum troupe comprising deaf musicians, Lim’s story is the stuff of dreams.
Interested in music from an early age, Lim learned how to play the drums at YMCA’s “Y” Self-Reliance Centre for the Deaf (PMY). However, her parents did not respond well initially.
“My parents were unhappy and scolded me,” she gestures, in sign language. “They thought that I was wasting my time.”
Adamant that her disability was no barrier to entry, Lim continued to practise despite the discouragement and apprehension.
“It was, and is, a big challenge because I can’t hear,” she concedes. “Learning is hard and I had to practise everyday €” mentally running through a lesson when I’m in a train or bus and playing before bedtime.
“I was scared when the instructor first told me to play sequences but it helps that I have friends and it is nice coordinating with them.”
Slowly rising to prominence, Lim and company now hog the big stage €” performing at The Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards, the YMCA’s Senior Citizen’s Club Dinner, the Pulsing Spirit concert at KLPac and DIGI’s Amazing Malaysians programme among others.
Their fame culminated when they were studio-recorded by Hong Kong’s Asia TV in relation to the recent Beijing Paralympics.
“My parents are now happy and confident about me now,” she smiles. “They like watching DVDs of my performances. Also, my friends were happy and surprised when they saw me on television and many SMSed me!”
A teacher-cum-clerk at the PMY for the last three years, Lim encourages deaf people to pursue their dreams.
Once convinced that the deaf could not enjoy the same things that normal-hearing people do, she is now living proof that the deaf can indeed march to the beat of the drum.
I know what it's like not being able to pursue one's dream, as I've had my squashed by church people all these years. I have my dream back and it'll be over my dead body when they steal anything from me again, including my self esteem. The offering plate will remain empty when it goes past me when they realize that.