After feeling left out as a child, this 23-year-old with hearing loss started speaking up for persons with disabilities

SINGAPORE — Twenty-three-year-old Nicolette Koh does not have fond memories of primary school and remembers feeling lonely and left out. 

When other children were talking and playing, Miss Koh would try to join them but gave up eventually because she could not understand what was going on.

Miss Koh, who was diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of two, remembers spending most of her time wandering around school alone. 

"It is hard to listen to the person speaking to you when their voice blends with the background noise, producing a flurry of noises that is beyond comprehension," she said.

Miss Koh was diagnosed with moderate hearing loss in her right ear and profound hearing loss in her left ear at two. 

"It was hard adjusting to a society that was not meant for me." 

The World Health Organization states that profound hearing loss is categorised by very little or no hearing. 

After hearing aids failed to improve her hearing, Miss Koh went for her first cochlear surgery at five years old. 

She had a second surgery at the age of 12 and a final surgery a year later. After her surgeries, her hearing improved.

And when she entered secondary school, she had a more supportive environment.

She was surrounded by people who were open-minded, willing to talk with and learn from her, and be receptive of her without forming any pre-judgements.

Miss Koh added that she had teachers who were better equipped to look after students with accessibility needs.

During her polytechnic years, however, she decided she wanted to do something about the way society viewed and treated people with disabilities.  

As a third-year pharmeceutical science student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, she co-founded NP Supportify. It is a club dedicated to raising awareness about people with disabilities and providing social-emotional support to students with disabilities. 

The club, which had 50 members, organised bi-weekly support group sessions called "Playlist". 

It created a safe space for disabled students to interact with others and talk about the difficulties that they may have encountered. 

Its goal was to provide socio-emotional support and allow students to make friends without judgement. 

With a grade point average of 3.97, Miss Koh graduated as valedictorian from the polytechnic with a diploma in pharmaceutical sciences.

For her efforts in raising awareness about persons with disabilities, she was awarded the 2023 Goh Chok Tong Enable Award (Promise), which is given out by the Goh Chok Tong Enable Fund.  

The fund, which has been giving out the award since 2019, aims to provide persons with disabilities the opportunities to actively contribute to society and lead socially integrated lives.

This is through providing financial aid, supporting aspirations and conferring awards to recognise the achievements and potential of remarkable individuals.

It is administered by SG Enable, a government-linked agency supporting persons with disabilities, and supported by news organisation Mediacorp, with Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong as the patron.

SIGN LANGUAGE FOR ALL 

Miss Koh has continued her efforts in raising awareness for people with disabilities at the National University of Singapore (NUS) where she is now pursuing a degree in pharmacy. 

She is the president of the NUS Enablers club, which is an advocacy group that aims to create an inclusive campus by promoting accessibility and empowerment. 

One activity organised by the group is called the Human Library, where NUS students with different accessibility needs are the "books" and other students converse with these participants to learn more about what life is like for a student with disabilities on campus.  

Other activities include sign language lessons organised in collaboration with Equal Dreams and NUS SIGNapse, a sign language club. 

Equal Dreams is an organisation that provides disability, accessibility and consultancy services and creates platforms for disabled people to pursue passion projects. Some of their services include sign language interpretation and sign language workshops. 

Of her dream that everyone learns the language, Miss Koh said: "If everyone in Singapore knows sign language, then there would be fewer communication barriers."

BALANCING EMPATHY AND INFANTILISING

Although she has had extensive speech therapy and three surgeries and is able to understand and enunciate most words, strangers still notice a slight difference in Miss Koh's speech.

Often, she is asked why she has an accent. 

"A common question I receive is: Are you Singaporean?" 

She added that she rarely tells people whom she has just met about her hearing issues because she does not want to be labelled as "disabled". 

This is because it leads to people having pre-conceived notions about what she is able or unable to do.

It also sometimes leads to people being overly nice, or what she describes as "infantilising".

"People should try being empathetic to everyone in general," Miss Koh said on the balance between being empathetic and infantilising. 

Reflecting on her Goh Chok Tong Enable award last year, the young woman who lives with her parents and two older siblings said that it made her more "attuned to her identity as a disabled person".

"Having a better understanding of my identity gave me more self-confidence to encourage others."

It is her hope that other people with disabilities will speak out and take care of their futures. 

"I want to encourage my peers with disabilities to advocate for themselves and reduce the barriers so that they are able to achieve their dreams." 

As for society in general, she hopes that people will just be more sensitive to the needs of those with disabilities. 

"A small step goes really a long way."

To support persons with disabilities through the Goh Chok Tong Enable Fund, visit GCTEnableFund.sg. Nominations for the annual Goh Chok Tong Enable Award are now open until July 17, 2024. 

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated Miss Koh's age as 22. She is 23. We are sorry for the error.