<![CDATA[Sharing something inspirational...]]>For those feeling down and out, hope this story inspires you to lift yourself up πŸ™

====================
Fri, Aug 26, 2011
The New Paper
'I couldn't afford to lose any more'
by Alvin Lim

http://i55.tinypic.com/1zx2ntw.jpg\">

SHE watched her 11-month-old daughter, and then her 48-year-old mother-in-law, die before her eyes under the rubble.

And on that fateful day three years ago, she also lost her legs in the Sichuan earthquake in China.

But having escaped death, dancer Liao Zhi took a stand: She would share her passion for life and dance with the world.

Ms Liao, now 26, is in Singapore as a contestant and guest performer at this year's Singapore International Super Talents and Arts (Sistar) festival.

The opening ceremony was held yesterday morning at Nanyang Girls' High School. Ms Liao was also appointed ambassador for the two-day cultural festival.

The Chinese national told The New Paper yesterday that her world \"came crashing down\" after the earthquake.

At the time, the dance instructor and young mother was piecing her life back together after her husband was found to be having an affair.

The 8.0-magnitude earthquake left more than 80,000 people dead or missing and millions homeless.

Ms Liao said that they were in their home on the third level of a four-storey building when it collapsed.

Flung herself

Her daughter was killed instantly by the impact of the rubble. Ms Liao instinctively flung herself on top of her mother-in-law, who was carrying the dead toddler.

They were alive but their legs had been crushed by the debris and they could not move.

It was pitch black, but Ms Liao could hear the voices of rescuers. They shouted to alert the rescuers that they were alive.

She sang to her mother-in-law to keep their spirits up. But it took the rescuers 30 hours to finally reach them. By then, her mother-in-law was dead.

Ms Liao was taken to hospital, where she underwent a six-hour operation to amputate her lower limbs.

She recalled that she was awake during the operation because the overwhelmed hospital was low on supplies and could anaesthetise only the lower half of her body.

After the operation, her wound became infected and she was moved to a hospital in Chongqing for further treatment.

There, she found herself pining for her daughter.

\"Losing my daughter was the worst thing that ever happened to me. It hurts me much more than losing my legs,\" she said.

Ms Liao found herself drawn to the maternity wards on the second and third storeys of the hospital, where she would look at the newborn babies.

On Children's Day, which falls on June 1 in China, she sang a song dedicated to her dead daughter at a hospital function.

It did not bother her that she was the only adult performer at a children's show, but the pain she had bottled up finally hit her and she wept in front of the audience.

Ms Liao found solace in the kindness of an elderly stranger while she was recuperating in Chongqing hospital.

\"An old granny left me 12 yuan (S$2.25) and a few coins under my pillow,\" she said. \"I tried getting the hospital workers to find her.\"

Ms Liao said that she was touched by the woman's simple gesture and found renewed motivation to stay alive for her parents.

\"I started to look at things from a practical and realistic point of view. I had lost many things. I couldn't afford to lose any more,\" she said.

While Ms Liao was still recuperating in hospital, her relatives called her to ask if she could use her talent to cheer up her hometown of Hanwangzhen, where many people were mourning and homeless.

Two months after she had lost her legs, she did just this by performing in a Miss World event in Chongqing.

Ms Liao trained under the care of doctors and nurses for a month for her dance performance with a giant drum.

The drum serves as a platform for her to dance on, as she sits on it to prop up her body, she said.

It was a completely new dance to her, as she previously taught traditional Chinese folk dance, which she could no longer do without her legs.

She described the training as \"tough, painful and humbling\".

On the day of the performance, Ms Liao said that she had backstage jitters as she was still in bandages and \"a piece of bone was still jutting out of my flesh\".

But the moment she got on stage and picked up her drumsticks, the audience erupted in applause.

Not long after, she appeared in a public service broadcast and soon became a household name.

She was discharged from the Chongqing hospital in September 2008 with a pair of prosthetic limbs, which were fully paid for by the government.

Not one to forget her roots, Ms Liao started a troupe for disabled artistes in 2009, mentoring students between the ages of four and 12.

Her schedule this year is packed, with performances lined up in the US and Hong Kong.

She said: \"I've learnt how to not focus on my problems and look on the positive side of things. We live in a beautiful world.\"

This article was first published in The New Paper.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/topic/25317/sharing-something-inspirationalRSS for NodeMon, 27 Apr 2026 04:55:47 GMTSat, 27 Aug 2011 07:50:33 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:02:40 GMT]]>I vaguely recalled reading an article on her two decades ago and in a twinkling of an eye, she managed to survive the odds to this day... This kudos goes to the parents who showed what love (and sacrifice) and selflessness is really about. :salute:

=====================
My impossible, beautiful life

She has a rare condition that causes her skin to flake off like fish scales, exposing pink skin underneath. -TNP
Gan Ling Kai

Tue, Sep 06, 2011
The New Paper

It is easy, in today's hyper-paced world, to fast-forward Miss Ng Poh Peng's life from when she was a fragile eight-month-old to the miracle of the 20-year-old today.

It would be convenient to sum up, in the blink of an eye, the way she was then, and now.

But I would be cheating you if I did. I would be depriving you of a life deemed unlikely, of courage, of unconditional love.

Miss Ng's plight once touched readers of The New Paper - perhaps you yourself or others like you - so much that $296,000 was donated to give her a chance at life.

When she was a baby, doctors said she would be dead within two months, but she defied their prognosis. Today, Miss Ng should inspire you.

In October 1991, we wrote about her battle with congenital ichthyosis, a rare hereditary skin disorder.

It causes her skin to flake off like fish scales, exposing pink skin underneath.

To this day, there is no cure.

But Miss Ng defied the doctors. She lived a month beyond their terminal deadline. Then six months. Then a year.

And then 20 years.

How? Love, she says.

From unwavering, unconditional love, she found the courage and resilience to face life despite the way she looks.

Her courage has not gone unnoticed. She was chosen to be one of the 2,400 Singaporeans who carried the Youth Olympic Games torch last year.

Despite her skin condition, and the constant pain from arthritis, she persevered in school and, in March this year, obtained a Higher National ITE Certificate in Accounting.

She now wants to be a data entry officer.

But life continues to be a struggle.

She struggles to find work. She applied for two jobs but got no reply.

She scours career websites for job opportunities, but a career remains a challenge.

\"I need a home-based job,\" Miss Ng said in a mixture of English and Mandarin when I met her family of five in their three-room flat in Chai Chee last month.

There is no cure for congenital ichthyosis, a rare hereditary skin disorder that causes the patient's skin to flake off like fish scales.
Her father, Mr Ng Swee Siah, 51, is a delivery man.

He said in Mandarin: \"Will her boss get upset if she leaves a trail of skin behind her in the office? Because of her skin condition, she cannot be in the sun or in the cold. \"She is also prone to infections.\"

Vulnerable to hurt as well: Like any young woman, Miss Ng also once dreamt of romance.

\"It was just puppy love in primary school,\" said Miss Ng, smiling sheepishly.

\"I cannot remember how that boy looked like (except that) he was taller than me.

\"I did not tell him I liked him because he may not be able to accept me.\"

Love may have been elusive in school, but it was always there, in abundance, at home.

Her parents, Mr Ng and Madam Cheng Fong Mui, 45, adore her. Her brother Kelvin, 16, and sister Qing Wei, 15, fuss over her.

As a little girl, Miss Ng had begged her parents to have more children so that she could have siblings... she just wanted to be like many of her friends.

She could not comprehend, then, her parents' emotional predicament. They were unwilling to risk having another child with the same condition.

After much soul-searching, and with doctors giving the go-ahead, they decided to have a second child.

\"Otherwise, who would take care of her when my wife and I are old or gone?\" said Mr Ng.

The couple conceived Kelvin and Qing Wei, both with healthy skin.

Madam Cheng, a part-time food stall cashier, and Qing Wei are Miss Ng's dedicated caretakers. They apply white soft paraffin on Miss Ng's skin several times a day to keep it moist.

Miss Ng, who also has arthritis, cannot stand or walk for long periods.

So her father faithfully took her to school daily on his bicycle for the 10 years she was at Opera Estate Primary School and Ping Yi Secondary School.

Today, Mr Ng, who suffers from chronic insomnia, still takes her around on the bicycle when the family goes out for meals.

He taught her how to fend off rude remarks.

\"When she was in primary school, some of her schoolmates called her 'red ghost',\" said Mr Ng. \"Some adults we met outside called her 'a doll'.

\"These grown-ups should really use their brains when talking. Why hurt our feelings like that?\"

Miss Ng has learned to be positive: \"I just ignore the teasing now.\"

Not as easily brushed off is the financial burden they face. Even with heavy medical subsidies from the Government for Miss Ng's treatment, her parents still have to fork out about $200 every month.

They survive on a combined monthly income of about $2,000.

Miss Ng gets hospitalised once every few months from fever and vomiting.

When $296,000 was raised in 1991 to help with her care, the Ngs decided to donate half of the sum to charity. It was a measure of their selflessness.

\"There were other people who needed the money more urgently,\" said Mr Ng.

\"We were told by a doctor that our daughter would be okay when she reached 10 years old. So we budgeted only for that.\"

The rest of the donation lasted till 2004.\"

We realised that even with improvement, she will be like this for the rest of her life,\" said Mr Ng.

But he still does not regret giving the money away.

\"We helped others, so Heaven kept our daughter alive all these years,\" he said.

To help pay for Miss Ng's treatment, the family downgraded from a four-room to a three-room flat eight years ago.

What else did her parents sacrifice for the sake of her well-being?

Ms Ng said: \"Their time, their money...their entire lives.\"

In 1991, when we first reported Miss Ng's plight, she was popularly known as Baby Poh Peng.

In February that year, she was born by Caesarian section at Kandang Kerbau Hospital.

Mr Ng Swee Siah was told that his firstborn had congenital ichthyosis, a rare hereditary skin disorder.

He struggled to break the news to his wife, Madam Cheng Fong Mui. The mother did not see her baby until Poh Peng was seven days old.

Madam Cheng, now 45, said then: \"She was taken away from me immediately after the delivery. \"My husband told me she was sick.

\"I didn't suspect anything then because he had always been frank with me.\"

Then came the diagnosis that Poh Peng would not live more than two months.

The couple took drastic measures to tilt the odds in their favour. Madam Cheng quit her $600-a-month electronics operator job to take care of Poh Peng.

Media reports about the family's plight struck a chord. Readers chipped in and donations reached up to $296,000 then.

The donations helped, but what made a real difference in her impossible life was, simply, love.

This article was first published in The New Paper.

http://health.asiaone.com/print/Health/News/Story/A1Story20110906-297982.html

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/577953https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/577953Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:02:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:50:25 GMT]]>Wow…another inspirational story…it’s really good to know how these people never give up on themselves and can in turn inspire all the fortunate ones around them.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/573169https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/573169Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:50:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 23:30:50 GMT]]>

ChiefKiasu:
In any tragedy, amongst the casualties, there are victims, and there are survivors. Survivors are those that see themselves not as victims, but rather having been given a new challenge to be overcome. It is from survivors that we learn the highest human qualities that help to define the purpose of life.


Thanks, ZacK, for sharing this most inspirational story. There are many of us who see ourselves as having been beaten by life. We become victims to our own self-pity, and give up trying to make things better for ourselves. The pain and suffering of Ms Liao makes our own problems pale in comparison, and her courage to survive despite the tremendous hurdles is truly encouraging for the rest of us.
Chief,

your words are wise :salute: and the same must be said for Emmanuel Kelly in this clip from X-Factor Australia. Truly a victim turned survivor πŸ™

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W86jlvrG54o][/youtube]

He could not have chosen a more apt song. The lyrics really tells the story

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/573051https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/573051Thu, 01 Sep 2011 23:30:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:02:28 GMT]]>

Intermezzo:
ZacK:



Thanks Intermezzo... Managed to lure you into this thread huh? πŸ˜‰

kekekeke.. my nose can always sniff out a beautiful photo hiding in a thread... πŸ†’

Hahaha thanks :hi5:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/572607https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/572607Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:02:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:41:16 GMT]]>

ZacK:


Thanks Intermezzo... Managed to lure you into this thread huh? πŸ˜‰
kekekeke.. my nose can always sniff out a beautiful photo hiding in a thread... πŸ†’

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/572582https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/572582Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:41:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:49:32 GMT]]>

Intermezzo:
Thanks ZacK for sharing the inspirational story and beautiful photo ~ πŸ™‚


her courage is just amazing..
Thanks Intermezzo... Managed to lure you into this thread huh? πŸ˜‰

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/572171https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/572171Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:49:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:10:24 GMT]]>

growie:
ChiefKiasu:

In any tragedy, amongst the casualties, there are victims, and there are survivors. Survivors are those that see themselves not as victims, but rather having been given a new challenge to be overcome. It is from survivors that we learn the highest human qualities that help to define the purpose of life.


Thanks, ZacK, for sharing this most inspirational story. There are many of us who see ourselves as having been beaten by life. We become victims to our own self-pity, and give up trying to make things better for ourselves. The pain and suffering of Ms Liao makes our own problems pale in comparison, and her courage to survive despite the tremendous hurdles is truly encouraging for the rest of us.

:goodpost: I'm not so eloquent as Chief and most of you here, but I do enjoy any good inspirational read & exchanges here. All these inputs help keep me mindful of things/people and enables me to look at the issues from so many diverse perspectives. :lovesite:

Yes your comments are so true... It is so easy to fall into depression when we keep looking within ourselves and keep going woe is me 😒 :frustrated: ... But once we start to look out and acknowledge that there are actually people out there with situations far worse than us... This is the first step to picking ourselves out from self-pity and from falling into the downward spiral :hugs:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/572143https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/572143Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:10:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 01:36:08 GMT]]>Thanks ZacK for sharing the inspirational story and beautiful photo ~ πŸ™‚


her courage is just amazing..

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/571751https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/571751Thu, 01 Sep 2011 01:36:08 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:11:49 GMT]]>

ChiefKiasu:
In any tragedy, amongst the casualties, there are victims, and there are survivors. Survivors are those that see themselves not as victims, but rather having been given a new challenge to be overcome. It is from survivors that we learn the highest human qualities that help to define the purpose of life.


Thanks, ZacK, for sharing this most inspirational story. There are many of us who see ourselves as having been beaten by life. We become victims to our own self-pity, and give up trying to make things better for ourselves. The pain and suffering of Ms Liao makes our own problems pale in comparison, and her courage to survive despite the tremendous hurdles is truly encouraging for the rest of us.
Thanks Chief for your note. It is so true that once we wallow in self-pity in becomes a spiral and we can only go down and down. Many a times it is really a fine line between choosing to go down the self-pity route or choosing to not be beaten down. Once we have made the decision to not be beaten down mentally, the battle is usually half won.. The other half is really to remain dogged and biting the bullet to pull ourselves thru...

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567808https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567808Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:11:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:00:41 GMT]]>

ChiefKiasu:
In any tragedy, amongst the casualties, there are victims, and there are survivors. Survivors are those that see themselves not as victims, but rather having been given a new challenge to be overcome. It is from survivors that we learn the highest human qualities that help to define the purpose of life.


Thanks, ZacK, for sharing this most inspirational story. There are many of us who see ourselves as having been beaten by life. We become victims to our own self-pity, and give up trying to make things better for ourselves. The pain and suffering of Ms Liao makes our own problems pale in comparison, and her courage to survive despite the tremendous hurdles is truly encouraging for the rest of us.
:goodpost: I'm not so eloquent as Chief and most of you here, but I do enjoy any good inspirational read & exchanges here. All these inputs help keep me mindful of things/people and enables me to look at the issues from so many diverse perspectives. :lovesite:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567797https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567797Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:00:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:59:44 GMT]]>

ksi:
ZacK:

There are times when we need to be like the coconut tree rooted along the coastline... Showing resilience and unwavering in spirit even when the weather gets rough and stormy. Of cos just hope we do not encounter a tsunami! :siam:


http://i54.tinypic.com/2rxgwwn.jpg\">
Compliments from Zack, titled \"Unwavering\"

Zack into photography? Nice shot of the coconut tree standing stoic.

Thanks ksi πŸ˜‰ Still learning the ropes... Sometimes I have an idea but just that do not have the skill to execute the shot the way I want it to look ... :oops:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567796https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567796Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:59:44 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:45:24 GMT]]>In any tragedy, amongst the casualties, there are victims, and there are survivors. Survivors are those that see themselves not as victims, but rather having been given a new challenge to be overcome. It is from survivors that we learn the highest human qualities that help to define the purpose of life.


Thanks, ZacK, for sharing this most inspirational story. There are many of us who see ourselves as having been beaten by life. We become victims to our own self-pity, and give up trying to make things better for ourselves. The pain and suffering of Ms Liao makes our own problems pale in comparison, and her courage to survive despite the tremendous hurdles is truly encouraging for the rest of us.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567786https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567786Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:45:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:30:47 GMT]]>

ZacK:
There are times when we need to be like the coconut tree rooted along the coastline... Showing resilience and unwavering in spirit even when the weather gets rough and stormy. Of cos just hope we do not encounter a tsunami! :siam:


http://i54.tinypic.com/2rxgwwn.jpg\">
Compliments from Zack, titled \"Unwavering\"
Zack into photography? Nice shot of the coconut tree standing stoic.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567777https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567777Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:30:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:38:03 GMT]]>

growie:
ZacK:

There are times when we need to be like the coconut tree rooted along the coastline... Showing resilience and unwavering in spirit even when the weather gets rough and stormy. Of cos just hope we do not encounter a tsunami! :siam:


http://i54.tinypic.com/2rxgwwn.jpg\">
Compliments from Zack, titled \"Unwavering\"


πŸ˜„ Nice picture too.

Thanks growie πŸ™‚

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567732https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567732Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:38:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:27:37 GMT]]>

ZacK:
There are times when we need to be like the coconut tree rooted along the coastline... Showing resilience and unwavering in spirit even when the weather gets rough and stormy. Of cos just hope we do not encounter a tsunami! :siam:


http://i54.tinypic.com/2rxgwwn.jpg\">
Compliments from Zack, titled \"Unwavering\"

πŸ˜„ Nice picture too.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567727https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567727Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:27:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 09:24:01 GMT]]>There are times when we need to be like the coconut tree rooted along the coastline... Showing resilience and unwavering in spirit even when the weather gets rough and stormy. Of cos just hope we do not encounter a tsunami! :siam:


http://i54.tinypic.com/2rxgwwn.jpg\">
Compliments from Zack, titled \"Unwavering\"

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567563https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567563Sat, 27 Aug 2011 09:24:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 08:47:29 GMT]]>The strength these people have is amazing, thanks for sharing. Recently I watched the "china got talent" past episodes, I was also inspired.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567551https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567551Sat, 27 Aug 2011 08:47:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Sharing something inspirational... on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 08:43:40 GMT]]>😒 Very moved by this story....thanks for sharing.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567550https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/567550Sat, 27 Aug 2011 08:43:40 GMT