Ex-prison officer who lost finger movement & was paralysed after car accident wins table tennis bronze medal at Para Games

Christina Lau refused to resign to fate after she was paralysed from the chest down and lost her finger movement completely after a car accident in 2005.

Some 17 years later, in 2022, she put Singapore on the map by clinching a bronze medal in table tennis women’s double at the 11th Asean Para Games.

However, Lau revealed to Mothership that even though she played all sorts of ball games before the accident, she had only started on table tennis in 2016.

To prepare for the Para Games, she underwent intensive training for four days during the week from 6pm to 9pm and Saturdays from 9am to 5pm.

Nevertheless, Lau remained humble about her achievement:

“My success is made possible by the coaches who believed in us, and my teammates, who are always supportive.”

The 51-year-old is now working as a mouth paint artist at ART:DIS, a non-profit organisation dedicated to creating learning and livelihood opportunities for persons with disabilities in the art, according to its website.

Accident changed Lau & her family

Looking back at her life since the accident, which occurred when she was 33 years old, Lau said it had affected her both physically and mentally.

Due to her injuries, Lau had to start learning everything from scratch and ask others for help more frequently.

For instance, she would need others to help her drain out her urine and bowels, and shower as well as help her remain mobile.

Because of these challenges, Lau, who worked as a prison officer before the accident, went through a short period of depression.

She added that the accident had also changed the lives of her family members, as they had to take time off to learn how to care for her.

Bounced back

However, it didn’t take long for Lau to bounce back, both for herself and for her family:

“I didn’t want my loved ones to worry, be disappointed, and [feel] sad for me anymore. I told myself I’m not going to live my life doing nothing. So, I decided to challenge myself to take on all obstacles in front of me. I wanted to start a new life and live meaningfully.”

Nowadays, Lau runs on a busy schedule.

Besides attending her table tennis training three times a week and going for physiotherapy twice a week, Lau also does mouth painting during her free time.

On weekends, she will spend time bonding with her family and friends, such as by going out to movies and organising BBQ sessions.

Took almost a year to master mouth painting

Currently an artist at the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Pte Ltd, Lau was initially introduced to mouth painting by a friend, who showed her his own mouth painting artwork.

“I felt so inspired by his artwork and was amazed he was able to create such beautiful artwork with his mouth, so I decided to try,” she recounted.

According to Lau, it took her almost a year and a lot of self-practice before she was able to master the art.

During this process, she had to overcome countless challenges and difficulties, including a stiff neck, excessive saliva, and back pains.

Nevertheless, Lau persisted and kept on practising until these discomforts did not affect her anymore.

Positive changes doing mouth painting & art

To Lau, mouth painting had allowed her to become “more open” to new ideas, experiences, and insights about her life.

More broadly, doing art enabled her to gain a deeper understanding of her emotions, built up her confidence, and gave her a goal in life, in addition to providing her with a source of income.

One of the works Lau felt most proud of was the painting she did to celebrate Singapore’s 50th birthday, which featured the Merlion.

When asked why this is her proudest work, Lau shared that the painting was made into postcards, which were given to all people to celebrate SG50.

Additionally, the original painting was also donated to an old folks home for them to sell.

Painting to be auctioned at Shaping Hearts 2023

Lau also revealed that the next painting she would be auctioning off would be “Treasure the Moment,” which she created with local actor Edmund Chen.

She said she hopes her audiences would remember to cherish the beautiful things in life and to live in the moment when they look at the landscape depicted in the painting.

The auction for Lau and Chen’s painting will take place at Shaping Hearts 2023, which will be held at Our Tampines Hub from Nov. 11 to 26 and One Punggol from Nov. 18 to Dec. 3.

For those wondering, Shaping Hearts is an inclusive art event organised by the North East Community Development Council (NECDC) to provide a platform for artists with disabilities from various social service agencies to showcase their talent in visual and performing arts.

This year’s Shaping Hearts will be the fifth iteration of the art event, and it will feature over 350 paintings from over 150 artists.

If you are keen to make a difference in the lives of artists with disabilities, you can do so by making a bid for the artworks you are interested in at the event.

Alternatively, you can also make your purchase online here.

All proceeds from the sale of paintings will be used to support participating social service agencies and artists.

This article in collaboration with NECDC prompted the writer to find out more about how she could help the special needs community.

Top images via Christina Lau