S’porean woman who lost her hearing at 2 shares how she goes about daily life & raising 2 kids

I was on the way to interview Poh-Tan Sok Han, a deaf person in Jurong, when I recalled a vivid memory from my pre-teen schooling days.

During an overseas school trip to Yunnan, China, a movie was playing on the TV at the front of the tour bus.

It was a Taiwanese romantic comedy called “Hear Me”, about a blossoming romance between a young man and a deaf girl.

Although the deaf female protagonist ended up not being deaf (what a plot twist), the movie stuck with me, not solely because of the memories associated with the trip and chaotic bus ride with my 30-odd classmates, but also because of the depiction of the character’s struggles as someone who has hearing loss .

Since then, I’ve held a certain curiosity about how those who have hearing loss adjust to a world for the hearing — would they have to carry around a notepad to communicate with strangers and service staff? How would they even go about teaching their children, if said children were hearing?

Over a meal at Jack’s Place, Poh-Tan was able to enlighten me about some of the struggles a deaf person might face in Singapore, and more importantly, how she’s able to adapt her lifestyle to her disability and improve herself despite the challenges.

Her childhood

Born to hearing parents, the 47-year-old lost her hearing at the age of two.

Poh-Tan was diagnosed with profound hearing loss after suffering from a high fever and rubella.

Her parents were initially befuddled over why their child was unable to articulate her words.

Unable to hear her surroundings, including any sounds she creates, Poh-Tan also recalls being scolded for making too much noise when she was playing.

“I didn’t know how noisy I was,” she said.

She went on to attend Canossian School, formerly known as Canossian School for The Hearing Impaired, where she learnt sign and written languages. Driven by determination, she also taught herself how to lip read.

Poh-Tan’s answers to my questions were relayed to me by a friend who occasionally serves as Poh’s sign language interpreter.

The friend also has partial hearing loss, and wears a hearing aid. Throughout our conversation, the pair communicated via a flurry of swift hand gestures.

Sharing candidly about her childhood, Poh-Tan said her parents simply did not know how to deal with her disability.

As such, communication in her household was limited to brief commands.

“They will tell me, go eat, go sleep, show me your [school] report."

Her daily life

In her early years in Primary school, her parents would fetch her to and from school. From Primary 5 onwards though, she started learning to take public transport independently.

Travelling via public transport without sound seems unimaginable to me — no murmuring of passers-by, the beep beep beep of the MRT carriage doors closing, or the trundle of vehicles passing by.

While it seems daunting, this is Poh-Tan’s reality, and I imagine she would have to be extra alert to her surroundings since she is not able to hear.

Now, she wears a hearing aid that has given her some sound perception, and she’s learnt to lip read as well.

Poh-Tan shares that she uses a mixture of writing and hand gestures to communicate — some paper and a pen accompany her wherever she goes.

But when it comes to ordering food, she does so by pointing at the menu.

At her job as an administrative assistant in the finance department, Poh-Tan uses technology to effectively communicate with her colleagues.

For instance, she primarily uses the chat function on Microsoft Teams to discuss work and interact with her colleagues.

Sometimes though, Poh-Tan struggles with a sense of loneliness, watching others engage in conversations while being unable to fully participate.

She shared that she copes with this by reading books or newspapers instead.

To stay connected with others, she communicates with her colleagues and peers via Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp and a notepad.

Grateful for her husband and two sons

Outside of work, Poh-Tan devotes her time to her family.

Her husband is deaf as well — the pair attended Canossian School but only reconnected later in life.

They have two sons, aged 18 and 11, both of whom are hearing.

Poh-Tan taught both sons some sign language, although she shares that the pair mostly communicate with her via WhatsApp — technology that may have helped improve her relationship with her parents if it had existed when she was a child.

When they were young, Poh-Tan used visual aids like pictures to teach her sons the alphabet and simple words, and would proceed to write down the words on paper.

Poh-Tan is grateful for the family she and her husband have built.

Poh-Tan adds that she is fortunate to have found a loving man to spend the rest of her life with, and that her family has given her the strength to pursue her dreams and overcome any challenges she might face.

She also does her best to expose her two boys to and integrate them with the deaf community by bringing them to her church, which has several parishioners who have hearing loss .

The importance of continuous learning

With her disability, Poh-Tan recognises even more the importance of lifelong learning in adapting to new situations.

She notes that staying employed and relevant to the workplace can be challenging, especially for persons with disabilities.

Having been in her current job for a few years, Poh-Tan also recognised the need to upskill.

“Keep learning. It helps you reach your potential, be it improving employability, becoming more independent, and feeling more confident in everything you do,” Poh-Tan said.

This is where the Enabling Academy came in.

As a disability learning hub, it aims to promote an inclusive society where persons with disabilities can live, learn and work.

It collaborates with partners from the education, business, and disability sectors to provide high-quality learning opportunities to persons with disabilities, and to enable their network of support through training.

Poh-Tan decided to attend courses for Image Editing Using Photoshop, Advanced Excel, and Data Analytics Using Power Business Intelligence (BI).

The courses, offered through Enabling Academy’s training partners, were tailored for persons with disabilities. In Poh-Tan’s case, the instructor conducted the session alongside a sign interpreter, enabling deaf persons to effectively understand the training content.

The courses imparted her with skills that have proven useful not only in her daily life but also in her professional growth.

She shares that she now has more confidence working on Excel files and analysing data, and finds keeping track of things with Excel much easier.

Using what she learned in the Photoshop course, she can now edit family photos using the application as well.

In the next three to five years, Poh-Tan is looking forward to attending more Enabling Academy courses to enhance her administrative and editing skills.

Enabling Academy

Enabling Academy is dedicated to unlocking potential through the power of learning, driving the creation of an inclusive society where persons with disabilities can thrive.

As the leading disability education hub, Enabling Academy collaborates with strategic partners to offer a variety of high-quality courses, empowering persons with disabilities and their network of support to build a brighter, more inclusive future.

Training providers interested in making their programmes more inclusive can connect with Enabling Academy to find out more. Through this, training providers can better create learning environments that ensure equal access and opportunities for persons with disabilities.

You can find out more about the Enabling Academy here.

This is a branded article by SG Enable’s Enabling Academy.

Top photo from Poh-Tan Sok Han and Mothership