Faith in Jesus is a big part of Angeline’s life. She said it has helped her to be resilient and understand that everything happens for a reason, including her deaf diagnosis when she was just two and a half years old. 

She said that her growing up years were tough, when she felt like she was left out of group conversations and no one understood her. Angeline shares a quote from Helen Keller: “Blindness cuts us off from things, but deafness cuts us off from people.” 

Thankfully, her Mum introduced her to art which comforted her, allowing her to express her feelings and to help her forget the real world. Her Mum also exposed her to ballet dance, violin play, Disney cartoons, bringing her out to museums and attractions like the Zoo and Botanical Gardens to show her that she isn’t different from others.

"My mum’s unwavering love and belief in me despite my deafness, support from all my loved ones and my devoted teacher, Miss Han who helped me to go an extra mile in life," she said.

At 35 now, Angeline is married with children, and also works as an illustrator. The three most important things to her are her daily walks with Him, her family and homecooked food. While many people hold on to regrets, Angeline, when asked if there was anything she wanted to change about her life, said: “It is hard to think of that when your heart is full of gratitude for what you have.”

Angeline maintains her positive outlook even regarding inclusion in Singapore, as she feels that things have improved. Now, there are captions on news, events have Interpreters, and events such as The Purple Parade to raise awareness of disability issues and to celebrate the spectrum of abilities. She hopes that these will encourage more platforms to be inclusively diverse – such as more characters with disabilities in educational books, stories or even TV commercial breaks to include clips teaching Sign Language to viewers.

Check out Angeline’s work here:
Website: https://ziyuechen.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziyuechen/

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