Shalom is a University of Liverpool graduate, having completed an honors bachelor’s degree in criminology and security in July 2021. Born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and diagnosed at four months old, he is 26 years old and currently based in the Eastern part of Singapore. His hope for his column is to advocate for the health and well-being of the muscular dystrophy community in Southeast Asia.
On the evening of March 8, I was mindlessly scrolling through my Facebook feed when I stumbled upon a public post from Singaporean Paralympic swimmer Sophie Soon, who uses a guide dog for help with her visual impairment. In…
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On Feb. 18, I attended an ART:DIS event at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) to kick off this year’s Arts and Disability Forum. It was a panel held with Project Art Works (a neurodivergent artist collective…
Note: This column includes thoughts about suicide. Resources for help are listed at the end. On the verge of this new year, I was struck by what felt like a surrealistic event. It was a surprise I never expected,…
On Dec. 4, I performed British singer-songwriter Calum Scott’s 2017 pop ballad “You Are the Reason” at a live caroling session with ART:DIS, the first organization in Singapore to pioneer the artistic development of members of the…
On Nov. 27, I attended a live performance by ART:DIS musician Sky Shen, an old friend from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (Singapore) (MDAS). The show featured his recent debut EP, “Wheel You Love Me?”…
On Nov. 10, I delivered my second poem, “Breaking the Fourth Wall,” at an engagement by ART:DIS, the first organization in Singapore to pioneer the artistic development of members of the disabled community. The goal of ART:DIS is…
I celebrated my 27th birthday on Oct. 25 and feel tremendously blessed to have made it this far, especially with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Duke (my pet name for Duchenne) has taken me through many arduous trials and…
Warning: This column contains spoilers for the Netflix musical film “tick, tick…BOOM!” In my last column, I wrote about my relationship with the concept of crip time, which addresses how time works differently in the lives of disabled…
Note: This column includes thoughts about suicide. Resources for help are listed at the end of the column. I delivered my first research presentation at the College of Alice & Peter Tan (CAPT) at the National University of Singapore…
Last week, I started a new job as a part-time community partnerships executive with K9Assistance, Singapore’s first assistance dog advocacy organization. Assistance dogs are service dogs trained to help disabled people perform tasks to mitigate their impairments.
As a person with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, I’ve always felt socially deprived and isolated. It’s been an extremely painful and lonely journey for me. Many of us with Duchenne also have undiagnosed anxiety and depressive…
“You’ve got a friend in me.” The title of my favorite Disney theme song, by Randy Newman, has never had greater significance for me. The last thing I would’ve expected to be my friend has, in the depths…
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