"Joyce Soh contracted Meningitis at the young age of three. See how she struggles in overcoming the odds to truly inspire themselves and others."

I was watching this programme on Channel 5, Against All Odds, a few weeks back. Ok who am I kidding? What few weeks back? It was months loh! How long haven't I been updating already...

The above was the tagline for that particular episode. It was a touching and inspiring episode. I'll retell the story in the best way my memories allow me. It was about this girl, Joyce Soh, who had contracted Meningitis at the age of three.

It's a sad episode. Because of the disease, her intellect is suddenly 5 or 6 years backwards. She couldn't even write a simple chinese "Ren" character consisting of just 2 strokes, at the age of five. But her parents never gave up on her. They continued to exercise patience and tolerance on her.

The left side of her body doesn't function, and her left hand is deformed and pointed backwards. But she has learned to overcome the glares she received when she walks with one swinging right arm. It also means that performing daily mundane tasks is restricted to her right side.

Her ability of speech is compromised as well. Many at times, throughout her interviews, she would need to pause and think before she can come up with a suitable english word to express her thoughts and feelings.

Because of her illness, she was never able to follow her lessons, and was always excluded from any activities. She went through a lonely and friendless childhood. When her classmates are playing under the sun, she will be standing alone by the side, just watching, and she would wonder why it was her to be struck down with this illness.

Her father said this dunring one of the interviews, and I quote, "No matter how, she is still my daughter. She will always be my daughter."

Even when it became increasingly difficult for her to excel academically, she never gave up. When faced with a more challenging education system when she approached her secondary tertiary education, she persevered on, even though her results were always lacklustre. Her parents never gave up on her too, despite the school's constant suggestions to convince Mr. and Mrs. Soh to take her out.

When it was time for her 'N' Levels examinations, she put in her best efforts day and night, to prepare herself for the exams. But as fate would have it, she didn't make it. She failed her 'N' Levels.

But no, she wouldn't leave it at that. She refused to give up. She registered as a private candidate and spent the time before her exams to work doubly hard and make sure she will pass this time round. She went for her exams with anticipation and higher hopes. But unfortunately, she didn't make it too. She failed her second attempt, despite all her efforts and hard work.

The distraught Joyce decided to give it another shot, and this time round, the third time round, she made it, and got accepted into an ITE. Her mother was so happy for her. She finally made it to an ITE after taking the 'N' Levels for 3 times.

Joyce chose to go into administrative field, because she believes that administrative is the area that she will be able to excel. She worked even harder than she was before, and she finally graduated from the ITE.

Now the time has come for her to venture out into the working industry. She applied for numerous jobs, and went for numerous interviews, before she got accepted by a certain company as a Call Operator. Her mother almost burst into tears when she learnt about the news. Her mother said this and I quote, "It's even better than me winning the lottery. The prize money won't last my daughter for a lifetime, but her job will."

Before she started her job, she practised her speech by looking in the mirror everyday to ensure that she will be able to present her best over the phone. But because of the job scope and requirements, Joyce encountered numerous setbacks no matter how hard she tries. As she usually handles calls from overseas clients, she cannot afford to put them on hold for queries that she won't be able to think and react with a ready answer on the spot. The clients were also unhappy if she asked them to repeat their questions. Usually, to save overseas call costs, those clients would tend to speak faster with their own accents. It didn't help Joyce understand them better. Not forgetting that Joyce has speech problems, which doesn't allow her to speak as fast or pronounce the words in her mind as clear as the clients would have wanted it.

Needless to say, Joyce couldn't handle the basic requirements. Despite her diligent working attitude, she was asked to leave the company shortly after.

She had to continue her job search, and she landed an interview with a local hospital. I think it was NUH. She was accepted as a contract staff for 6 months, with lab administrative duties, and whether she will be given a permanent position, will depend on her six-month performance.

The medical world was a relatively new field to her. There were a lot of alien medical terms to her, and she had to grasp them all in time if she didn't want to receive the same treatment she had received from her previous company. She did her own research outside of work, to keep herself updated and current, with the nature of her job. She was determined to nail this job.

Thankfully, this time round, her hard work paid off. She was awarded a permanent position, which she was more than thankful to be given the opportunity. She has been in that job ever since.

Despite her incapabilities, she never gave up. She performs her tasks with only her right hand. She files documents, types her letters, carries her food tray, just to name a few, all with one hand.

What's so amazing about her is, she still finds time to help people who are less well-off then her. She takes time to look after the less fortunate, who are disabled, and spends time with them.

She said something during one of the interviews, which struck me greatly, and I quote, "To other people, I may be a disabled person. But to me, to myself, I'm not. I know I am not, and I can do anything as well as anyone else."

Unique individuals like her put many of us to shame. We are blessed with so many wonderful stuffs, and more often than not, we took our blessings for granted. We conveniently forgot the fact that there are many people who are less fortunate than us. And for the less-fortunate ones to be helping out the other less-fortunate people, it just shows that there is so much more we could have done and didn't.

It is truly inspiring. I learned, and I respect her. I thank her for the valuable lesson.

Against all odds, Joyce Soh didn't give up. She outshines.