Rhodes scholar with hearing loss spotlights disability through theatre

Behind every academic result is a young person quietly chasing their dreams, beating the odds, and hoping to make something of themselves. In More than Grades, a series by The Straits Times, we tell the stories of youth who are making waves in school and beyond.

- Elisha Tushara

As a secondary school student, there were several times when Jade Ow arrived at an empty classroom after recess, thinking she was the first one back.

But when no one else entered after 10 minutes, she would rush around the school searching for her classmates and teacher, who would actually be in another venue, like the science laboratories.

“Probably there was an instruction telling everybody to go down to Lab 2, but I didn’t hear it... That happened a lot in secondary school,” said Jade, adding that incidents like these often led to misunderstandings.

Diagnosed with hearing loss at just five months old during a milestone check-up, Jade, now 24, said this was one of several challenges she faced in school as a student with a disability.

Once a “lone figure” in school, as described by her father, she slowly grew in confidence as she found her place and voice in a creative career.

The theatre studies graduate from the National University of Singapore (NUS) will be heading to Britain’s Oxford University in September to pursue her master’s under a prestigious scholarship.

In recognition of her leadership and dedication to inclusivity in the arts, Jade was chosen from among nine finalists in Singapore to become the nation’s 31st Rhodes scholar. The postgraduate scholarship is given to exceptional students from around the world to study at Oxford.

Without hearing aids, she picks up about 30 per cent to 40 per cent of regular speech at a normal speaking volume, and even then only with some effort.

However, despite wearing hearing aids from the age of six months, she always found them uncomfortable and eventually stopped using them after graduating from Eunoia Junior College in 2020.

Jade said the devices amplified background noise, making it harder to focus on what people said.

“Throughout school, I also found that wearing hearing aids became a marker of difference,” she said.