To mark International Women’s Day on March 8, AsiaOne speaks to inspiring women from different walks of life. You can find them all here
For Aisah Ibrahim, giving back to her community is a no-brainer.
The 79-year-old, who was diagnosed with poliomyelitis during childhood, has been volunteering at Bedok Youth Society for the Disabled (BYSD) for nearly 60 years.
Aisah is president of the non-profit organisation which empowers people with disabilities to pursue education, sports and the arts.
She joined BYSD at its inception in 1968, back when it was known as Bedok Youth Society, and was the only person with a disability amongst its volunteer teachers.
They had founded the organisation to provide education for Bedok residents, which was a kampung at the time.
Over the decades, Aisah would teach Islamic religious classes as well as English lessons before taking up a secretarial role that required her to plan various programmes and overseas trips for beneficiaries, and eventually becoming president of the organisation.
When asked why she continues to volunteer, Aisah told AsiaOne: “I just want to show kindness, do good and make people happy. I don’t do it to get something in return.”
“It is a blessing to be able to help others, because it means I am doing well enough in life to care for them,” she added.
In fact, the students at BYSD call her “Mama Aisah” because of her caring, maternal nature.
Her kampung community was a big source of support for her while she juggled working as a customer support officer, volunteering and raising her three children after her husband died.
They would help look after the kids during her shifts and while she taught classes at BYSD.
Aisah’s children, who are now in their 40s and late 30s with families of their own, appreciate their mother living an active and colourful life, she told us.
It was also the care and concern of someone in her community that helped her get a diagnosis for poliomyelitis after it went unchecked for four years.
At the age of two, Aisah felt weakness in her legs and had trouble walking.
However, her mother did not bring her to the doctor as there was little awareness regarding diseases like polio in the 1950s.
Aisah was six years old and about to enter primary school when her mother’s colleague noticed her difficulty in walking and insisted on bringing the child to see a doctor.
But by then, the damage to her legs was irreversible — she had to rely on calipers to walk.
“I’m grateful to that lady, my mother’s colleague. It’s because of her I knew I had polio,” Aisah told us.
She doesn’t blame her mother for what had happened, explaining that she had feared Aisah’s leg would be amputated if she took her to the doctor’s.
“All I thought was that I was lucky,” Aisah said. “The polio did not spread to other parts of my body or my brain.”
This incident also taught her a valuable lesson: to always seek medical help sooner, rather than later.
“Now, I make sure the people around me, those I care about, go to the doctor when they are not feeling well. I will even bring them to the clinic or hospital myself,” she said.
A woman of many talents
Aisah is also a para-athlete who represented Singapore in the 2010 Asian Para Games. She competed in the tenpin bowling event after being approached by their coach, Francis, at BYSD.
Although she did not medal, Aisah said she felt a sense of accomplishment from being able to contribute to the team by racking up points and providing moral support to her teammates who managed to win a medal.
After suffering a fall in 2014 that left her wheelchair-bound, however, Aisah could no longer participate in tenpin bowling. She then pivoted to lawn bowling, which uses a smaller ball that is easier to manoeuvre while in a wheelchair.
Aisah is also a dragon boater for Alita Initiative, a sports team consisting of persons with disabilities.
In addition to volunteer work and recreational sports, she is a vocalist at Faith Music Centre and often performs melodic covers of songs in English, Malay and Mandarin at community events.
When asked how she finds time for all of her hobbies, Aisah told us that she “makes time for what is important”.
“I really like this (having a packed schedule). In the morning, I will attend a class or training, in the afternoon, I go for vocal coaching, and in the evening, I go for a seminar and so on.”
‘I’m not sorry for my disability’
In 2023, Aisah was a recipient of the Goh Chok Tong Enable Award, which aims to recognise the achievements of persons with disabilities.
Recounting the moment when she received her certificate from President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, she said: “I felt like I didn’t deserve it, but I was very happy and honoured to be chosen.”
Aisah also brought her lighthearted, cheerful energy onstage as she shook President Tharman’s hand and sang him a few lines of a Malay song.
She then turned to Emeritus SM Goh to thank him with a snippet of The Moon Represents My Heart by Teresa Teng.
This exchange embodies her life motto: Anybody can do anything they set their mind to.
People “must be shameless”, Aisah said, adding that she does not feel embarrassed or apologetic about her disability.
For instance, when she is unable to wheel herself up to board a bus, she simply asks the captain: “Excuse me, young man, can you push me please?”
“There is no point in keeping quiet and suffering,” she told us.
When asked if she has any advice for others looking to try something new or follow their dreams, she said: “I am just a simple kampung lady. If I can do it, so can you”.
But Aisah also warns people around her not to tiru macam saya (copy her too much) as everyone has their own life goals and is on their own journey.
“You must decide for yourself what you want, and you must do your best.”
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