Blue Lights Got Talent contestant shares her story

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Transcript

00:00My brother struggled with talking. He's 14, but he has the mind of a five-year-old

00:07and the talking skills of a three-year-old. I'm Melinda, I'm 26 years old and even though I live

00:13in Inverness now, I'm originally from Malaysia. I grew up with all the basic needs met. I got the

00:19food, I got the love, I have a chance to go to the United Kingdom and study and work.

00:26But I know many people either here or even back at home don't really have that chance. I was very

00:33much a part-time babysitter. This was especially apparent during the pandemic when I went back to

00:39Malaysia. My mum, my grandma and I essentially we kind of delegated roles to make sure my brother

00:45didn't miss his chance at education. So my mum very much taught him English, my grandma taught

00:53him mathematics and I was essentially the PE person. I think among my family, I was the first

01:00to accept the diagnosis because for me it's like I don't care if he can't talk or cannot talk. He's

01:06my cheeky boy. Every time my mum tries and asks who do you love the most, he always says jie jie.

01:12Jie jie means older sister in Mandarin. So yeah, in a sense that motivates me. This is the little

01:20moment that motivates me. I mean if you prompt him to say, he will say. He can say simple things

01:26but go into like the more complex things and it's like uh uh no. Don't even try people. I'll admit

01:33it won't really be a conversation. It would just mostly be me talking and him listening

01:37and in his case, I think okay he very much lies down on my shoulder. That's his way of expressing

01:45love. That and also food. Let's start with the how did I get into medicine. I wanted to be a

01:51doctor since I was like what five, six, seven years old and I did have some setbacks but you know

01:59I persevered. I liked my science. I got all A's in my A levels. That's always good news. The poster

02:06came about in the orthopedic ward. The poster for the blue lights got talent and at the time I was

02:12thinking I just bought a new guitar. I'd like to use it. Thank you very much but at the same time

02:18when I saw that there was a charity aspect, my mind just kind of went back to like my brother's

02:24diagnosis was very much through a charity organization because I'll admit there's not

02:30really a lot of like kids ones in Malaysia. Like there are but at least for my brother who is

02:37special needs, there weren't really a lot catering for him. So that's when I was like that was the

02:41first bit I thought of but then later on I was also thinking I want to be a pediatrician when I

02:46become a consultant and I've been in the Archie ward a few times and that's when I've been in the

02:54pediatric ward and the Archie foundation. I think they're doing an amazing job with the kids as well

02:59so for me we're talking about the charity aspect. It's mainly the Archie foundation because I've

03:03seen it in Aberdeen and I've seen it in Burness. So this is also like you know a love letter to

03:08my family because I grew up with these songs. Well that and Aba. I want to help out people more

03:14than my brother. Not necessarily like in the special education side of things but at the very least

03:22I think my aim was always like let's give the kids a voice. I sometimes feel bad with my parents

03:27and my mom who's helping out as well and I'm like I want to help but I don't know how.

03:31So in a sense this song is kind of dedicated to my brother but my entire family.