00:00When we bring him to church, and there's worship, there's music, there's dance,
00:05you can feel that he can go along with the rhythm of the music and the dance.
00:10So I think maybe he has affinity towards performing arts.
00:19Hi, my name is Timothy, and I am 24 years old, and I am an actor and performer.
00:25I dance, I play the cajon as well.
00:28My name is Roger, I'm the dad of Timothy.
00:32You know, Timothy is known as Handsome, and he's the first local actor with Down syndrome on
00:41Mediacorp Channel 5 TV.
00:43When Timothy was born, he was diagnosed with Down syndrome.
00:47As a family, we were pretty shocked, you know.
00:49And of course, we know that the journey will be long, and we know that he will need a lot
00:55of intervention, such as speech therapy, improvement of motor skills, and so on.
01:01And I guess the family took it as a challenge,
01:03and we hope to groom him in his life and in his career.
01:10For Timothy, he went to special schools such as Rainbow Centre and MICE,
01:17and where he received a special education.
01:20They tailored, customised some of the training programmes,
01:24whereby he's able to excel in terms of speech, excel in terms of
01:33independent living, so that to groom him, that he can be independent for his future life.
01:41And at the same time, he's indeed privileged to go to a normal school,
01:46naval-based primary school, whereby he undergone about six years of primary school education.
01:53From young, we feel that Timothy loves music.
01:57Whenever we turn on the music, and we turn on certain songs, we can see his eyes brighten up.
02:05When we bring him to church, and there's worship, there's music, there's dance,
02:10we can feel that he can go along with the rhythm of the music and the dance.
02:14When we watch the YouTube videos and so on, and we find that he's able to dance,
02:19and he's able to follow a little bit here and there.
02:22So I think that that more or less confirms that, hey, maybe he enjoys performing arts.
02:28I attended several classes in Art D to pursue my passion.
02:33I attended theatre class, Kong class, dancing class, and puppetry class.
02:40I like to go on stage to dance, and it makes me very happy.
02:45Timothy gets a lot of exposure from the classes he undergone in Art D.
02:52And at the same time, the Purple Parade event, whereby a lot of disabled artists will perform,
02:59and that gives him a lot of opportunities too.
03:02With Art D, I represented Singapore for a dance drama two years ago in Japan.
03:08I also performed at events like Purple Parade, various events in the hospital, charity shows.
03:17Company dinner and lunch at schools too.
03:20There was an opportunity whereby, you know, Metacorp called Art D, you know, to see whether
03:27there's any, I would say, appropriate Down syndrome actor, and Art D called my wife.
03:34And later on, we decided that, you know, perhaps we should go for the interview
03:39with the Art D's manager's encouragement.
03:43Initially, we were kind of worried and, of course, apprehensive whether he can do well
03:49in the drama.
03:50But after going through the three and a half years of, I would say, acting exposure,
03:56and, of course, a lot of training, we are very proud of him that he's able to do well.
04:02And we think that perhaps he can pursue performing arts as one of his careers in the future.
04:07It was my most memorable acting performance.
04:11I acted in Metacorp for a long-form drama.
04:14It lasted for three and a half years.
04:16I guess for the family, you know, we need a champion, a champion that believes in his
04:21capability and his ability.
04:24My wife is able to do that role, and encouraging him, and, of course, bringing him to the studio,
04:32practicing all the lines, you know, reading all the scripts, ensuring that we are on time,
04:37punctuality, and so on.
04:39So I think the champion is a key, I would say, motivator for Timothy to perform.
04:45He has got very strong motivation to want to excel.
04:48You know, he will bring his scripts everywhere he goes.
04:51Memorize his scripts in the car while having meals outside the house.
04:56So he really is engrossed in this particular project.
04:59So I think we can see his hard work, and, of course, his hard work bears fruits for
05:05him to be able to do well in the production.
05:08His acting career provides him, I would say, a stepping stone to his next career.
05:13For theatre projects, you know, it's even more challenging, you know, and, of course,
05:19there will be a lot of rehearsals, you know, day and night, you know, and, of course, waiting time.
05:25You must remember all the lines, and there's no NGs allowed, you know,
05:29because you are looking at a live audience.
05:32With that kind of practice, that kind of exposure, he's able to have another
05:41new form of performance in the theatre.
05:46I entered in various theatre plays, such as The Day I Met the Prince,
05:52and a musical show called Chow Cham Bo.
05:56Both shows are my favourite.
05:58Actually, he has achieved a lot under the training as an artist.
06:02We are proud of him.
06:03Our family is truly proud of him.
06:05And all our immediate family will support all the shows wherever he performs.
06:11The audience have given Timothy a lot of strength through the social media.
06:16Facebook, Instagram, you know, there are a lot of encouraging words,
06:20especially those parents who have special needs children.
06:26They are truly motivated.
06:27And, of course, you know, his fan base encourages him a lot.
06:32People say that they recognise me for my work, and I really feel very happy and encouraged.
06:39They never ask me for the autograph, but they ask me to take more pictures.
06:44For what he has done so far, it shows that there's no limit for disabled people.
06:48You know, it is, I think, quite important for all of us, you know,
06:52to help and raise the potential of each individual, whether disabled or non-disabled.
06:59A lot of times, it is always the parents' passion that translates into the interest of the child.
07:08But for a special child, it is important for us as parents to be able to identify
07:14and find out exactly what our child is passionate about.
07:18And once we can find it out, we slowly steer towards that particular direction.
07:24And hopefully, the child will excel in that particular direction.
07:29For Timothy, you know, we look at what he's going through now.
07:34You know, he can't rest on his laurels because, you know, it's always challenging.
07:40You know, a lot of new forms of performance are coming up,
07:44and we wish that he can carry on to do what he wants to do, and his passion never dies,
07:51and that he will be able to become an accomplished actor in his own right.
07:57I would say thank you to my mum, who has been helping me all these years.
08:02And also, I would say my daddy, who has been supporting me in terms of my behaviour.
08:09Rice, and my mum also.
08:12So I thank you, mum and dad.
08:15Most people think that Down syndrome are not able to do a lot of things,
08:21and they should stay at home, but that's not true.
08:24If we are given training and encouragement,
08:29we are able to excel in our lives.
08:32There are a lot of opportunities right now.
08:35Even our ministers, you know, general public support inclusivity, you know.
08:43And of course, with so many of the events, such as Purple Parade,
08:47a lot of NGOs that run programmes for the disabled people,
08:52we are seeing a very bright spot, you know, whereby Singapore is helping out,
08:59encouraging and accepting people with special needs.
09:02It will be very exciting for us if we can look at Timothy's passion,
09:08and that his passion is still burning,
09:13and that as parents, we can keep on adjusting and motivating him
09:19so that he can reach the pinnacle of his passion.
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