WHEN life throws you a curve ball, it may sometimes change the whole direction of your life.
That was exactly what happened to Penangite Low Wee Keong, an aircraft engineer by profession, some 15 years ago.
Having normal eyesight for 30 years, he suddenly went totally blind due to a mishap while doing maintenance work on an aircraft in Singapore. Just imagine what mental anguish and physical pain he had had to go through.
Low, who took up aeronautical engineering at the University of Adelaide, had earlier worked for an airline in Hong Kong for about three years before deciding to join another airline in Singapore.
Now aged 45, Low has become a famous YouTuber with over 5,000 subscribers following his “Blind in the Kitchen” channel.
On that fateful day 15 years ago, Low was leading a team of four technicians undertaking light maintenance work on the aircraft parked on the tarmac at the Singapore airport.
If the aircraft had required heavy maintenance work, it would have been towed to the hangar area and parked there for one month or two months.
Once inside the aircraft, Low said he wore a safety harness and went to check on a passenger door. He tried to close the door but fell off the plane while a strong wind was blowing.
“I was quite heavy and the momentum must have also pulled down a lot of things. One pipe burst. As my harness was hooked on to the door, I was dangling between the aircraft and the ground. When I looked up and cried out for help, a shower of hydraulic oil from the burst pipe rained down on me.
“I felt like there was chili padi in my eyes and I drank a lot of the oil because I kept yelling to my crew members. I told them not to pull me up because it was slippery and they might fall,” Low said in a recent interview.
The crew members quickly informed the tower controller about the accident. Before help came, Low passed out. From then on, he lost his sight completely and his world was in total darkness.
“I hid myself for a few years as depression set in. I even tried to commit suicide. They were my darkest moments.”
Then, a turning point came when his housemate, Alex Khoo Chong Chen, egged him on to join a Penang Hokkien podcast that was hosted by John Ong, a Penangite living in the United States.
“Ong misses Penang Hokkien and started the podcast. Alex told me that I did not have to take part but could just listen to the podcast. I was listening to it for some time until one day, the host asked me to join in.
“I was hesitant at first but since it was not a video conferencing and we could not see each other, I decided to join in. We were then using free Skype calls.”
After about three years of joining the podcast came another game-changing moment.
Doris Tang, one of the podcast members, invited the group members, including Low, to attend her wedding banquet in Penang. Podcast host Ong, who is Tang’s personal friend, also flew back from the US for the occasion.
“They sort of forced me to come out; I was so tense. At the same time, I wanted to be independent. So, I told my niece to drop me at the hotel.
“When I reached there, everybody at the table was shocked to see that I was blind. Everybody hugged me.
“They said ‘Wee Keong, we’re so sorry that we did not know you are a blind person. And we sometimes made jokes about blind people. I said ‘I am okay. I know it’s just jokes, it’s not serious at all.’
“At that time, I was also afraid that if I were to tell them that I am blind, they may abandon me. I wanted everybody to feel comfortable and be natural. That’s why I did not let them know I am a disabled person.”
Since then, Low did not look back. Whenever they call him out, he often accepts their offer.
By and by, their warm friendship drew him out of his shell. Low began to learn how to use Facebook and do a live event.
Then, last year, Penangite Colin Chee, a group member who is living in Australia, threw him a challenge. Chee himself is a famous YouTuber for his ‘Never Too Small’ channel.
“He wanted me to step up again and gave me six months to come up with a YouTube video. Believe me or not, he suggested I do a video on cooking. He knows that I can do some cooking.
“He told me he was not going to teach me. He said I have to learn it myself and that I have my own style and positive energy to do it. A blind person can cook?,” Low recalled as he burst into hearty laughter.
As a young boy, Low had picked up his culinary skills from his mother at their home in Taman Nagasari in Bukit Mertajam. He became a kitchen hand when his mother was preparing lunch while his two elder sisters were attending morning school.
Finally, he mustered enough courage to take up Chee’s challenge and as a result the ‘Blind in the Kitchen’ channel on YouTube was birthed.
Khoo, who had earlier introduced him to the Penang Hokkien podcast, helped to shoot the video when Low was cooking. But the main problem for Low was the video editing which he had no experience.
That, however, was not an insurmountable problem as Low proved to be a quick learner with the aid of technology.
So, he created his first video in December 2019 – albeit a little over the six-month deadline given to him in May.
After speaking initially in Hokkien and then Mandarin, Low decided to use English and Mandarin for wider audience.
“My main purpose is to show that a blind person can cook. Seriously, I am not a chef. I cannot tell people I create recipe; I am not qualified for that. I just follow the original from my mum,” said Low.
Up until now, Low has published about 50 videos on his YouTube channel. Among the recipes he has shared were stingray curry, Thai pork curry, loh bak, chicken curry with yellow sticky rice, steamed yam cake with salted egg yolk, claypot fish curry, fried congee, and loh mai kai.
Low does not only cook dishes but can also bake cookies, mop the floor, vacuum the house, repair pipe leaks, change car tyres, shower the pets, do own laundry and some gardening. A handyman indeed.
During the movement control order (MCO) period, Low took part in a cooking contest organised by a Chinese magazine. He was the only Penangite out of 28 contestants and they had to submit a five-minute video on cooking a dish in every round they qualified.
Low managed to enter the final round and secured a fourth placing. One of the panel judges was renowned chef Martin Yan, who has hosted his award-winning PBS-TV cooking show ‘Yan Can Cook’.
If there is one person that Low desires to meet now, it is Malaysian celebrity chef Datuk Redzuawan Ismail, popularly known by his stage name as Chef Wan.
“He is my idol till today. Even during my school days, I did not watch cartoons but I watched his channel. My dream is to meet him one day,” Low enthused as he let out another guffaw.
As he becomes more famous, Low has several brands seeking his endorsement. However, he said he would divide his time, continuing with his ‘Blind in the Kitchen’ channel to attract over 10,000 subscribers and taking new roles to promoting some brands.
Asked if he has any advice for people struck by sudden blindness or those who are visually impaired, Low said one important key is to think positive thoughts.
“Self-pity doesn’t work. Don’t hide yourself. Don’t sit there and do nothing. Don’t look down on yourself. Give yourself a bit of time and move on,” he said.
For more of Low’s videos, visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiObYxizomXsC-W_XOcEKvA
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix courtesy of Low Wee Keong