'There are persons with disabilities in every aspect of society': Para-athletes Theresa Goh and Tay Wei Ming make cameos in local drama

They've been on the world stage in their respective sports, but former para-swimmer Theresa Goh and para-badminton player Tay Wei Ming have recently broken new grounds — as actors.

Theresa, 37, and Wei Ming, 35, play themselves in cameos in the upcoming Mediacorp drama Hope Afloat, which follows Wang Xilin (Tasha Low), a woman who becomes paralysed from the waist down due to an accident.

She meets para-swimmer Koh Tianqing (Chantalle Ng), a woman born with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a condition that affects the nerves and results in smaller and weaker muscles, who encourages Xilin to overcome her challenges.

Paralympic bronze medallist Theresa told AsiaOne in a recent interview that she was volunteered for the cameo by the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) where she currently works as a Pathway and Performance Manager, managing boccia and badminton players.

"I thought maybe they'd want to let some of the younger athletes do it, since I'm now a staff member at the Council and haven't been training or competing for five years," she said.

But when other athletes weren't available, Theresa reckoned that she'd rather be the one "making the change [she] wants to see happen" than declining.

When Theresa saw the show reel for Hope Afloat at the press conference, she found it "groundbreaking".

Besides Tasha and Chantalle, local actors Desmond Ng and Grace Teo also play para-athletes in the drama.

Admitting she didn't watch local dramas, Theresa had concerns about persons with disabilities (PWDs) being portrayed in a "stereotypical" way as people who needed help or were meant to be pitied.

"I feel that this drama challenges that, because you can see that there are PWDs in every aspect of society — arts, sports, love life, family, whatever you think able-bodied people go through, PWDs do too," she said.

Theresa's cameo involved her giving words of advice to Chantalle, and she also helped out the production team where she could with her knowledge of para-sports.

"I gave them the right facts, and if I saw some parts where the language should have been different then I would give feedback," she said, adding that it wasn't about her telling them "don't do this, don't do that" but a collaboration.

'Heartwarming to see there is a production team that is creating awareness for us'

Wei Ming was also volunteered by SDSC, and told AsiaOne: "I was very keen on this role because of the themes of the drama in promoting inclusivity and creating awareness for PWDs.

"It was heartwarming to see there is a production team that is creating awareness for us."

He felt it was a good platform to get the public aware about disabilities, and how to interact with PWDs. While people may come forward to offer assistance to them, Wei Ming felt that sometimes they may not know how or appear overbearing.

"So this drama will raise awareness and help people gain some basic knowledge about how to help people with disabilities," he said.

For his cameo, Wei Ming plays badminton with Desmond (who plays Chan Dazhuang) when Xilin's family — Wang Zhewei (Guo Liang), Li Zihui (Cynthia Koh) and their son Wang Xiwang (Alfred Ong) — come into the badminton court.

Xiwang is excited to see Wei Ming, a national badminton player, and wants to play with him and Dazhuang.

While the scenes of Wei Ming playing badminton were fine — he was asked to do a smash when Xiwang came into the scene — he did feel nervous seeing the actors he'd only seen on TV right in front of him.

"But fortunately most of the actors were very welcoming," he said. "I remember Desmond was the first one to approach me and he introduced himself and what role he was playing.

"So they were very nice, I knew they wanted to make me feel less awkward."

While this is Wei Ming's first time acting, he actually wants to pursue modelling and saw this cameo as a stepping stone and a way to get out of his comfort zone and try something new.

"I'm open to future opportunities for this kind of role," he said. "I did ask the person-in-charge, if they had any small roles in the future in terms of sports or badminton, I'm open to doing them."

In the meantime, Wei Ming is running an e-commerce business selling badminton equipment, coaching badminton part-time and training.

"The main goal was the Paris Paralympics, but unfortunately I did not qualify," he said. "For the Olympics, they accept the top 22 stops but for my category in the Paralympics, they only include the 10 top players."

Wei Ming also missed out on the previous Tokyo Paralympics, which only included the top 8 players.

There are also quotas for the different continents, he explained, which makes it difficult for him in Asia, where most of the powerhouses of para-badminton are.

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Wei Ming is currently looking ahead to the ASEAN Para Games in 2026.

"Before going to the Para Games, I have to go for some international opens to accumulate ranking points," he said.

"But the long-term goal would be the ASEAN Para Games in 2029, because it's coming back to Singapore. So it'll be in my homeground."

Wei Ming previously won gold at the 2009 and 2011 ASEAN Para Games and came first in the 2017 Para-Badminton World Championships.

Hope Afloat, which also stars Kym Ng, Zhang Zetong and Tyler Ten, premieres July 30 and airs weekdays 9pm on Channel 8. It will also be available on demand for free on Mewatch from July 29.

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drimac@asiaone.com

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