Shine
22nd February 2021
Striking out boldly, the hearing-impaired emerge from a silent world
By Ke Jiayun
Leona Fu does livestreaming with a cellphone fixed horizontally on a holder.
On a livestreaming site, Leona Fu chats about her life with more than 120,000 online followers, reminding them that the handicapped have capabilities beyond what most people think.
She knows something about that. Fu has been hearing-impaired from near birth.
On a recent cold afternoon, she sits under the sunshade of a cafe in Shanghai's Xintiandi, talking into her cellphone. Although her diction sounds a bit like a beginner learning Mandarin, she speaks confidently with no hesitation.
On the livestreaming platform Douyu, she holds her own among users. But that online persona has involved a lot of effort off-screen.
"I want to be an actress," she tells "Shanghai Daily". "I was invited to join the filming of a short video after the Chinese Lunar New Year, and I think it will be a good opportunity for me."
Born in the 1990s, she describes herself as "forever 18," always full of vigor in front of the camera.
Fu lost her hearing after suffering a fever when she was 1 year old. Her mother refused to admit that her daughter was different from other children and enrolled her in an ordinary kindergarten.