Written by: Tang Kai Xian

A tragic car accident transformed her into a quadriplegic, and she lost her job as a Chinese teacher. Almost 2 decades later, she is an established artist with the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Worldwide and has even painted a portrait of Singapore’s 8th President, Mrs Halimah Yacob. Here is how she overcame adversity. 

On a Sunday morning 19 years ago, she can vividly recall the sequence of events till today.  Her car went up a curb, hit a lamppost and flipped on the passenger side. She felt a piercing pain in her neck and a loss of sensation in her other body parts. It was then did she have a premonition that she was paralysed. While her husband was in despair, she was focused on brainstorming ways to adjust to her new situation for the sake of her children. This is not to say that her courageous front was impermeable to anguish. There were times when she was plagued by nightmares, feelings of helplessness as well as physical exhaustion when she tried to move her body. 

A CD of a well-known American quadriplegic mouth artist, Joni Eareckson, inspired her to venture into painting. Her 2 biggest challenges were her sitting tolerance and her ability to control her breathing. After the accident, she suffered from low blood pressure. She would be hit with dizziness whenever she sat up. Initially, she could only paint for 15 minutes before needing to take a break to regain her blood pressure. Furthermore, she needed to regulate her breathing while grasping the brush between her teeth. This is crucial for painting finer details as the breathing motion could cause her brush to tremble and spoil the detail. To overcome this, she had to practise holding her breath to paint finer details. Today, nimble movements of her head allow her to add intricate details to her artwork and can paint continuously for three hours. 

Kaini’s cheerful and colourful paintings of flowers, animals, etc, demonstrate her fortitude, grit and positive approach to life. Through her art, she hopes society at large will take notice and care more for physically challenged citizens like her.

Abundant Blessings presents a vase, filled with stalks of bright yellow sunflowers, sweet white daisies, and elegant lavender blooms, atop a silk-lined table scattered with various fruits.

Underwater portrays vibrant fishes against a cool-toned backdrop of a reef, alluding to a mystical scene ofl another world submerged underwater.

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