"The teacher in-charge, himself a deaf person, felt that the HI students should not cluster together but instead learn to mix with hearing students, says Ms Chamb Cherk Ing, the school's Principal. "Hence, we encourage them to join CCAs, and our efforts are bearing fruit."

Speaking through art

Isabel was born with multiple complications, and is completely deaf. She relies on sign language and writing to communicate with her classmates and teachers.

But with art, the petite girl can speak volumes.

Isabel (left) gets a thumbs-up for her clay model demonstration at Toa Payoh Primary School.

"Art is my childhood passion," enthuses Isabel through a sign language interpreter. "I attended a school called LaSalle for a few years, where I grew attracted to art." As a member of the Arts Club, Isabel gets to exhibit her creativity through drawings, ceramics (her favourite, she adds), and clay models. She also eagerly helps design posters for school festivals.

Her peers have welcomed her enthusiasm; Isabel has even taught some of them to communicate with basic sign language. "We use simple hand gestures, and when we can't communicate through that, we will write on a piece of paper or use text messaging," says Felicia Davina Ngan, Vice-Chairman of the Arts Club.

Making his mark in media

Unlike Isabel, William was born with normal hearing. In an unfortunate twist of events, the young boy lost most of his hearing when he was two, after a long bout of dengue fever.

Today, William gets by with hearing aids and sign language. He loves photography and computer animation, which is why his school's Media Club felt to him like a dream come true.

Through digital wizardry, William discovers how to transform a celebrity into a vampire!

"We're now working on an animation project to enter in next year's Schools Digital Media Awards," he reveals. "It's a competition on websites, photography and animation."

Through the CCA, William has made some good friends. One of them is Lau Chuk Ki, President of the Media Club, who shares, "It's really great fun working with [William] for all the school activities. Just two months ago we did one shoot at the Esplanade together."

Chuk Ki also keeps in touch with William after school by regularly chatting online on MSN and Facebook.

Quiet but not helpless

It'd be nice if we all had friends like Chuk Ki and Felicia. Sadly, not everyone is always that understanding. Bullying, though uncommon, sometimes happens simply because HI students are seen as 'different'.

Thankfully, there have been no prolonged cases at the school. Ms Chamb believes it usually arises due to "misunderstanding and miscommunication" between students. But she stresses that HI students can seek help at various levels, from HI Resource teachers who closely monitor their well-being to Form Teachers and even fellow students. "Many of their classmates do go out of their way to help them, very often acting as their interpreters even," she reveals.

One HI student who has seen for himself occasional bouts of mild bullying is Lye Yong Chong. But the Sec 1 student isn't worried, as he has both the confidence to fend off any would-be bullies, having found a CCA that he loves and excels in.

"I was curious when I first heard about judo, and wanted to learn more about the sport," signs Yong Chong. "To me it's a new skill, and that's why I like it." Twice a week, you can find the tanned student tossing kicks, throws and spars alongside his fellow trainees at the school's Judo Club. His hearing impairment matters little in a world where the eyes, body and mind speak more than words.

With just hand signals, Coach Nelson Koh shows Yong Chong how to do a proper judo throw.

Judo coach Nelson Koh observes that Yong Chong has little problem communicating with his fellow judokas. "It seems he can lip-read a bit," he notes, adding that Yong Chong has successfully learnt to use non-verbal clues to understand him and the other students. "When I give commands, he will always look to me first for signs."

Indeed, despite his disability, Yong Chong has impressed his coach in other ways. "Boys like him don't need to talk a lot, but when it comes to training they are very serious and very hardworking," adds Mr Koh.

Despite their circumstances, these HI students have no reason to be anything other than optimistic about their future. In fact, Isabel already has some big plans in mind.

"I would like to be a designer," she quips, adding in jest, "But of course, if that doesn't work out, then I'd be happy being an accountant."