Rajvin Kaur Randhawa: A Story of True Grit and Determination

By Dr Pola Singh | Malaysia |

My eye doctor for the last two decades has been Dr Pall Singh, a renowned eye specialist at the Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital in Petaling Jaya. I was invited to attend his daughter’s yoga laughter therapy session at the National Cancer Society Malaysia premises. What an enjoyable session it was. Laughter was the order of the day. It was thoroughly therapeutic. The two hours passed just like that! She did not need any slides to guide her on what the next exercise should be. Her memory was super. I was so glad I attended the session meant for cancer survivors and caregivers.

This is a story of true grit and determination. Rajvin Kaur Randhawa, aged 39, was born a premature baby. Due to her underdeveloped lungs she had to be placed in an incubator with oxygen. She also developed jaundice. The lack of oxygen to her brain caused cerebral palsy. Fortunately, only the motor centre of the brain was affected while the rest of her brain functioned normally.

Rajvin has been hyped as a ‘Miracle Child’ who lived to tell. Her amazing survival and well-being could be largely attributed to her god-sent parents. Her father, Dr. Pall Singh, an eye specialist, understood her condition and made every effort to help his physically-challenged daughter pull through. Then there was the loving and tender care of her mother, Sarvan Kaur. Often, mothers do not receive due credit, but in this case, Sarvan deserves full recognition for her unwavering devotion and care. Rajvin’s parents and family have given her unconditional love and support, encouraging her to be more independent instead of overprotecting her and helping her develop confidence and self-worth. They are the true unsung heroes in Rajvin’s challenging life journey.

Like any other person with cerebral palsy, Rajvin experiences difficulty in movement, speech, and coordination. She suffers in silence in terms of emotional and mental struggles, self-acceptance, and confidence and sometimes feels isolated from peers. She also faces mental health issues like anxiety and depression and occasionally struggles with low self-esteem due to being labelled as ‘incapable’ or ‘dependent.’ Making friends and being included in mainstream activities has not been easy for her. Despite limited access to inclusive education during her primary and secondary school years, she overcame these barriers and graduated with a Second Class Upper (Honours) Bachelor of Communication Degree from Sunway University. What a proud day it was for her parents and family at her convocation.

Employment opportunities for persons with disabilities remain scarce due to misconceptions, but instead of being discouraged, Rajvin has chosen the path of self-employment. She is slowly but surely making a name for herself as a motivational speaker and has also spread her wings into the field of yoga laughter therapy.

The first important thing is that Rajvin has adopted a self-acceptance attitude and strives to work on improving her personal development by focusing on her strengths rather than limitations. She has developed skills and talents that boost her confidence, showing remarkable progress. One participant at the Yoga Laughter therapy session remarked that Rajvin was initially shy at her first session, but not anymore. She has gained a lot of confidence, though there is still room for improvement. She wants to lead a normal life and raise awareness by advocating for inclusion, sharing personal experiences to challenge stereotypes, and using social media platforms to educate society.

In case you may want to attend Rajvin’s motivational sessions (which she does for free), please don’t raise your expectations too high; accept the reality that compared to an able-bodied or normal instructor, she will never be able to perform or deliver her presentation like them. Her cerebral palsy condition does not allow her to do so. But what makes her stand out is that she tries real hard to be as impactful as possible—going all out to give her best. Watching her give her best and trying hard to excite the participants and make the interactive session a lively and interesting one—these traits alone were good enough to move my heart, and I was glad that I attended her session. I’m also happy to note that those who attended not only enjoyed the session but gave her more confidence to improve her future sessions. In a sense, we gave her hope and support, which the community and Malaysians should do for disabled persons. 

The National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM) ought to be congratulated for giving special needs persons a forum to demonstrate their talent. Should anyone want to attend Rajvin’s laughter therapy session, please contact NCSM at 03-2698 7300 and speak to Adeline.

Hopefully, other parents (upon reading this) will also be motivated and encouraged to develop the latent talent of their special ones, just as Dr. Pall Singh and Sarvan have done for Rajvin. It will be a long, winding, and challenging road, but in the end, it will be worth it, as their child would be above their peers. It is sad to note that many parents just accept the disability of their child as given or a reality that cannot be changed and do not try hard enough to change things for the better. They do try but give up easily.

One thing in Rajvin’s favour is the financial stability of her parents. Fortunately, they do not face financial challenges in terms of medical and therapy costs, assistive devices, home modifications, and the need to employ a full-time caregiver. For that, she feels truly blessed and grateful. Rajvin infuses such values into therapy session.

Rajvin may not be a prominent Sikh in Malaysia right now (and I don’t think she aims to be one), but given her disabilities, she has done much more than the average able-bodied person like being able to address a group of participants face-to-face. She inspires with her true grit, tries her best, and gives her best in her motivational talks. That’s the true test of the sincerity and genuineness of a person who wants to contribute to the community. I came away from the yoga laughter session impressed with the positive way she infused the benefits of laughter into us. She is certainly a good role model for persons with special needs and a budding motivational speaker in the making. Syabas and well done Rajvin. I salute you!

Dr Pola Singh, who retired as Maritime Institute of Malaysia director-general in 2011, is also the author of ‘Uphill — The Journey of a Sikh-Chinese Kampung Boy’

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