Award-Winning Illustrator Angeline Chen Visits M鈥橩IS!
By: Peak Sen Chua and David Miller
On Thursday, 24 April 2025, M鈥橩IS welcomed a special guest: award-winning, internationally recognized illustrator and deaf awareness advocate Angeline Chen. Angeline shared her experiences with Grade 2鈥�5 students in our Theater.
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Growing Up Deaf
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"Blindness separates people from things; deafness separates people from people" - Helen Keller
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Growing up deaf profoundly shaped Angeline鈥檚 outlook on life. It was difficult being the only deaf member of her family, but love and support from Angeline鈥檚 mother and father helped her overcome her frustrations. Angeline shared an illustration showing how her mother taught her to speak by feeling vibrations in her throat. With patience and practice, Angeline did it. From this experience, she learned her first major life lesson: it is important to believe in yourself and others.
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Angeline explained the different reasons people can be deaf, whether from illness, injury, hereditary factors, or in her case, no reason at all. She answered students' questions about how she uses a hearing aid and how lip reading can help her understand other people. Angeline shared the concept of a 鈥渉idden disability,鈥� explaining to our students that it is important to be kind and empathetic to everyone; people look like people, and you never know what challenges they might have.听
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Self-Expression through Art听
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Angeline was drawn to art to escape feeling isolated from others. Her mother nurtured her interest in drawing by visiting art galleries and museums together. Angeline also learned to play the violin and practiced ballet. She was thankful to receive support from her family and teachers. Angeline shared a key lesson on resilience: you can choose to continue to feel sad or choose to be optimistic. No one owns your feelings. It is your choice.
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Becoming an Award-Winning Illustrator听
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Angeline earned a diploma in Digital Media Design and Animation and yearned to further her studies. With encouragement from her brother, Angeline overcame self-doubt and received a major scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration. Her studies took her to Florida, USA, then to New York City.听
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Working as a deaf person in bustling New York was challenging, but it gave opportunities to meet authors, publishers, and other creatives who took a chance on Angeline to start her career. These experiences taught her to be curious and step out of your comfort zone to learn new things. If you still do not know what you want, that鈥檚 okay!
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Inspiring M'KIS Students听
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Today, Angeline is an award-winning illustrator with dozens of published works and prominent clients. She has illustrated projects as diverse as fruit juice brands and children鈥檚 books. She lives by the mantra: life is a marathon, not a sprint.听
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After her presentation, Angeline answered more questions from the audience about her experience as a deaf person and illustrator. She suggested that students bring a sketchbook the next time they visit somewhere new. Try drawing instead of taking a picture鈥攜ou might improve your art! And don鈥檛 be afraid to make mistakes; drawing and illustrating are about exploration.
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Angeline donated a signed copy of her most recent book, Signs of Friendship, to the M鈥橩IS Library. In return, David Miller gifted work from Malaysian author and artist Beatrice Oh (better known to her followers as Ohbeatricee). Her picture book, Peel and postcards from the Kuala Lumpur Hustle series, shares positive themes and nostalgic scenes of Kuala Lumpur. Lastly, David gave Angeline a plushie of Stripes, our M鈥橩IS School Mascot!听
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Angeline's Continuing Impact on M'KIS
David Miller, ES Librarian, first discovered Angeline鈥檚 compelling illustrations in the book The Last Plastic Straw. After reaching out and learning that she lived in Singapore, David pooled support from the M鈥橩IS leadership and two other international schools in Kuala Lumpur to fly Angeline into our community for this amazing visit!
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David said the question-and-answer session "really showed the best side of our students, being a great audience and asking thoughtful questions.鈥� The library now has a sign language section that has attracted enthusiastic interest from our students. Miller thanked Gin Tan and the Board of Governors for supporting Angeline Chen鈥檚 visit.
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Continuing the Tradition of Author Visits at M'KIS
The move to invite Angeline Chen is part of a push by the M鈥橩IS Library team to highlight homegrown and regional talent to our students. Last year, M鈥橩IS hosted the Sisters Lim, an author-illustrator duo who shared The Rainbird and their modern retellings of traditional fables in Magic and Mayhem. Next year, David Miller hopes the tradition will continue, as many emerging illustrators, artists, and authors here in Malaysia could share their work and experiences with our students.
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All illustrations are credited to and copyrighted by Angeline Ziyue Chen. Thank you to Mr. Ng Kwang Wee (Vee) for taking pictures of the event!听
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