Generation Grit: Flute prodigy-turned-hearing impaired schoolteacher fills students' world with music

By 15, Ong Ting Kai was the premier dizi player of his generation in Singapore. Then everything changed. This is the latest in the series of millennials who inspire us.

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Mr Ong Ting Kai, 29, plays the dizi or Chinese flute. He teaches music at St Gabriel's Secondary School. He is also partially deaf.
Suffering from high-frequency hearing loss in his right ear and tinnitus in his left, Mr Ong Ting Kai hears only the bass line and drum beats in a piece of music. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN
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The only music teacher in Saint Gabriel's Secondary School has a condition that you would think would disqualify him: He is partially deaf.

Suffering from high-frequency hearing loss in his right ear and tinnitus in his left, Mr Ong Ting Kai hears only the bass line and drum beats in a piece of music.

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