Ministry of Culture

• Chinese Name: 蕭煌奇
• Date of Birth: Sept. 22, 1976
• Did You Know That…?
• Ricky Hsiao won 7th place in the judo category during the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, but decided to trade his bright sports career for a chance to perform under the concert spotlight.

As if losing one's eyesight once wasn't painful enough, Ricky Hsiao had the extraordinary misfortune to lose his vision twice. Born completely blind due to congenital reasons, Hsiao underwent a cataract removal surgery and was able to finally see the world through his own eyes at the age of 4. Excessive usage of his partially restored vision, however, led to rapid eyesight deterioration and forced him to resume living in a world of utter darkness by the age of 15.

As disheartened as he was by this stroke of adversity, he vowed to connect with the world through the power of music and to prove that visually impaired individuals have more career options than becoming a trained masseur, a profession traditionally associated with the blind.

Today, as the recipient of multiple Golden Melody Awards, including Best Taiwanese Male Singer and Best Taiwanese Album, Hsiao has become an inspiring idol to more than just members of the blind community. "You Are My Eyes,” arguably his most famous song to date, has obstinately remained on the top karaoke charts across Asia while the singer's name has become eponymous with courage and determination.

Hsiao himself leads a life relatively unperturbed and surprisingly similar to that of non-handicapped individuals. By using a Braille terminal, he's been able to chat on MSN, update his Yahoo blog and even follow his friends on Facebook. Perhaps what's even more amazing is the fact that he has learned how to take portraits of people using a digital camera - a feat accomplished by using his listening skills to judge the direction and distance of photographed subjects.