The Girl Who Taught Herself to Fly

By: Kwan Kew Lai

Narrated by: Kwan Kew Lai

“A thoughtful consideration of the ways women and girls survive—and even thrive—within oppressive patriarchal systems.” Victoria Namkung, NBC News

Kwan Kew Lai met her first Punjabi woman doctor while lying in a hospital bed with a severe kidney infection at the age of fourteen. Watching the woman walk away down the hall, Kwan Kew was convinced she could, and would, carve out her own destiny.

In the British Straits Settlement of Penang Island, she was born into an impoverished Chinese family of two boys and ten girls on the cusp of the Japanese occupation during World War Two. She did not wish to repeat the life of her uneducated mother, burdened with an endless brood, nor tolerate the fact that her father considered girls useless since they could not carry on their family name.

The newly independent country of Malaya developed a national policy favoring one racial group, the Bumiputras, vastly diminishing her chance of receiving a university scholarship. Her fortuitous introduction to a free library and her determination to continue her education, led to the opportunity of a lifetime: a scholarship from Wellesley College.

When her father saw her off at the Penang International Airport as the first child to attend college, she proved herself to him, but more importantly she started the journey of a lifetime fulfilling dreams that originated as a young girl playing in the mud with the chickens.

In The Girl Who Taught Herself to Fly, the author weaves in her family’s story of joy, sorrow, loss, love, and endless struggles with poverty and hunger. This poignant memoir, with universal and timeless themes, will leave you in awe.

©2022 Kwan Kew Lai (P)2023 Kwan Kew Lai

Overcoming Adversity

Kwan Kew Lai tells a very poignant story of growing up Penang. She provides excellent historical information on the history and politics of Malaysia, particularly the relationship among ethnic groups. She had to overcome racial policies and sexism to get an education and break out of the cycle of poverty. The final key to her success was the strength of US overseas presence and accessibility of higher education in the United States, in her case Wellesley College. It is a timely story on the importance of welcoming international students.

The girl who taught herself to fly

I found this book very interesting,yet repetitive. Narration by the author was heartfelt,but hard to understand at times. I enjoyed it.I was given this book for an honest review.

memoir

I really had a hard time understanding what was going on more or less because I simply don't speak the language and it is not narrated to fit everyone. anyone that is frequent with the language should possibly find this very good I did have the assumption that the book was going to be by about something else so I was rather disappointed with that as well.

A story of perseverance and determination.

Full disclosure: the author is a medical school classmate of mine, although I did not know her well in medical school, and I have learned more about her over the years through class reunions. I knew that she was Malaysian and that she had gone to Wellesley for her undergraduate degree, but almost nothing more than that. I also knew that in recent years, she has dedicated much of her time and energy too medical humanitarian projects.
This woman’s personal story is one of growing up mostly in poverty, and how she overcame the cultural biases of her family and much of the country in which she lived, with a combination of intelligence, perseverance, the assistance of a few “angels” in her life, and sometimes sheer luck. While her story may not be as compelling as some other “unlikely success, in spite of the extreme obstacles“ narratives, it is nonetheless a very worthwhile read/listen.