Wiki has a few names:
Collin & Adrian - Singapore, below
Aurelia = Hong Kong
Sign language is our secret weapon S'pore team has show's first hearing-impaired contestant
By Jeanmarie Tan
September 28, 2007
THIS is one amazing pair who will make you sit up and listen.
(From far left) Collin Low and Adrian Yap. -- Pictures: JONATHAN CHOO
Out of 2,500 applications from all over the region, gym buddies Adrian Yap and Collin Low were the only Singapore team to make it to the cast of the second season of the reality TV series The Amazing Race Asia.
Others on the Emmy-winning international version have suffered from dwarfism and shown off a prosthetic leg, but Adrian, 27, is the first hearing-impaired contestant in The Amazing Race's history.
The business development manager relies on sign language to communicate with his partner Collin, 35, a regional sales director.
They first met nine months ago, at a gym where Collin works as a part-time fitness and pilates instructor.
The athletic duo found similar interests in swimming, marathon running and travelling, and quickly formed a strong friendship.
Adrian is quick to dispel doubts about his deafness affecting him on the show, which has already wrapped filming. It will premiere on AXN (StarHub Channel 19) at the end of theyear.
NOT A BARRIER
He told The New Paper at a press conference at Clarke Quay's Indochine - The Forbidden City last night: 'I want to be a good, living example of how having a disability is not a barrier or problem. I've come so far already and I've covered so many places, so it's not an obstacle.
'It's about managing your mindset, being positive and optimistic, and everybody will love you for that.'
Collin, who learnt sign language 10 years ago and interprets for the hearing-impaired at his church, added: 'We want to prove that... he's able to overcome so many things. We want to make a statement for all disabled people out there.'
When he was 9, Adrian enrolled in a special school for four years and learnt speech therapy and lip-reading, enabling him to attend mainstream schools and the National University of Singapore later.
His story was featured on the Channel U docudrama series My Life Journey. And the Amazing Race Asia is not his first travel adventure.
Last year, he took part in the Clipper Race, an annual yacht race that saw him navigating the seas for three months. He also embarked on a month-long solo expedition to Nepal in the middle of winter.
He and Collin, both jovial underdogs, look set to be fan favourites in the new batch of 10 teams from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan and elsewhere.
Their biggest challenge was driving, which led to communication breakdown, navigational errors and 'moments of tension'. Collin drove and Adrian read maps from the back seat, Adrian could only read Collin's lips from the rear-view mirror and Collin could only sign back to Adrian using one free hand.
You can imagine how much tougher that would have been at night.
But at least sign language has its advantages - they've even proudly called it their 'secret weapon'.
Collin said: 'It's useful when we're in front of other teams or the production crew, or want to discuss strategy and don't want others to know. We also don't need to shout to each other when we're, say, 5m away. We just signaway!'
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/show/story/0,4136,143206,00.html