Hong Kong writer was born with muscular myopathy, a condition that weakens her muscles and forces her to use a wheelchair for most daily activities. The condition can be life-threatening, particularly during childhood. Her muscular weakness would frequently escalate a common flu into pneumonia because she struggled to breathe or cough properly.
At the age of eight, one of her lungs collapsed, forcing Nesar to stay in hospital for four months. It was during this time, when she buried her head in books, that she found solace in stories about her Islamic faith. Despite living with physical barriers, the 32-year-old Pakistani has refused to be excluded from her community.
Named one 21 ethnic minority public policy advisers in June by The Zubin Foundation, a Hong Kong NGO, Nesar continues her advocacy work to break down the stereotypes that society imposes on individuals with disabilities. “I did not feel at a loss, so I did not want to be treated at a loss. I felt comfortable with my body, and I felt increasingly tired of receiving pity,” Nesar wrote in her first book, Hearts that Remember , published last May.
The book features a collection of 99 poems that honours the 99 attributed names of Allah depicted in Muslim tradition. In an interview with HKFP last month, Nesar said she had cultivated “a habit of trying” from a young age. She took part in her school’s sports day and went swimming at Stanley Beach with her family.
She was “very bad” at sports and her partic.