Malinda Herman is the self nicknamed ‘Hipster Grandma’ from Bangkok, Thailand. Videos of her playing the guitar and singing with her dog laying on the fretboard have gone viral.
Animal videos are well known for their viral ability and Malinda’s four-legged friend is another famous dog to bless the internet. Going viral was never Marlinda’s main ambition when she started making these performance videos. The 69-year-old has been using music as a rehabilitation strategy after a terrible car accident over two decades ago. With her Chihuahua (Jiw Jam) supporting her through most of her videos, she has been making new fans across the world with every video she’s uploaded.
Malinda said, “I got into an accident about 20 years ago where my car flipped over. The impact of the collision damaged my nerves and the left side of my face became paralyzed. You may not notice it at first in her videos, but if you look closely, Malinda said you can notice the paralysis.”
While there are all sorts of different types of viral videos out there, Malindas story makes hers so much more wonderful to watch. The Thai musician has uploaded many different songs including a few from the Beatles. Her little Chihuahua is called Jiw Jam, which roughly translates into “Small and Pretty”. He features in most her videos and is part of her band.
After her accident, Malinda struggled to see people as she became ashamed of herself and the way she looked. This was an ongoing problem for Malinda as doctors advised her she would need surgery for her condition to improve. She didn’t want to have surgery and instead started training her vocals. The idea was to try to get some more movement back into her face.
She said, “I did the boring A-E-I-O-U exercises for years, until one day, my son bought me a guitar and recommended I tried singing because he knows I’ve loved to sing ever since I was young”. Her musical therapy started to have an effect. She felt more movement in her face as she started to sing. This lead to her opening a YouTube account in 2016 where she would start uploading her videos. She believes through these vocal exercises she has regained 75% of her facial movements!
Malinda and little Jiw Jam met in 2017. Malinda was offered a puppy from her hairdresser, who could tell she was feeling down after her previous dog had died. When she went to pick up her new puppy there was a change of plan. Little Jiw Jam wouldn’t leave her alone. Malinda picked her up and from that moment knew they were meant for each other. After taking her home, Jiw Jam came to sit on her lap and fall asleep in her music videos.
If you want to see more from Malinda check out her Youtube Channel and subscribe to see more great performances and follow her work.