Let me be your eyes: HRH Princess Fadzilah Lubabul Bulqiah observes Minister of Health Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman (left) eat noodles blindfolded at the fundraiser organised by StanChart. The 'Seeing is Believing' event was meant to help people open their eyes to the need to champion the cause of the visually impaired. Picture: BT/Rudolf PortilloFOR most people, eating is such an easy task that they think it could be done with their eyes closed.
Try it and see whether you could finish a meal.
Many tried it yesterday they ate blindfolded at the Standard Chartered Bank's "Seeing is Believing" fundraiser at Manggis Mall. The common finding was that they needed a companion to help them bring spoon to plate and food to mouth.
Guests at the tea event saw for themselves the real need for the community to be more proactive in helping the visually impaired go about their daily lives and remain productive members of society.
At the fundraiser StanChart chief executive officer Danny Quah welcomed guests of honour His Royal Highness Prince Haji 'Abdul 'Azim and Her Royal Highness Princess Fadzilah Lubabul Bulqiah and thanked them for gracing the occasion.
Quah explained the bank is passionate about its cause for the visually impaired, noting that there are 45 million visually impaired people globally, and the number is forecasted to increase to 76 million by 2020.
Worldwide, one child goes blind every minute, and six in every 10 children who go blind die within a year.
Ironically though, eight in every 10 cases of blindness are avoidable, preventable and curable.
The activity arranged by StanChart for the day was to get some of the guests blindfolded and their friends sit beside them and assist those blindfolded in getting the food.
Guests who were blindfolded obviously struggled to even get any food. Some simply had their friends scoop a helping of food on their plates.
One of the blindfolded guests was Jack Chai, a technical staff at B-Mobile. It felt like looking for something in a totally dark room, the 33-year-old told The Brunei Times.
There was a real need for someone to help him in order to get the food, he said.
He said it is a "really meaningful" event for StanChart to organise, and that he hopes people will now understand how difficult it is for the visually impaired to conduct their daily activities. When asked if he thinks he could handle life as a visually impaired for a month, he said it would be really difficult and he would need a lot of help.
It would be impossible to live without any external help, he added.
Some Bruneians have been more than willing to give a helping hand.
Soffiezah Pengiran Hj Abu Bakar is a visually impaired 23-year-old. She attended the fundraiser accompanied by Ruhanna Hj Hassan, her classmate from Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).
The third-year student in Brunei Studies said Ruhanna is the one who always helps her around in school, driving her from her hostel to classes and to other activities. She said she can manage alone in her hostel as she knows the place better.
Ruhanna said she usually pages Soffiezah when she reaches the campus and they go to classes together.
Fifty-seven-year-old Francy Matthews was blinded six years ago by her brain tumour, and her husband Russ Matthews has been caring for her ever since.
Russ Matthews spoke of the need for people to pay more attention to their family or friends who are handicapped, especially those newly handicapped, as they can easily fall into a depression.
"Which is why newly blind people eat more chocolate," said Francy. It's not a joke, Russ said, explaining that when people laugh or do something they like, their brain creates serotonin that makes them happy, and chocolate does the same thing to people, which is how it helps with combating depression.
While the visually impaired do need help from friends and family, Francy said that handicapped people should try to get out more, and also do house chores on their own.
There are things like cooking that may not be suitable, but she said she does her laundry and dishwashing on her own.
Russ said the problems faced by handicapped in Brunei include the lack of handicapped-friendly parking lots.
"Even if there is a parking lot, it will be taken up by someone who is not handicapped."
He added that there probably should be an education campaign to let people understand the difficulties faced by the handicapped, and mentioned that the tea-event organised by StanChart is a good example for the rest to follow.
Ticket sales for the event reached $11,400, and a charity auction held at the venue raised $2,510.
No comments:
Post a Comment