Dialogue in the Dark Assignment - BZSE 08

Justine's DiD Experience

2009-11-09T11:19:00.006+08:00

Last Wednesday I went to Dialogue in the Dark, not knowing what to expect. I came out of Dialogue in the Dark speechless.

The experience blew me away.

Imagine going into a museum. There are different rooms, all having different settings. For example one room is a setting of a park, you can hear the birds chirping, smell the fresh air, touch the leaves and bushes, and even taste the fruits. You can hear, smell, taste and even touch, but the catch is this, you can't see a thing. You are in pitch black darkness. However you are being led by a guide throughout this whole hour of exhibition. At the end of it, when you walk out of the darkness and into the light, you realize the guide who led you throughout the whole process is actually a blind person.

Wow. I learnt something powerful today, it is like a revelation. People always have a stereotype that the blind are handicapped in our society. However, in the dark, we are actually the handicapped ones, and they are leading us! They maneuver best in darkness, they are in their element. How creative is that? Not only does it provide jobs for the blind community. It also techs people like us that being blind doesn't mean you are incapable. In fact, you can even SEE life from a different point of view.

The thing is you may be visually-abled, but have no vision in your life. Are you just dragging your feet to school, work, home, nd just living a routine lifestyle with no sense of achievement? Then you should stop what you are doing and reflect on this. Ar you happy with your life? What is it that you wanted to do but did not? Maybe it's time you go to Dialogue in the Dark.

I started thinking about it myself too. I don't want to look back at my life 10-20 years down the road and regret not living my life to the fullest. Not accomplishing what I set out to do. Not running with a vision and purpose.

See people, you may have your sight, but running life without a vision. It is like running a marathon but yet you are running the wrong direction. You can still run, full speed! At record-breaking time! But wait a minute, you're way off track!. Eventually you realise that you are further away from the finishin line, then you were at the start. Don't live life without a vision, a dream and a purpose. Life would be meaningless. Start dreaming again. Start beliving. Start visualizing. If you can see it, you can have it.

I love this quote:

"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision".

-Helen Keller

(American Author, Political Activist, Lecturer, Born deaf and blind)

2 Corinthians 4:18, 5:7 (NKJV)

While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal..

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

shawnald

2009-11-09T05:22:00.002+08:00

Dialogue in the dark was an unforgettable experience for me. I have heard of this social enterprise since last year but have never really experienced it till that day. I was blinded by the blindness. Fear gripped me as soon as I stepped into the darkness. Never have I been so blind before. I have always pictured in my mind how the experience of DiD will seem like when the lecturers share with this social enterprise. In my mind, I thought of how the place will be like and how it will feel like. But when I really got to experience it, it was quite different from what I expected. I thought it would just be fun and exciting, but no.

After being in the dark after our sighted guide, Pei Bao, left us in the hands of our blind guide William, I realized the importance of our sight. For a moment, I was overwhelmed with fear. Fear, not because the darkness frightened me, fear because thoughts of being a blind one day struck me. I will never get to see my loved ones again. I will never get to see all the beautiful people that are close to me ever again. I remembered I remained silent for a moment. Those thoughts remained in my head throughout the experience. I began to put myself in the shoes of Williams. How painful it must have been to not be able to see his loved ones. It makes me reflect. Often, when we have conflict with our loved ones, we do not want to see them as deep down inside, we know that we will get to see them again, we CAN get to see them again. We take for granted the sight that God has given to us. But what if one day, God decides to take it away from us as we do not cherish it? The blind experience DiD provided was only an hour long. When we pay for the experience, at the back of our heads, we know that it is just for an hour. We will get to see again after an hour so we enjoyed ourselves in there. This is not the true feelings of a blind. He will never get to know when he will regain his sight. He may never.

During the journey inside, i enjoyed my invisibility though. The moment I kept quiet, I am invisible. My voice is the only thing that identifies me and helps others to indentify me. i was comfortably blind as I knew everyone around were my friends. But a real blind does not. In a world of strangers, he stands on his own, not knowing who is next to him at all. William did not know us, and he could not even see us at the end of the tour. However, he treated us nicely and he trusted us like how we trusted him.

There are no obstacles that cannot be overcome. As long as we believe and have faith, we can overcome anything. This is the greatest take away from the DiD experience.

I think DiD is a one of a kind social enterprise. No doubt that it hires only a few blind guides out of the total blind population in Singapore, but the strength of the is SE is creating values. It creates a value for the blind. It empowers the blind but letting them know that being blind does not make them weaker, but instead stronger than us. Everyone can eat with our sight, but not everyone can eat without our sight. It will be a good learning model as it has just started in Singapore and the students will have lots to do in terms of its marketing, adjustment and stuffs.

BZSE students can help as volunteers in DiD. On top of that, we can help in terms of marketing and its publicity as it not as well-known in Singapore yet. We can come up with new ideas of being in the dark like caught in the rain when you are blind, etc. Another way to contribute is very straight forward, which is to recommend the experience to our friends and ask them to try. =)

Joshua, T01 - DiD Experience ((:

2009-11-08T22:45:00.004+08:00

Before the DiD tour, i did not expect much from it. i merely thought that it was just a tour of a dimly lighted place and a blind guide to bring us around.

I saw it as a normal social enterprise that brings jobs to the visually handicapped and serves its role as a business model.

I thought that the inside of DiD is just a place where not so much emphasis is put upon the details in the dark room as no one can see though.

DiD has indeed been a very interesting and mindset-changing experience for me.

My greatest take-away from this tour experience has to be the concept of: People are created differently and for different reasons. Some may be normal people like us, some may be blind, some may be handicapped, some may be retarded, but everyone single one of us is useful in one way or another. NEVER LOOK DOWN ON ANYONE.

The guides may be blind but upon entering the dark room, we are the ones depending on them and we are the ones who feel so useless, unable to move on our own, without their help. They guide us as if they are in the light and the ability to see while we are just mainly the visually handicapped. We are in their shoes for this short period of time and this caused me to change my mindset of the visually handicapped as people who do not contribute to the society and are just dependent on people.

DiD is a new thing in Singapore and as a social enterprise, this has given a doorway for the visually handicapped to feel confident once again and prove their worth for the society. Working on a business concept, i am sure that DiD is able to proceed on to changing the mindsets of the society and also provide SIngaporeans an opportunity to experience the life of being blind for a period of time. DiD Singapore has clearly gone through many considerations and many plannings to achieve what it has now. I believe that this social enterprise will be established in the years to come and will be accepted by SIngaporeans in one way or another.

The appearance of DiD has allowed a platform for BZSE and PCS students to work from as this is ultimately, called our own. Knowing the whole process and why DiD is being brought to Singapore as a social enterprise, it will allow us to be able to understand how a business is done as a social enterprise. BZSE and PCS students are able to treat DiD as a draft or an example to learn and refer to.

BZSE students can help in planning activities to promote DiD and also at the same time, help to market DiD to the society and to potential sponsors who are willing to bring it to a greater height.

We can also provide project ideas that are able to expand the whole concept of DiD, giving the social enterprise other ways to do businesses with the support they have for manpower, in terms of visually handicapped people.

We are also able to help with collaboration with other organizations that are related in one way or another so as to bring DiD to a greater platform.

Josh (: t01

Eugene T02 DID experience

2009-11-08T22:14:00.005+08:00

A week before visiting the Dialogue in the Dark (DID), I was trying to guess how the place was designed and what kind of situation I will experience during the tour. I was also thinking about how the tour guide, who is a visually impaired, would be able to lead us through the whole tour. The reason why I felt this way is because on the streets, I often witness visually impaired people having to rely on passer-by to get to their destination. Thus it made me wonder how they would be able to lead and guide us in the darkness.

After the tour, I was surprised by how well the tour guide could move around in the dark. One moment he was behind us doing a head count and the next moment he was already ahead of us guiding us to the next place. I was really admirable of him because when I was even having difficulty walking straight, he could actually move around so easily as there was a role switch and that he was able to see and we were the blind ones.

Another thing that I experience from the tour is the feeling of being blind. Although it was just an hour long of blindness, it made me realise several things. For once I felt the importance of our sense of sight. Without it, we would not be able to witness the wonderful and beautiful things that exist in this world. All we could was to try and visualise it. Going to this tour has definitely taught me an important lesson that is to treasure what we have now and do not take things for granted.

Many will say that they have already experienced how it feels to be blind through games that require them to be blindfolded or have witnessed a blackout before. But after going through the tour, I will tell you that those experience is nothing compared to the DID tour. DID is designed in such a way that you would be able to go through daily life routine while being blind by the darkness. That is the only way we can observe and get first hand information about how much difficulty a visually impaired person faced in everyday life.

Through DID, BZSE and PCS students can get a better understanding of what a social enterprise is and how it operates. And with chances of being an interns at DID during our final year, it allows us to gain experience before going working in other social enterprises when we graduate or even start our own social enterprise in the future.

I feel that DID is a successful social enterprise as they are able to help the visually impaired by hiring them to work as tour guide so that they can earn an income. This is because visually impaired people hardly can get a normal job as they are unable to see. Thus I feel that the only thing BZSE student can do is to help expand DID business and getting more customer. We can do this by helping in the marketing sector of DID to come up with new promotions to help increase the number of customers.
Not only that, we can retain existing customers by maybe setting up another DID in Singapore, with different types of experience, maybe such as studying in class, learning how to get onto a bus and so on. Only with more customers, DID will be able to expand its business and increase the number of visually impaired they can hire.

Eugene T02

Melissa's experience at Dialogue in the Dark

2009-11-08T21:51:00.005+08:00

The activities and updates of DID always reach me through the word of mouth during guest lectures, friends doing internship in DID and even the HMS (School of Humanities) lecturers. Everything could only be based on my own interpretation and imagination of the limited information provided for us. My imagination only considered the things I would encounter but not how I would cope and feel when groping and orientating myself in a new unfamiliar environment. I did not know what to expect knowing we were going for the DID tour. However, our peers who went before us injected the excitement in us re-enacting their experience to us.

The pre-introduction was a good warm-up activity for us to activate all our other 4 senses without the help of our eyes. Since my group did not have much time to go through the whole pre-introduction, we prepared ourselves by coming up with contingency plans such as making sure we stick close to the walls (if there were any since we weren’t inside yet) and had our accountability partner behind us all the time. The sticks was definitely a great relief to most of us as it assured that we would have less bruises if there were ever obstacles that may come our way. Personally, it did not take me long to get used to the dark and having to use my hands and stick to find my way around. What made it more assuring and certain was the voice of the guide. His voice was clear and he never failed to describe the particular place we were at with great detail which assured us that we were in good hands.

This experience helped me realised that the other senses are just as sensitive and powerful as the eyes. We need not our eyes to tell where we are or interpret someone else’s emotion or feelings. Having a phobia of darkness, this experience has definitely helped me to gain a different perspective of darkness. There was not a second I felt fearful inside but instead I felt at peace. My 4 senses allowed me to connect with the serenity void of distraction. We often rely too much on our eyes to take note of our surroundings. Very often, the reason why we miss out the minute of things due to the neglect of our other sense.

The darkness reminded me of how vulnerable we are as human beings. Knowing that we are in obvious darkness gives us a chance to orientate and adapt to the new, unfamiliar environment. However, many a times we are not even aware of the darkness present in our lives. We no longer use our hearts to feel but give in to the shallowness our eyes make us assume. The vulnerability of it is that it would have been too late to react by the time we realise our lives are almost consumed by darkness. This experience has helped me to recognise how sensitive the other senses are when it is interpreted not only by our mind but by the heart to best understand our surroundings or people.

The guide often played around with our imagination with the words and intonations he had when he spoke. It made me asked myself how a person born blind would know what to imagine since he has never seen the world. Till now I have not been able to answer that but it made me appreciate the colours and even the piece of rubbish on the ground. I would never have known what an ant would look like or that I just crushed it under my feet if I had not been blessed with sight.

It is a learning model for us because it not only provides them with a stable job but also acknowledging their independence and courage through their contribution to the organisation. They have been empowered by being able to make full use of darkness in which they have the upper hand and having us to rely on them instead. It helps create awareness among the public that their presence and needs are often neglected due to the stereotype and assumption/ label we place on them. We have unknowingly created a barrier between us and the gap will only get bigger if we choose to stay in our comfort zone and follow the conventional. This stigma will be carried through generations if we do not put in effort to start changing our own mindsets/ discrimination against them. This also applies to the other minorities of society.

We could contribute to DID by making its activities and updates known to the public. Not only what is present and available at DID Singapore but how DID has impacted the blind all over the world. This allows better understanding of how DID sustain as a social enterprise and identification of the beneficiaries’ needs which may have been overlooked here in Singapore. With better understanding, new proposed ideas would not clash or overlap but instead complement existing core values to bring DID Singapore to higher level of empowerment, awareness and benefit.

Melissa Poh, T02

Janell's DiD Experience

2009-11-08T21:51:00.004+08:00

My impression of DiD was just walking around in the dark, experiencing how the visually challenged go around in their everyday life. Never have I thought that it would be that much of a change, that much of a difference from our daily lives, until I have truly and personally travelled into the "dark".

Even though Mrs Choo gave us a brief explanation on what is DiD like, I still felt at a lost as to what was going to happen. Walking in the dark, did not seem scary to me, as i know we humans have eyes that will slowly adjust to the dark. But I did think that it would be a lot of bumping into people/things, and maybe even getting lost in the dark. Little did i know that it would be so dark that i could not see a single light or even a faint shadow. Raising up my five fingers did not help at all. I immediately felt the chill down my back and the panic that was coming on to me. But with the help of my group members, and Jason, our tour guide, I managed to calm myself down and try to take things as it come. Jason was very patient and very understanding to our feelings and he is always there when we need his assurance. His presense was like a calming pill to me. I am really grateful for my friends, and Jason for allowing me to go through this unforgettable and irreplaceable experience.

This tour has taught me how is it like to be lost and actually rely on others to help you along. I really admire how these visually disabled people are able to pick themselves up and go on in life after they lost their sight or not able to see at all. It takes alot of courage to face all these difficulties and put up with the biased eyes out there. Seeing how Jason is so confident, and cheerful, despite of his disability, is such a good insight into how these blind guides are able to challenge their boundaries and limits, to share with us, sighted people, how they actually feel and go through life. Their other senses are very developed, unlike us, who mostly depend on our sight, which causes us to be at a lost when we are in a dark environment. Without Jason, I think we will be like lost sheeps in the dark. Therefore, my greatest takeaway from this captivating experience is not to underestimate what they can do, and cherish them, be there for them when they do need us.

With DiD present in Singapore, many people will be able to get a glimpse into the life of a visually challenged person. In addition, even change their perspective of the visually challenged. The idea of depending on one another for help in our very different situations, would change how much they think they would need the visually challenged in situations like these. With this as a social enterprise, some visually challenged people would be able to have a chance in getting a job as a blind guide in DiD. This service/tour would benefit the entire visually challenged population in Singapore, and possibly Southeast Asia. With this idea, many other products and services would be able to spout, and it would be more beneficial as to spreading the name of Dialogue in the Dark further out to many other groups of people, and letting them know more about these visually challenged people among us. Doing the business model of a social enterprise, would credit all the fundings and the responses back to the heart where we get our blind guides from and serves as encouragements to them. Helping them move just one more step in life, just one push, might just be so crucial to them.

For our very own BZSE and PCS students, this learning model enables us to learn the practical side of a social enterprise, something out of the book, something other than the theory part. Its a great opportunity to open our eyes to something so real, and try running it for the blind guides, for touching and changing perspectives, and also for ourselves.

We can contribute by helping DiD spread the word, of our experience, how we felt and move around, how amazing it was for us. Not only in NP, but also within our family and friends. We can also come up with ideas and contributions like how we can further create other related products to compliment this idea, and also if we have any comments, we would be able to feedback and enable them to polish and bring what they have to offer to higher heights and a greater experience for the people to come.

Sincerely,
Janell, BZSE T01

Francine's Entry ^^

2009-11-08T21:37:00.003+08:00

Having researched DiD before the tour, I knew that this experience would be a thriller for my senses. The notion of having my sight taken away from me, and having to depend on my other 4 senses was exciting; and to be honest, really scary for me. Excited because I would get to experience something new and interesting, and scary because I have never experienced such a state before.
What DiD Singapore gave me was what I expected, and more.
I never expected the feelings; the sensations of being in complete and absolute darkness to be suffocating yet exciting at the same time. Honestly, if one was Achluophobia(phobia of darkness) and did not have the confidence to place his/her trust in their visually handicapped guide, I would say not to go for this tour. If not for the instructions of Jason, the wonderful guide assigned to my group of 8, and the loud singings of my group, should I have been in the tour alone with no one around and have nothing on my body but just a guide stick, I couldn't have been able to make my way through the exhibition and out back to the light.
From this experience I am reminded again: If I am ever lost in a world of darkness with all my 5 senses intact and unharmed, there is still the hope of me making my way of this abyss of darkness and back into the light where i can see things again. But where is the hope for seeing everything in the light for the permenantly blind?

DiD serves as a superb model of a social enterprise to bring attention to the visually handicapped community in any society. It reminds that these people are not entirely useless as what we "normal" people would often stereotype them to be. As one person in my team has said: "We may be kings in the presence of light, but we are not the kings in the presence of the dark." We certainly need help in navigating our way through complete darkness, and so do they in light when they are stripped of their sense of sight. Such negative and unjustified perspectives of our fellow visually handicapped friends should be addressed and corrected.

PeiQing's DID experience!

2009-11-08T21:23:00.002+08:00

In the past, I had experience dining with a blindfold but it was not as dark because I could still see some light under the blindfold. Hence, this trip was mysterious to me for the reason that I had no idea what was lined up ahead for us and I had never experienced being in total darkness. The thought of it made me feel frightened as I had the thinking that I might get lost or even fall in the midst of the tour.

However the DID tour was not as scary as I had expected and it turned out to be a memorable and captivating experience for me. I also enjoyed the mini-activities because it helps to be mentally prepared for the tour. The activities taught me that our sense of taste weakens when we cannot see what we are eating. When we are about to enter the dark room, they provided us each with a walking cane and taught us how to hold them properly. I understood more about what the blind are going through once we entered the dark room with the walking cane. Our guide, Wesley was very experienced and he gave made us felt assured and safe even though we are like a flock of lost sheep wandering in the darkness. I was glad that I did not have to go through the trip alone but with my friends because with them around I feel more secured. The tour has taught me how to view being blind in a positive light because this trip was more of fun than really what the blind really face in the society. In real life, they have no walls to depend on when they are outside unlike when we are in the dark room. To add on, they also had to learn how to feel and adapt by themselves, which I felt was really admirable! It really takes a lot of courage to accept the fact that they had lost their eyesight and move on with their lives positively. Personally, I enjoyed the boat ride the most because it was a very joyful experience to be riding in boat but you cannot see how it looks like. The different locations such as the market place, the statue of Stamford Raffles and the Café triggered my imagination and I was picturing how they looked like during the trip. I thought it was good leaving the place without really seeing how it looks like because I can keep those images of imagination into my memory. I sincerely feel that everyone should have a chance to go for this trip because it really is very different from other field trips or holidays where you depend more on your sense of sight to see and admire the scenery around them. They should try using depending more on their other senses, such as their hearing and smell to have a different perspective of way people view things.

I feel that DID is a wonderful learning model for BZSE and PCS students. DID is a very innovative example that we can follow and help us develop our creativity. It also gives us encouragement that we can come up with more of such social enterprises to help those disadvantaged in the society by employing them into new formed social enterprises!

Lastly, we can help to contribute to the DID social enterprise by telling our fellow mates in school or even out of school about DID and its purposes. Furthermore we can also help to come up with advertising campaigns for them and market DID to more Singaporeans. Together we can help and create more change to improve the lives of the marginalized!

PeiQing
BZSE T01

Alison T01 - A new perspective. A journey in the Dark

2009-11-08T21:21:00.005+08:00

I was rather apprehensive knowing that we had to tour around in the dark. However, things weren't as bad as I thought because I had a group of friends with me. One source of comfort was from our tour guide, Wesley. Although I couldn't see him, He was always close for reach. Because of his understanding and assurance, I was able to feel secure in the dark without any feelings of uncertainty and helplessness.

Personally, one of the biggest takeaways for me is that, when I reflect upon the journey with Wesley, I do not see a man bound with handicaps, but rather, someone who is determined and courageous to break the notion of limitation and step into a place of possibilities. Although there are some who say that darkness is the absence of light, I think that light can be an absence of true humanity, because all that I've experienced in the dark was nothing judgemental and prejudice but rather, sincerity and helpfulness.

I feel that having DID Singapore in NP is a great milestone for our school. I believe that this is a stepping stone for us, pioneer students from BZSE to truly appreciate how to run and sustain a social enterprise alongside creating awareness for our beneficiaries. I see this as a platform for us to reach out and serve our community in need. I certainly think that PCS & BZSE will learn a lot from this inspiring model.

In my point of view, the best way we can contribute to DID is to apply the knowledge and skills that we’ve learnt in class. These may include skills such as Marketing, IT application, Principles of Accounts, Social Psychology, Financial Management, just to name a few.

To sum it all, through this one-hour-life-changing journey, I have come to realise that it isn't so much the handicaps, but what we do with them. I've also come to appreciate and cherish my eye sight.

I believe that it is time...
We stop feeling pathetic for those who are less fortunate than us.

But rather, time to join our hearts & minds to...
Empower and launch them out into their destiny.

With awe,
Alison, BZSE T01

Thyeleng's DID experience T02

2009-11-08T20:54:00.005+08:00

Before the DiD tour, I always thought that walking in the dark was an easy thing. Such that I even tried walking with my eyes close. However, it was totally different when I went for the tour. Walking in the dark was definitely more difficult then walking with your eyes closed.

From the DiD tour experience, I learnt that a person's weakness can actually become his/her strength in a different environment. In the dark, when our sight have become useless, we have to rely on our other sense which we are not so familier with to lead our way. However, this was not a problem for visually impaired patients. Without them, I doubt that we could survive the first half of the journey in the dark. Thus, I feel that we should not discriminate them because of their disability. In some other situation, they can also be very valuable.

From my point of view, I feel that using DiD Singapore as a social enterprise and learning model for BZSE and PCS students is a very useful tool for us to understand how a social enterprise can operate with the effective and efficient use of their resources (the visually impaired patients). Letting the visually impaired patients learn how to be independant and being able to guide us through the dark was an important factor which i think leads to the success of this project. With this, it would make this project sustain not because of its social cause.

BZSE students can help promote DiD to their friends and family.

Done by:
koh thye leng

Weiling T02 - DID experience =)

2009-11-08T19:07:00.008+08:00

1. Before the tour, we actually had a talk on DID by Mrs Choo. She told us about the overall tour on how it is going to be like and some of the ‘attractions’ that we can experience throughout the entire tour. It did make me wonder how we would actually feel walking in a room with complete darkness. This has made me even more excited to go for the tour the next day. Though I am scared of darkness, the way Mrs Choo has described the tour to us has indeed triggered the excitement in us to visiting DID. I believe that the tour will be very fun and inspiring for all of us.

During the tour, I remember feeling very insecure and worried. The entire place was in COMPLETE DARKNESS. Even if you were to put your hands in front of yourself, you will realize that you could not even see anything at all. The funniest thing was that I started crying after stepping in. I will try to grab Mabel’s and Singyee’s hands and everything that allows me to feel secure. Thus, communication is vital for us to know our ways. I am very glad to have Jason as our blind guide. He was really very friendly and nice. He allows us to feel comfortable with the place and even without our eyes, we could feel the place with our heart and also allowing ourselves to imagine how the place is like. Throughout the entire trip, Jason explained the place to us and this let us to feel calmer and slowly enjoying the tour. We have learnt so many things from this tour itself and especially from Jason. We sat down at the café in DID and he told us about his personal story. Jason is now 30 years old and he only lost his sight three years ago. Instead of feeling despair and becoming dependent on others, he chose to stand up on his feet and get on with life. He came to know about this job and agreed to be one of the blind guides in DID. I really admire him a lot. He made me realized that even though there can be many ups and downs in our lives, the most important thing is to be able to let things go and appreciate life in another way. So why should other people discriminate them? If we think it again, the visually handicapped are actually those that show us hope in our lives. I remember we had a post reflection talk with one of the interns in DID, Feng Kai. He mentioned something which I totally agreed with him. In the sighted world, we are the kings and the queens and we tend to forget about those that are less fortunate than us. However, during the tour when everything is in darkness, who are the kings and queens then? I believe that everyone ought to know that all humans are equal and that everyone should be given the equal chances in life. Many times, we tend to take things for granted but after this trip, I have learnt to be more positive in life and to appreciate my sight better.

I feel that it is great setting up DID as a social enterprise. Firstly, there can be more jobs opening up for the visually handicapped and creating awareness of the marginalized people in our community. When more people come to know about DID and after the experience, I am sure they will be able to appreciate things better and to be able to empathize with the blinds. Through this, I hope that discrimination on the visually handicapped can be reduced and more job opportunities can be opened up for them. It is a great idea to have this as a tour and implementing charges for the tickets. DID can thus be able to sustain itself as a social enterprise and also as an educational institute. DID definitely serves as a learning platform for PCS and BZSE students. I really look up to this social enterprise and it does help us to understand that we too can play our parts in helping the marginalized sector in the society.

BZSE students can help them to do marketing! We can share our experiences with our friends, family, relatives and etc and invite them to come down for a tour. If not, we can also find working opportunities with DID.

Chow Wei Ling, T02

Glory's Take

2009-11-08T19:04:00.005+08:00

I thought the tour to be a very enlightening and humbling experience for both my peers and I. Sight is something many regard as a basic necessity, 'as a matter of fact', and a part of us. But for many in the community, sight is not a part but apart from them. I was really curious about how the various places of the tour will be like, and also wondered how I'll do walking inside. Will I fall down or trip over a curb? Will I walk around in circles? I wouldn't want to do that.

My greatest takeaway let me see how limited or unlimited our lives can be when we choose how we are going to face and overcome life's circumstances. The absence of light may hinder our sight, yet the presence of sight may hinder our flight. Even in the bright, we undermine our might because we look at what's the barrier ahead of us and cause us to pull back in fear. At DiD, the role reversing experience allows us to understand that a disability does not mean incapability. When you enter DiD, it is not just about being wow-ed at how able the blind are in the dark, or just knowing more about these individuals that 'stand out in the crowd', but about having empathy and social inclusion in our community so that those without sight can develop their potential too.

I think DiD's function as a social enterprise is apt to inculcate employment and empowerment for a marginalized community. On top of allowing employment, this is a platform for our community to be aware and understanding about losing sight. It shows the world that DiD's beneficiaries do not depend on mere handouts, but make an impact with their skills and ability to lead abundant lives. This goes to show the distinct difference between a not for profit organization and a social enterprise. The latter works on the concept of sustainability and a system that is capable of bringing charities to become self-sufficient and effective in fulfilling their cause.

This is a suitable learning model of students of PCS and BZSE as it is a living example of what seems to be a possibly green concept (social entrepreneurship) in Singapore. From the aspects of empowerment through employment, the opportunity for the blind guides to shine in the darkness, and the capacity for students to be interns at the final semester, it is a good approach to put what has been taught in class to practice. As a learning model, students of BZSE can understand how addressing a social cause with a profit making business is like. Meanwhile, students of PCS can observe how social stigma can undermine the potential and development of a marginalized community.

BZSE people can make use of what has been taught during the semesters to add value to the functioning and cause of DiD. From helping to create much awareness to the general public about social entrepreneurship, to marketing DiD's cause so that life is enhanced for their beneficiaries, students can put their competence and skills into action to let DiD become a world class channel that eradicates social stigma towards the absence of sight. Through word of mouth and genuine experiences shared, the zest and power of DiD can make an impact on our community to a substantial extent. Having gone through the DiD experience ourselves, we can also evoke (apart from our sight) the other senses of our society to shed some light on the darkness of their minds.

Glory Tan
BZSE T02

Jonathan T01 - DID Singapore, somewhere you wanna go

2009-11-08T15:37:00.002+08:00

When entering the exhibition, I thought to myself, “well… how dark can it be?” and confidently I stepped into the exhibition, but just after three to four steps into the exhibition, I started grabbing onto my friend who was in front of me and kept on asking whether if the one behind me was still there. I felt helpless, because for the very first time, there is no difference from having your eyes close or open. This is the first time in my life my eyes can’t lead me in the direction that I should be going. Instead all I had was a walking stick and the voice of the guide. After being introduced to our guide Helemy, He welcomed us and after which he asked us to explore our surrounding for ourselves. I did not really dare to leave my group of friends and explore, instead I held onto the one who is in front of me and followed him wherever he went. I was afraid that I will be lost in the dark and I will never be able to find my way out. But after much encouragement from Helemy, telling us if ever we are lost, we just got to walk towards his voice, I took up the courage to just wander off. Using the walking stick to feel what in front of me and whenever one of our group mates found something, our guide will always say “call out to the others so that they know where you are.”, and the rest of us will move towards his/her voice. Before going for the tour, I didn’t expect much from the tour. I felt that it was just walking in the dark, never did I expect the tour to be “that dark” so much so that I needed to depend on the guide’s voice and not my sight.

I think one of the greatest take away for me is to have a conversation with the guide in the dark. HE introduced himself and shared about his life and we found out that he was not born blind but was blind because of some tumor in the brain and all. I asked him, how was it like when he knew that he is going to be blind and how did he feel when he woke up that very day in the hospital without your sigh. He told us he was prepared and quite positive about things. He carried on by saying, it is to find something positive in the negative. That really caught me, I thought to myself, if I became blind I think I will feel all helpless and probably I will fall into depression. Just minutes in the tour and I was feeling all helpless and scared made me realize how much I depended on my sight and through the tour experience I then realize how much dependency we have put in our sight, without it we feel scared and helpless, imagine those who become blind permanently, it must have took them a lot of courage to carry on living. Not being able to see a single thing, going through landmarks of Singapore in the exhibition, it seemed so fascinating, touching the tree, touching the statue of Stanford Raffles, touching a car, fruits and many other things. It felt so different touching those things and feeling them without our vision. This made me realize that our sight is something that is given and somehow we took for granted of this gift given to us and think that it is something which we deserve, while others need to live everyday without it and continue to live as if one has sight.

I think DID Singapore is like a platform, a benchmark for BZSE and PCS students. To set a certain standard for the students, that in the future this is something the students can do and do it better. It is a statement to BZSE students especially that, a successful social enterprise is do-able and possible in Singapore. One of the ways which BZSE students can contribute to DID Singapore is through publicizing it to our friends and family members, encouraging them to come and experience the tour and remind them of the blind community in Singapore.

Jonathan Lau, T01

Ronny's reflection

2009-11-08T14:16:00.002+08:00

Before the DiD tour, I thought the tour would be quite boring,
because we would be just walking round and round inside.
As it's pure darkness inside the tour, we won't feel the excitement and thrill,
I thought we would be feeling fear and scared, that's it, nothing else.
I also thought that we would finish the tour very fast as from the outside, it looks small.

My greatest take-away from the DiD tour experience is that, the visually impaired are actually the KINGS, in the dark, while we are the KINGS, in the light. So in the light, we can help them, whereas in the dark, we rely on them a lot.

I think that DiD Singapore is a very important stepping stone in Singapore,
to really show people that, Social enterprises are very useful and helpful,
they can actually give such an important job to the visually impaired,
and they are doing it so well !
Showing people that, not everyone is useless and can't contribute to the society!
It can also help in motivating BZSE & PCS students as in, how they can further help the marginalized and having the society accepting them and respect them.

BZSE students can contribute to the DiD social enterprise by,
promoting DiD to their friends, as we have the first-hand experience of the tour,
we know how it feels like,
and we were like suddenly enlightened or shocked, that the visually impaired is so,
helpful to us and we were so dependent on them inside the dark !

We can also try to get more sponsors or companies,
to participate in the tour, so that they understand how it feels like.
To suddenly feel blindness and yet having the confidence to carry on with their life.
So that, they can help out in expanding DiD Singapore ! : )

- Ronny Lim,
BZSE Year 2

DiD by Sor SinYee BZSE T01

2009-11-08T13:49:00.002+08:00

Before the DiD tour, the first thing came to my mind was that who would want to pay so much for the ticket only to enter an exhibition whose only visual image was jet-black darkness. To my surprise, for the first time in my life, I was relying on a total stranger for guidance in complete darkness. By comparison, my everyday life seemed so strange. Later I was to discover that my faithful guide – Wesley - was a blind man. And to his credit, it was him, and not me, who was leading the way!

Before the exhibition I had been to parks, crossed streets, shopped at markets and visited bars and cafes, but on that day with him in that pitch-black void, those oh-so normal experiences seemed unusual and foreign to me. Shocked, curious & nervous, I was gradually awakening to the most impressive discovery of my life. As far back as I could remember, I had never felt so small, humbled and yet, somehow, more connected and bigger than ever before.

Even though they live their life with some restrictions, in this place which has the theme of darkness, they do not require assistance from those who are sighted, but instead offer assistance as a guide to those who are not familiar with the dark. At this exhibition darkness is a symbol of difference, different ways of life, and understanding the differences as they aim to provide a platform for contact between people from different backgrounds.

By swapping rolls, I come to realize that the differences between a life without eyesight compared to the life we use to live, and get to know that the people who were judged in a different light by their disability are the same as people like us - the only differences being common human universal themes.

This exhibition can show people about humanity's potential for an abundant life in the darkness that can't be seen normally in one's daily life. This simulated experience helps to increase people's respect for and tolerance of those who are different. The darkness becomes a place for unencumbered communication and a beneficial exchange.

This exhibition also provides a valuable experience and a new feel. It is a must to experience it at least once!

SINYEE T01

Cheryl T01 - My experience in DiD

2009-11-08T13:14:00.002+08:00

credits to here.

A light in the dark.

The DiD tour did manage to fulfil my expectations and more. I had visualized wandering around in darkness, something not unlike school night walks where we had to grab on to the person in front of us. During the DiD tour, we got to hold on to a cane and experienced sweeping it around on unfamiliar terrain, totally having no idea of where we were. During the tour, I was wondering how the visually impaired managed to survive this. At least we went into the tour knowing full well that we would be thrown into darkness, but the blind certainly did not plan to be blind. My guide was Jason, who lost his sight at age 25 after living a life with light and colour. It just struck me that suddenly entering a world without light must have been really scary.
While my group was shouting out random things and singing songs during the tour, Jason (as we could hear and feel) was super comfortable with the noise and us. It must have been really difficult to be with a group of complete strangers. He chatted casually and we found that even though he couldn’t see things, at least he was more at ease in the dark than we were.

I suppose the greatest take-away from the experience was the fact that we’re not unequal. Certainly we might have an easier life in normal circumstances because we are able to see, but when the situations are reversed, well, it was pretty scary to because you’re really unsure of what you do and where you go.

I think that DiD Singapore is a fabulous learning platform for students in the BZSE and PCS diplomas. Not only do we really get to ‘see’ their way of life but also feel what they must feel all the time. It really isn’t just about knowing how the sightless live in the world of light, but really getting there and experiencing it for real. BZSE students can contribute to DiD in many ways. Honestly. As a new social enterprise, students will be able to market it and be ambassadors for it.

Cheryl

Amanda Neo - T01

2009-11-08T12:28:00.002+08:00

My DID experience is entitled as ‘The blinds colors of life.’

Before stepping into DID, I had this preconceived notion that the visually handicapped are a group of people whose lives are filled with dull colors. I do not mean in a literal sense that they are unable to see and therefore they do not get to experience bright colors. Instead, my thoughts are that these people tend to see the dull side in life which stems from the constant injustice that they feel due to their disability.

However, I beg to differ after my insightful experience. This is because the visually handicapped in DID showed me the wonderful colors of life. The visually handicapped are just like anyone of us, whose lives are filled with an array of colors. They are driven people who aim to live life to the fullest in spite of their disability. Hence, their supposed handicap does not pose as an obstacle for them if they persevere till the end.

Now, I shall share my DID experience that led me to this conclusion.

At the start of our DID program, my group had the opportunity to play some DID activities before stepping into the darkness. First and foremost, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the activities gave us a glimpse on what it is like to be visually handicapped. During the activities, I tasted the wrong flavor of sweets and I could not figure out certain alphabets based on my sense of touch. Stepping into their shoes reaffirmed my initial thoughts on the tremendous amount of difficulties faced by visually handicapped.

Soon, it was time to enter the darkness. A timid person like me tingled with a potent mix of fear and apprehension at the start of the journey. But, as we progressed on in the darkness with Jason, our visually handicapped guide, he quelled my fear with his constant encouragement. When we reached the end, Jason shared with us his life journey, and I was truly inspired by him. His positive spirit stirred my guilty conscience as I perpetually harped on trivial matters in life that is totally not worth expanding time and energy on as life has so much more to offer.

In my opinion, DID Singapore is a social enterprise that will give a new look to Singapore Social Enterprises as DID is a new concept whereby the beneficiaries are not only at the receiving end but are also responsible for the growth of the social enterprise. Hence it works both ways. It promotes the ideology of social enterprises and that is, we are not charitable organizations, but we are a business entity which aims to do business with a social purpose.

As regards to the BZSE and PCS students, DID acts as a platform to rediscover our objectives for both courses. For the PCS students DID will give them the opportunity to interact with the visually handicapped, thus having the taste of working with people of disabilities. Through this interaction, they may possibly ponder on what they can do to reach out to people with disabilities. As a student in BZSE, DID poses to me as a stepping stone to being a social entrepreneur, as I can put myself in a social entrepreneur’s shoes, hence thinking like one. With DID, BZSE students can practice on what they have learn, and gain the plentiful experience that we need as a BZSE student.

As a social enterprise model, I think there is a large pool of potential waiting to be unleashed and this mission is the responsibility of BZSE students. I feel that the BZSE students can contribute to DID social enterprise in a few areas. For example, we can devise methods to increase the publicity of DID in Singapore. BZSE students can volunteer for internships in DID as it will be a good chance to learn the ropes of being a social entrepreneur. Besides, we can plan events for DID to increase awareness in Ngee Ann itself. Essentially, my idea is for the BZSE students to be the walking ambassadors of DID! As, I strongly believe that the BZSE students have to believe that DID can work in order for DID social enterprise to expand to greater heights.

Amanda Neo

BZSE YEAR 2 STUDENT

CLASS T01

Prasana - T02

2009-11-08T12:13:00.003+08:00

When I first heard of DID Singapore, it seemed a unique concept to educate people as well as raise awareness on the visually handicapped (VH) society. It is wonderful to know that Ngee Ann Polytechnic has had a privilege to set up DID Singapore in its own campus. Not forgetting it being the only DID situated in an educational institute and also the first permanent exhibition in Southeast Asia.

Before the tour, I was bit nervous as I was not sure what to expect in the tour. At the same time, I was excited to know how it was like to live like a VH for an hour. I have roamed around my house in the dark but there was always some form of light even if it is very dim and hence presumed it would be the same for the tour but however, we were told that there was absolutely no form of light in this entire tour. Even then, it did not seemed that scary or anything till we actually entered the tour.

The first few steps that I took into the tour were very cautious as it was really pitch dark in there. And it took me sometime before I could get myself adjusted to it. Throughout the journey, we were blinded and only our other four senses were in use. I had to feel my way around and listen carefully to the guide in order not to lose my way. The experience was something that I did not expect and was thought provoking. To actually be able to be in the shoes of the VH and experience how they go about living their life really made me think. It was a good opportunity for me to realize the potential of my other senses as they have been neglected all these while. Most of us depend on our sight a lot that the moment we were blinded; we got scared and became unsteady. The best part of it was that the guide guiding us was a VH. In the dark, they were the best people to navigate us and make the whole experience an enjoyable and fun one for us. We become helpless and depended on them. I must say the guides did an excellent job throughout the tour.

DID provides a platform for the ordinary people to interact with the VH. It allows them to empathize with them rather than just to sympathize the VH. I believe this is my greatest take away from this tour. The guides have proven that sight is just one of the senses and that without it; it is not the end of the world. You can actually pick yourself up and continue to strive to be successful just like them. I really admire them for their confidence and guts to actually step out and prove themselves to the society that they are as normal as any other person on this earth. DID indeed change my mind set on the way I viewed the VH. I could get in touch with how they feel and go about their daily life in that short journey. Truly, an eye-opener.

I feel that DID Singapore would be a great learning tool for both the BZSE and PCS students. It is an easily assessable social enterprise and a unique learning model to study on. The teaching facility provided there educates us on the different aspects of a social enterprise apart from our classroom lectures. For example, we could learn how they make DID sustainable and the effort it takes to maintain the place and so on.

As BZSE students, there are ways we could contribute to DID social enterprise. We could volunteer to look after the maintenance of the building and conduct the pre and post activities for those who are participating in the tour. Other than being interns, we could come up with marketing plans as this is an abstract idea. We would not know what it really is till we experience it. It stimulates an individual’s thought process and people have to be encouraged to want to experience this tour. Hence, promoting it through word of mouth is not enough; it has to reach out to the general public for them to be aware of such a learning model. I believe one learns best when he feels it for himself rather than when he is told about it.

Prasana (T02)

Grace - T01

2009-11-08T11:51:00.004+08:00

Dialogue in the Dark. From the name, it's doing something in the DARK. Sound scary to me in the first place. Dark is uncertainty, unknown and lost to me.

Before the tour, we had briefing on DiD and what is it all about. Dining in the dark, walking through the dark. I wonder, how was it like to experience it. How we will we know the obstacles in front of you, how will we know how much money did we actually hand to the cashier and many other hows and questions. Basically, I was super excited about the tour.

On the tour day, I was trying out how to differentiate a 2 dollars note and a 5 dollar note. I tried to figure out but still did not manage to do it. We had white cane for us to aid in the tour, and my initial imagination of the tour is, we had to either be blind-folded or something else. I didn't except that the room is so dark until I place my own hands in front of my face and still did not manage to see it. The tour guide was great, very sensitive to the surrounding. He's able to tell that we are far apart or we are afraid from the sound of our voice. He made sure that we are safe during the tour. Being a 'blinded person in the dark' we had lot of disadvantages, we are uncertain, unfamiliar to our surrounding. That's this part when I had to walk in the front and find a bench, it took me so long to find it. Got no idea how the bench looks like, where is it and how big it is.

The whole experience was great, having a chance to be a blind person, experiencing the journey of daily life. Also it made me know that we can't take things for granted and know more about visually disable person feeling. I also really thank God to give me the sight, to see things and how beautiful the world is, even though the tour is just a temporarily blindness but imagine those who never ever see this world before. How do they picture Merlion as? How do they picture the surrounding they are in? It really makes me wonder...

GRACE.L

T01

Kay Yong T02 - My first time entering -Dialong in the Dark

2009-11-08T01:53:00.002+08:00

Well~ if you asked me what i expect of the tour initially... i can simply say it all in one sentence "its just a tour :P "

Hm... lets see... I would say that I am TOTALLY! Impressed... who would have thought that "us" who roamed the daylight, were to be served in the absolute darkness. I remember that during the tour(where i was doing is to try to my luck and get to the destination), my tour guide Weasly said that he is going to check the next room to see the other group has left. After that was a moment of silence... next thing was "they are still there"...so he chit chat with my group for awhile… Before checking again...and giving us direction to the next destination... while I was there, waiting until further instructions are given.

This tour also made me remember one of my experiences when I was in primary 5... I am in the afternoon school so usually I would wake up at 9am to watch television and the whole room (or house in fact since i am the only one at home), would be totally filled with the sound of the television only... then one day came this commercial that has images but has no sound at all and at that particular instance, my room became totally quiet.

My greatest take away? These two experiences made me to realize, realize something... that is, to treasure what we have. This realization comes from not the fact that I should be happy with what I got, but the fear of losing what I possess now.

I think that DiD can be a good social enterprise and learning model for BZSE and PCS students. There are already many existing Social Enterprises in Singapore, but because of the scale, people might not realize it. Or they could be regarded as another Voluntary Welfare Organization (VWO) or Non-government organization in other countries. Dialog in the Dark (DiD) can help to inculcate Singaporeans what a Social Enterprise means. With its' scale, it will be more noticeable to the Singaporeans.

As a learning model, I think that it is good for us as DiD will be able to relate to us better. With a common Social Enterprise that the whole course is familiar with, our lecturers can use it as an example for us without fearing that we might not be able to comprehend what is the point that they are going to bring across. It can also serves as a intern organization for the year 3 students. As the pioneer batch of Business and Social Enterprise (BZSE) students together with the first batch of Psychology and community service (PCS) students, we will be able help with the start-up/intial years of DiD. This can give the experience of what we need to take note of when we just started up a company and what are the details that we have to standardise. Not to worry about the following batches, they can also learn about the continuity of the business and how to maintain its sustainability (which is the harder part... PHEW! Lucky for us). So DiD can serves as a learning model for us both in short terms and long terms.

As a BZSE student, there are many ways which we could contribute to DiD. We can help to promote DiD, be in in school work or on a friend to friend basis. Apart from that, when we venture out to our own business when we graduate, we can find opportunities to work together with DiD.

Kay Yong
Diploma in Business and Social Enterprise

Apple T02 - DiD tour

2009-11-08T00:13:00.002+08:00

When I heard that the we will be going on a DiD tour, I felt excited. However, I didn’t have much expectation. All I expected was to tour around different rooms in the dark led by a visually impaired guide.

I was kind of stunned by the absolute darkness in the beginning of the tour. I did not know what to do other then grabbing on to my friends’ shoulders. I could no longer depend on my sense of sigh but to rely greatly on my other senses to go through a park, take a boat ride, explore the city, and buy a drink at the café with our guide and a walking cane. Nevertheless, it’s an amazing and unforgettable experience. DiD tour allows us to experience the life of a visually impaired individual. In the dark, the guides are the ones who provide us with the sense of direction and security as our roles are reversed and I am sure it is very empowering for them to have this leadership opportunity. DiD tour has changed the way I look at visually impaired individual, they’re stronger we thought, I can never imagine how horrifying the tour will be without their guidance. Experiencing the world without sight has taught me to appreciate everything we have in life. In a way, being blind truly opened my eyes and now I have new insight towards life.

DiD is definitely a good learning model for BZSE and PCS students as it helps us understand the difficulty and challenges faced in setting up and running a social enterprise. We are also able to do our internship at DiD. Hence, in a sense, it is sort of a live experience of social entrepreneurship at work for those interns working at DiD.

BZSE students can help to create awareness for DiD through sharing their experience with our friends/family and encouraging them to visit DiD. Other than publicity, BZSE students could also contribute marketing ideas to market DiD Singapore.

Apple
T02

The DiD experience by Adeline

2009-11-08T00:04:00.004+08:00

Before the tour, when people mentioned DiD, i didn't really think much about it. But on the day of the tour itself, right before we entered, i was imagining what the tour would be like. I expected it to be like a "blind-guiding-blind" thing, that we will be holding on to each other and walking in a straight line. I didn't expect anything to be like a "real life" thing and i was hoping there'll be some form of light i could escape into.

However during the tour..I felt very uncertain when i first stepped into the room. I was trying so hard to use my other sense. But the best person there was our blind guide, Wesley. I felt really secure and safe when i heard his voice. I helped blind people cross the road before, brought them to the places they were looking for, helped them down the stairs, and at these moments i only felt sympathetic towards them, that their lives may be quite tough due to their inability to see. But during the tour i realise that it isn't that bad. I felt that i could use my other senses better. When i was in that room with my 7 friends and also Wesley, we really helped each other and communicated quite well. It made me think that being in complete darkness makes me/us less superficial. I no longer (were unable) to use my eyes to judge people only by their looks. Instead i felt that everyone was equal and i didn't mind holding on and helping anyone who was with me in the tour. It made me forget everything else but the present (during the tour) and i enjoyed smelling and listening to my surrounding.

DiD is definitely an impactful enterprise. I like the fact that DiD allows people to be "put into another person's shoes". I personally feel that there are too many stereotypes and prejudices against other people (eg. physically disabled, etc.) and the best way to tell people to stop doing that is to let them experience it for themselves. We often misunderstand and assume, take things for granted and hardly spare a thought for others. I feel that when we are really the ones in the situation, we will slowly understand and spare a thought for others. That is something i feel that we can learn from. As HMS student, we should be the ones taking the initiative to understand people and put ourselves in their shoes because that is the best way to relate to them. DiD inspire me to set up an enterprise that will allow people to understand people (the disadvantaged) better. I feel that when you look at a person differently, you will then take initiative to help that person genuinely instead of just "giving them the fish". I feel that the very best way we can help to promote DiD is by asking our friends and family to go. Everyone should experience this atleast once!

Billy's Entry

2009-11-07T23:39:00.002+08:00

Hey all!

Before the DID tour, I was both excited and unsure about the tour. I initially thought that the tour would be something like a very quick, fifteen minute hand-in-hand tour with a blind Guide, with simple, mundane fun things to do in the dark (like drinking water out of a cup and navigating thru a little obstacle course?) that showed us how it was like to be blind.

When i first stepped into the DID grounds, i realised that the tour was much more, far beyond what i expected. The first thing that struck me was the nature of the darkness..it was REALLY REALLLY DARK. Nothing like i even imagined. (Just to give you a guys a vague picture of what i think about its intensity- blindfold yourself with a t-shirt or something. Now imagine that darkness amplified ten times over. That's not even close to how dark it was in the room!) The first thing that flooded in my mind was absolute fear. losing my sense of sight immediately was really hard to accept. Even with the cane and wall on hand, it was uncomfortable and very difficult to navigate. I kept on banging into the people in front and behind of me, and i was very afraid that somewhere along the tour, i would lose my way and get lost, with no one to find and lead me out.

I was extremely relieved when we first met our blind guide, Halimi. (Mi.) Hearing his voice was really fantastic- it gave me a sense of orientation and direction. As we went through the tour, Mi encouraged us to use our senses and to explore the various grounds inside DID. As we went thru the tour, i became more acustomed to the dark and i could handle myself better. I also noticed how proeficent and comfortable halimi seemed to be in the dark - it's true, what they say about the 'blind being superheroes' and a reversal of roles in the dark.

After the DID tour, i felt that i came away with a great respect towards the blind. I didn't expect such a great level of optimism from our blind guide (he worked in the airlines for a long time before he became blind in a unfortunate incident, but he never was at all depressed or pessimistic about anything.) I felt inspired to help the handicapped in a non-handout way..and to be optimistic and happy myself :)

Another thing i took away was a great appreciation for the things i have, especially my sight. being in such a dark room for a long time made me think about how i took my sight for granted. being out in the open made me appreciate my sight and the world in a much sharper, new perspective. Being blind for an hour also made me appreciate the other senses in the body much more-percieving a world in many different ways (touch, smell, hearing) has made me view the outside world in a very different way.

I strongly believe that DID has great potential in Ngee ann, and by extension the education system. The business and social aspects of DID are something the both BZSE and PCS students can learn from and experience hands on in-campus. DID also allows people to experience social difference, change first-hand in a immediate way. I believe that DID can provide learning experiences for its students in their scope of study, and also instill/encourage values such as appreciation, etc.

I believe BZ as a whole, can help DID by promoting its services through a strong marketing plan. There are many more opportunities to be discovered and taken advantage of, and this is where BZ students can come in. Exploting opprotunities, starting up a new business/museum concept business and expand this social cause, and at the same time learn from the concept. PCS students can study the psychology of people before, and after the experience, and study the psychology of the disabled. just a thought : P

Anyway, i hope that DID continues to grow, prosper, and benefit our students, the public and last but not least the blind. three cheers for did!

Billy

2009-11-07T23:07:00.002+08:00

Reflections on DID tour - Cynthia (T02)

Although we’ve attended guest lectures, and learnt about Dialogue in the Dark for quite some time, the feeling is still not whole because I’ve not experience it myself. Upon knowing the news that Ngee Ann Polytechnic built DiD made me really happy. And what’s more when we BZSE students are having the privileged to enjoy the tour ;)

Before the tour, I was looking very forward and excited. It’s my first time going to be in a complete darkness environment. I hoped it would be really fun and inspiring. I expected the tour to be really real and it sure was! Also, I was wondering if the guide could lead such a big group of people in the dark but he really did a great job. I was amazed by it.

After the tour, I was really thankful that I’m healthily sighted. The starting of the tour made me really insecure and I started grabbing anything I could. But a good thing was that the walls were very useful for us to guide our way through. And not forgetting our very friendly blind guide- Jason. In the dark, we will not know that Jason is visually handicapped unless we were told, isn’t it? Most importantly, in the dark, we are the ones who need help from people like Jason. In the sighted world, some people tend to stereotype people who are visually handicapped. But have they ever imagine if one day, there is no light, how would life be? The visually handicapped people would definitely cope better than us. And by that time, we would all be equal.

This tour made me realize that being visually handicapped is not something to be ashamed of. In dialogue, blind guides like Jason were able to boost their confidence and self-esteem. That is a very good platform for them to express themselves. The experience also made me realize that I’ve been taking my sense of sight for granted. I would never imagine myself being blind and living in darkness helplessly. But this group of people, they have strong will of determination. They believe that they can live like any other normal people. I believe in them too. From now on, I would stop my friends if I ever hear them making fun of visually handicapped people, because they are normal beings too. Just that they lost their sight. In another way, the remaining four senses they have are more sensitive than us too.

Having DiD in Ngee Ann is really a great place for students in BZSE to explore more about social enterprise. It seems just like the right learning model for us. Through DiD, we are able to do our internship there, learning how to manage a social enterprise and give us more hands on experience rather than just theory explanations. In addition, we are able to be a volunteer there as well. However, I think that DiD is still not well-known in Singapore. Marketing plans should be implied in order for more people to support this cause. As BZSE students, I believe we should be spreading the cause and letting more people know about DiD. And the first step would be spreading among friends and families. The tour was a really inspiring one, and I believe everyone who has been there feels the same way too. Also, BZSE students can publicize DiD with marketing skills that we had learnt. We should all be ambassadors for DiD! ;D

The DiD Experience for me!

2009-11-07T22:57:00.003+08:00

After the talk by Mrs Choo during our Enterprise Creation and Development lecture, i was more excited to experience what Dialogue in the Dark was all about. All along for the past few months, i always get to hear what Dialogue in the Dark is, but do not actually get the chance to experience it myself.

4 November 2009,
it would be one of the most memorable days of my life. that was the day which i got to experience the whole DiD tour. Before reaching school that day, thoughts ran through my head thinking about what the whole tour was going to be like. Like what many would expect, i was thinking what would happen throughout the tour, i was expecting firstly, to be completely blind during the tour, to be in complete darkness for once, to be guided by a experienced visually impaired guide, to be finding my way around the places in the tour with a cane. And also, one other thought that came through my mind was, how could the tour last for 1 whole hour.

True as it is, my experience in DiD was really beyond words. i really did enjoy myself throughout the whole tour, being blind myself. And even though 1 hour may seem like a long time to all of us, the tour of 1 hour passed by quickly. The guide for our group is Jason, he was very confident in guiding us, and also open in sharing his whole experience with us. Jason was not born visually impaired, but he slowly lost his sense of sight in the later part of his twenties. Like all, it would be hard to accept, but Jason embraced the fact. Jason actually got to be a guide through introductions from the Singapore Association for Visually Handicapped.
To be qualified to be a guide for DiD, Jason had came a long way through interviews and training sessions to bring him to what he is doing now. (:

Before the whole tour, we played games as a group, getting to sharpen our senses.
using our sense of hearing, touch, and taste. it was interesting expecially during the actuvity that we were all told to eat a sweet and guessed what the flavour was, i got mine wrong. i mistook honeydew for pineapple. In another activity, we were told to form up words using the sense of touch, to figure out the letters we were holding on and to form a word together.

All in all, the orientation for DiD and the DiD tour itself was an eye opening experience for me.
when we were first given the cane and being brought into the dark, i was honestly quite afraid as i had never felp so helpless before, to be in a whole new area without my sight to guide me around. I relied alot using the cane and the walls, and definitely the great guidance of our guide, Jason. The presence of Jason gave me a whole new sense of security as he was the only one we could rely on to helping us get around the area. Jason was very friendly and welcomed us warmly, he mingled with us and ensured that all of us were always safe and keeping up. (:

To me, i feel that the greatest take away from DiD tour experience would be that, i get to experience life in a whole new light, and learn to appreciate everything around me especially my sense of sight and to learn that everyone is equal and useful. In the DiD tour, without my sense of sight, it was really hard for me to adapt, why? cause everything seems so easy with sight, and when i get to see everyday, i would tend to take it for granted. Thats what most people do, we do not appreciate what we have until we have experienced losing it. Also, in our everyday lives, we have never give a real thought about how life would be if we were visually handicapped, throught DiD, it really let us experience the blindness for ourselves. To try living the lives like the visually handicapped here in Singapore.
During the tour, we went through many many different places to experience different landmarks in Singapore itself and also get to walk in places we walk by everyday, but, without the sense of sight. It was very real for me, to walk around without being able to see, going through the frequent places, yet finding it so unfamiliar.

To me, I feel that Dialogue in the Dark Singapore would set out as an inspiring enterprise, to show and let people experience life in a new light. To appreciate the visually impaired and learn that even the visually impaired can be very useful too. Like what they say, in the world of sight, the visually impaired needs our help, but in the world without sight, we need the help of the visually impaired to help guide us around.

DiD would set out as a good learning platform for both BZSE and PCS. For both courses, we would like to help the underpriviledged and get to experience how is life for them. To not be sympathetic but to be empathetic, to feel how is it like to be like them. DiD would help teach us to experience and feel to be in the positions of the underpriviledged itself. DiD itself is a very unique form of enterprising. By hiring the visually impaired to be trained to be experienced guide, it gives the guides a form of hope, to be actually guiding others rather than being guided, it would let them feel useful and empowered. To be able to guide others, many visually impaired would think that it is a ridiculous idea, like how would that be actually be possible, but here in DiD, they really get the chance to do so. As such, to be useful, many would feel more encouraged and inspired to live life to the fullest.

Like what many lecturers and Mrs Chew had mentioned, DiD Singapore in Ngee Ann, it is the only permanent sight built here in South-East Asia, she had fought really hard in bringing DiD here into Singapore, into the campus of our school, Ngee Ann Polytechnic. DiD would allow both BZE and PCS students to learn how does an enterprise is set up, how it functions and how to keep it running efficiently. BZSE students and PCS students can learn through our internship or voluntary services in DiD, we would get to experience for ourselves in running a social enterprise. it would be a real experience for us, something that can't be learnt in the classroom.

I believe that everyone can help do a part in contributing to DiD, for us. I believe that we, BZSE students, we can help promote DiD and market it. To spread the news about DiD Singapore, to share our experience to others and of course help out as a volunteer in DiD.

I never regretted walking through this 1 hour DiD tour.
and to all who are considering in walking the tour, fret not. it will be a great eye opener for you and I'm sure u will not regret it (:

Done by,
Bernice Lim - T01

A tour in complete darkness – Shaun Teh

2009-11-07T21:56:00.002+08:00

A tour in complete darkness – Shaun Teh

Before going to Dialogue in the Dark (DiD), I did not really expect much and thought it was going to be a normal tour held maybe just a little differently. Despite having heard successful stories and seen statistics of the overseas DiD branches, I had absolutely no clue what the experience would be like. Many people told me about how the trip will be conducted in total darkness, but still, so what?

After the trip, I immediately took back my words. The experience was absolutely fantastic. The entire tour itself was very professionally conducted. The directions we were given and the quality of service was excellent.
Also during the trip, we had to maintain constant communication with our guide, Wesley, and also had to constantly rely on each other to navigate in pure darkness. We not just learned how important it was to communicate when we are unable to see, but also how important communication is for those who are blind.

The role reversal which took place during the trip was really an amazing experience. Instead of those who are sighted guiding the blind like we see every now and then, the blind are now the ones guiding those who are sighted. It really struck me and quoting one of my course mates Jonathan that “what we have is really a given.” Many times we take for granted what we have and become complacent. I personally have encountered on several occasions, this particular blind man who is probably in his 50s. He was working at this particular place which was nearby my home. I would see him at times during knock-off hours and he would always be alone and using that cane to navigate. However the amazing thing was that to travel from his workplace to the bus stop, was a 300metres walk! (Courtesy of gothere.sg) Furthermore, there is an overhead bridge he had to cross all by himself! However, sometimes at the mention of having to walk a certain distance, we get tired, lazy and complacent. The experience in DiD really challenged the way I looked at things.
I believe that the entire concept of DiD is really astounding. DiD capitalized on the strengths of those who are marginalized and used it to market a product that not just invokes our physicality, but also our thoughts and emotions. As a learning experience, it is truly nothing short of a success. This as a learning model really tells us that every individual has strengths. It is the matter of finding it and unleashing it to its maximum potential.

As a Business and Social Enterprise student, I believe that we can help in areas such as providing manpower via internships and spreading the news about DiD.

Shaun Teh
Business & Social Enterprise
T02

Public Blog on DiD Experience - ZQ

2009-11-07T21:37:00.002+08:00

As we gathered at the waiting area outside the exhibits, a staff at Dialogue in the Dark (DiD) gave us a briefing on the dos and don’ts in the exhibition room. After which the staff handed us a blind cane to each of us that we will be using to help us to navigate in the darkness. With a stick in our hand and all lined up, we entered the dark room.

Before the trip we all heard about the DiD exhibition. We knew beforehand that we will be navigating around the exhibition in complete darkness with the guidance of a blind guide. But the darkness that greeted me upon entering the exhibition was not exactly what I had imagined it to be. I tried squinting my eyes in an attempt to make out who or what was in front of me but it was futile. I began feeling uncertain and helpless about how the “journey” ahead would be like.

The DiD staff gave us directions to help us navigate through the twist and bents of the initial part of the exhibition until we were greeted by a loud and clear voice. It was a man’s voice and it had a calming and reassuring aura to it. “Hi, I am Wesley. You can call me West for short. I will be your guide for the tour.” announced the voice that seems to belong to that of someone slightly over thirty years of age.

I find that I tend to form judgement and opinions of people based on what I see on the “outside”. More often than not, those judgements and stereotypic impressions that I come to associate with what I see are probably not true and it influences to some extent how I may interact with the individual. One of the advantages of not being able to see is then that we would not be able to make judgements about others based on how they look which might help facilitate interaction that is genuine and free from prejudices towards another party.

After a few minutes into the exhibition, my eyes were beginning to adapt to the darkness. I was also learning the importance of relying on my sense of hearing and touch in navigating through the exhibition. Throughout most part of the journey, our guide was our main source of information on where to go and on the details of our surroundings. Our guide was able to navigate through the exhibition with ease and was able to give such a detailed account of our surrounding that I even suspected that he was able to see in the dark and/or was using a night-vision device.

The experience at DiD has made me realize that sometimes the labels, in this case, such as “able” and “disabled”, that we may apply on people are often arbitrary. Being in the dark exhibition hall, it doesn’t really take long to realize who are truly the “able” and “disabled”, as we usually define them. Being so much reliant on sight in my everyday life, I felt “disabled” when I could not depend on my sight to navigate in the dark exhibition hall. This time I find myself fitting the description of someone who we would often label as “disabled”. While our guide, who was supposedly visually handicapped, was truly what we would have “labeled” as the visually unimpaired. When put on equal ground, or rather put in the dark, the blind guides are probably even more “abled” than most of us due to their stronger sense of hearing, smell, taste and touch.

Furthermore, through the experience at DiD I felt that it would serve to dispel certain stereotypes many people may hold of the visually handicapped and to advocate to the public that individuals with disability can be contributors in the society and, to disprove the commonly held stereotype that persons with disability are “burdens” of the society.

Moreover, DiD could also serve as a great learning model for Business and Social Enterprise (BZSE) and Psychology and Community Services (PCS) students. This is especially so for students from both groups who will be working at DiD as interns. As a saying that goes, “Experience is the best teacher.” By being involved firsthand in its operations, student interns would be able to learn firsthand about DiD and how an social enterprise actually operates on a daily basis.

In addition to being an avenue for learning by having students to work as interns, DiD could also be an appropriate outlet for students to conduct various social research and experimental studies.

The light from the outside shone in as someone opened the curtain at the exit, and I could only keep my eyes partially opened as my eyes were still trying to adapt to the light that it has been deprived of for the past one hour in the dark exhibition hall. After everyone from the tour group made their way out through the exit, a man, probably in his forties, with distinct features and threads of white hair on his otherwise black clean-cut hair appeared out of the exit. “You all can call me if you see me outside, just remember to tell me your name”, the same familiar voice, that gave us directions in the dark, spoke with a smile.

With that, our guide said goodbye and slowly walked back into the darkness. While the rest of us walked through another exit after a debrief, into the DiD reception area, with new found perspectives.

Chew Zhi Qiang
BZSE T02

DiD reflections- singyee (T02)

2009-11-07T20:15:00.002+08:00

Before the tour,i was really excited to try out the tour and experience for myself what it is like to not be able to see.I was also really very intrigued when i heard that the tour would be led by a blind guide.I always thought of the visually handicapped people as a group of vulunerable people.As such,during the guide itself,i was really impressed that my guide,Jason, was so meticulous and caring looking out for every single one of us.

At the start of the tour,i felt really lost and helpless and being the last person made me even more nervous.However,as we went along,with the constant encouragement from jason, i felt more used to the dark.I started thinking about how it would be like without having my sight.Jason also told us about how he lost his sight at the age of 27!I felt really burdened.Although it took him 3 years to accept the fact,he showed me how positive and confident he was.It made me ashamed of myself,of how i would complain at the little troubles and give up whenever faced with challenges.

As such, i feel that i learnt to be more positive in life and appreciative of sight.These are my greatest takeaway from this tour and i also feel that the guides there themselves are really an inspiration to others.We students can learn so much from just the tour!

As this tour in DiD is really creative,it not just provides the visually handicapped people with a job but this job also allows them to be more confident and constantly encourage them in their life journey.Bzse and pcs students can come up with more creative ideas to market DiD to the public. More creative publicity would also help create more awareness to the public about DiD.

Bzse and pcs students can also learn from DiD and come up with new ideas that can help other groups of people in need. Not just a job but a job that can motivate and encourage them.

SHOOT'S :D

2009-11-07T17:25:00.007+08:00

After the talk by Mrs Choo, I began to be curious and want to know more about DiD and how does it look like in reality. Yet, I still did not know what to expect, and also doubted how a blind person could lead us in the tour.

When I first entered the room, I was quite taken aback by the total darkness. I began with small steps and was uncertain about what to do, besides holding to the shoulders of the friend in front of me. Wesley, our blind guide was very encouraging, and tried to make everyone of us feel at ease. Soon, under Wesley’s guidance and support from friends, I realise all of us started to explore the place with greater assurance, making use of all other senses. It was indeed an extraordinary new experience for me.

My greatest take-away will be a change of perspectives for the blind. To me, they belong to the vulnerable group that everyone will feel take pity on. I also believe that people who lost their sight cannot do much, and are dependent on others for a living.

Personally, I have never had any close contact with a blind person before, and Wesley being the first. He has taught me so much. His optimism towards life struck me and his sincerity touched me. I felt ashamed at how I always give up easily and allow small problems to affect me when there are so much more unfortunate people outside who are facing even bigger challenges in life. Also, Wesley’s professionalism throughout the whole tour is amazing. I have learnt that the visually impaired can also succeed in life if they are given the opportunity and proper training. They too, are just like any normal person and they lead a life no different from any one of us.

Besides, I have also learnt that being able to see the world everyday is blessing, but most often taken for granted. The tour has taught me to appreciate and cherish the simplest things in life.

I feel that DiD Singapore is an inspiration. The whole business idea and structure of the enterprise is very creative and unique. Employing the visually impaired as blind guides has made the tour more impactful. It has fulfilled many different needs of the society, including giving employment to the blind, empowering them and giving them hope. Also, when more people got to experience the DiD tour, they will grow to empathize with the blind, and grow to accept them as useful people who can contribute to the society. In this way, it has served the business aspect as well, using the money earned to sustain the enterprise. In addition, the fact that DiD carefully recruit and select every potential employee shows that it is treating the visually impaired as no different from any other people looking for jobs.

After hearing what Mrs Choo said regarding the development of DiD, from the whole planning process to implementation, I have learnt that it is really not as easy as it seems to set up an enterprise. There are so many things to be taken into consideration such the recruitment, finance, marketing and other aspects. Their enterprising and never-say-die spirit is something that the students from BZSE and PCS should learn from. Finally, through internship or voluntary services at DiD, we can learn how a social enterprise function, which would certainly be beneficial to us in the future.

As DiD is still new and unfamiliar to most people, there is still a need for marketing and publicity to be in place. An online blog could be set up to create awareness of DiD and update people of what DiD is all about, its mission, profiles of beneficiaries etc. A discussion board could also be there for people to leave their comments and feedback of their experience or what could be improved on. I feel that we can first start with students in NP, and encourage them to spread the word to their family and friends. We can then move on to schools and companies etc. Through word of mouth, I am sure we can reach out to a lot of other people. Besides, we can also help to plan activities and competitions that will promote DiD as a whole.

In addition, I feel that the positive impact of people going to the DiD tour only once may die down if there is not any follow up sessions. After all, it is difficult to change the perspectives of the blind in just 1 hour if the stereotype is already deeply ingrained in them. Hence, I suggest we can get the email contacts of the participants and update them regularly about the happenings in DiD and also recruit them as volunteers in different aspects.

Dialogue in the dark

2009-11-07T15:37:00.003+08:00

I was very excited knowing that we're going to go the DID tour. I had no fear nothing. I found it fascinating for a blind guide to bring us on a tour around. When we were all blinded by darkness at the begining of the tour, our tour guide Jason said his salutations. He sounded like someone young, perhaps 30 at most? When he began talking to us, all I did was imagined how he looked like. I began to feel sad. Sad that someone whom sounded that young had to succumb to fate, but he sounded happy. Happy to guide us, happy to be there with us. For the next hour or so, we were brought around the place and although I couldn't see, i could somehow imagine how everything looks like using my imagination. Maybe that is how the visually impaired see the world. Through description, imagination and their 4 other senses.

Almost the end of the tour, I was a bit relieved as well as sad. Relieved because I was going to see light again. Sad because I thought that the tour wasn't longer. When we finally were going to see light again, all I thought about was Jason. Here we are, going to see light after 1 hour in darkness, but he? he has to live in darkness, never to see light. Now, after the tour, I treasure the littlest things that I once took for granted. Although I can do the things I love like watching the television and shop, the visually impaired can't. They can't even see how others or themselves look like. I asked Jason how he dress and he said that he asks help form others to choose his clothings. He can't even see the design and fit of the clothes that he wore. When we finally could see Jason, my guess was right. He is a young man, and 30 at that. I am proud that he is courageous. What he said was right. Instead of staying at home and grieving, he might as well embrace the fact and make something of his life. He is happy with his job at DID. DID definetly boosted his self confidence and in a way made him a better person. At the end of the whole tour, I realised that everyone is equal. When we were in thr dark, Jason was there, he knew where he was going, he was the dominant one. We should never misjudge someone just because he is handicapped. I learnt to treasure my eyesight more and be thankful. I'll definetly go for another round of the tour.

Nuristianah T02

The blind leading us! :D

2009-11-07T15:28:00.003+08:00

After Mrs. Choo’s talk on DID, I was really excited to go and experience a different way of ‘looking’ at the exhibits. Knowing that it was new in Singapore, I had some doubts about the way they functioned and the types of exhibits they have. I was also wondering if it would live up to my expectations and I would want to come back again in future.

Upon entering DID, There was a total darkness which I did not really expect. The kind of darkness is something which I had not experienced before. I felt afraid as I was not able to see my surroundings. All I had was just a stick in my hands to ‘see’ the surroundings. At that moment, I felt weak and powerless. However, when I heard my tour guide speak, I felt a sense of security.

My tour guide, helemi, was a very friendly guide. He guided us into each room and made sure that none of us were left behind. He was a confident guide and always encouraged us to go and explore the exhibits by ourselves. He also explained clearly what we asked and aided us in understanding the place that we were in. He also shared his experiences of being a visually-impaired person such as how he managed to live his life just like a normal person. I felt he was a very optimistic person from his pleasant outlook on life which others might have felt were bleak and meaningless. This gave me a sure sense of respect and admiration of him.

Walking in the dark was not easy as I initially thought. I found that it requires a lot of courage. During the exhibition, I was really very excited when I felt something that I saw daily. I came to appreciate the gift of sight and realize that I had taken it for granted. I also felt that the exhibition was a place where the visually-impaired person actually comes to guide a ‘normal’ person. They may seem to be helpless in the real world, however, I saw that in the dark, they were really the ones who could navigate. After the tour, I was really amazed by how the visually-impaired person guided us throughout its duration.

Through the tour, I had numerous take-aways from the exhibition. I start to understand how a visually-impaired person felt in going through the day as well as the struggles that they faced. It was a really meaningful tour which am willing to go for again, and would highly recommend it to my friends.

I feel that BZSE can help DID to publicize so that, more visual-impaired individuals can be employed for such meaningful jobs. I also feel that this would give them more confidence in facing life and feel that life is more meaningful. BZSE can also help to organize more events so that more people will be aware of the visual-impaired.

Julinda :)

The blind can see what we cant see.

2009-11-07T14:11:00.004+08:00

I. LOVE. DIALOUGE IN THE DARK (DID). I was really thrilled to finally get the cahnce to experience DID first hand. And it was nothing short of an eye opener :P

I was afraid at first as i have a phobia of the dark, but just by hearing our guide's voice was reassuring. The role reversal really made me amazed at what the visually handicapped can do. Our guide was very confident and lead us without a hitch. Trusting and relying on a blind man to bring me around was difficult at first but i got used to it soon enough. walking through night walks at camps is one thing but this tour is on a whole new level. I really had to use my other senses and imagination as best as i could to navigate my way around.

The tour has made me treasure my sight much more but the most important lesson i learnt is to always be happy and look at the positive side in all things. i learnt this from chatting with the guide at the cafe. Hamili, i think thats how you spell his name, was our guide for the tour. he used to work at SIA as an air steward before a medical condition took his sight away from him. I was amazed when he told me he adapted immedaitely and wasn't sad at all that he could not see. if i was in his shoes, i might have broken down and cried. The perseverence optimism of his spirit is truely commendable and admirable.

EVERYONE should go for a tour at DID. It will really change people's mindsets about the visaully impaired. As a BZSE student, i am proud to be given the chance to market this great company and even the opportunity to intern at DID.

Marcus Liu T01

DiD by Mabel Ong, BZSE (T02)

2009-11-07T13:20:00.003+08:00

credited to google image.

After the briefing/talk on DiD by Mrs Choo, i was excited and looking forward to our DiD tour. There were some things i quite expected to experience. One, the pitch darkness, two, guided by confident visually handicapped guides and three, the appreciation of sight.

My first DiD experience was beyond words!
Never felt that "blind" and helpless in my life before.
The place was as expected; total darkness and you see nothing else but black. It fears me as i thought to myself, "so this is what it is like being completely blind? Having only the stick to depend on for life?".
For me, that moment of insecurity and helplessness lasted for only a short while as we were soon welcomed by our guide, Jason.

Jason was a wonderful guide. I could feel his enthusiasm in his work and his confidence when guiding us along in the dark. He did not hesitate to mingle with us and kept assuring us that everything's fine as long as we followed his instructions. He displayed the confidence that some of us may lack. More importantly, he embraced the fact that he was visually handicapped. Even though it took Jason three years to accept this fact, i have to applaud him for his courage and confidence for not letting this flaw affect him and making things work out his way.

In the room, we not only communicated with Jason but also the cashier, Elaine, at the Cafe. I was surprised at Elaine's speedy recognition of value of change, just by touch. I bet everyone was stunned when she accurately figured out value of coins and notes.

To me, even though DiD Singapore is new, it has already impacted lives and has fulfilled it's social cauce to quite a large extent.

DiD provides the visually handicapped with jobs/income (reintegration into the society) It's not just any other ordinary job. In DiD, our sights are no longer of any use. In DiD, the guides are our "kings".

They lead, guide and instruct us and in turn, we respect, obey, and follow them.
This definitely help boost their esteem and confidence.

Visitors leave DiD with learning to appreciate their sight better and also, thrash out all perceptions that they once had of these blind guides.

I've taken away that both us and them are equal. It's just that the guides are specialised in the dark and we are specialised in the light.
True enough. As quoted by Dr Andreas, Founder of DiD, "in the dark, the sighted are suddenly blind, whilte the blind... becomes the sighted ones. This role swap makes us think about our prejudices and sterotypes".

DiD's business model is commendable. It fulfilled both commercial and social purposes.
DiD is also a creative piece of work. The founder is superbly clever and creative!

"To experience/feel/think for others, we must always put ourselves in the shoes of others."

DiD does the exact same thing; putting us into the dark to feel how it's like being blind and appreciating the blind and our own sight.

DiD is HIP! It's a fresh idea and would definitely draw more crowds if it is more known in Singapore.

I look up to this Social Enterprise's model & i have learnt that a fresh and well thought idea is a good kickstart to something.
DiD is franchised all over the world, meaning that it's impacting the blind all over! That must result in quite a great deal of impact.

If given a chance, i would definitely adapt DiD's business model and try venturing out overseas to impact lives globally.

Afterall that's what Social Enterprises are here for; for a cause!

BZSE BEEEEEs can help MARKETING! Even though we're quite freshies to this thing called marketing, with experience and chance, we can make DiD something bigger or more known to the world!

Who knows, DiD might be the next big iconic thing (apart from the Esplanade) in Singapore!

I ALSO RECOMMEND EVERYONE to visit DiD at least once in your whole life.
It's an experience you should not miss and every take-away although different, are equally meaningful.

Shine's entry :)

2009-11-07T12:00:00.000+08:00

Hi all, for me, I actually visualized what the DiD tour will be like according to what Andres told us previously- the visually impaired becoming superheroes in the dark while we will suddenly become helpless and vulnerable. Also, I expected there to be a lot of chaos in the dark, a lot of banging into one another and hitting one another with the cane. But one thing I did not expect is the darkness. As in, I know it will be dark. But, I didn’t know it would be “that” dark to the extent you can’t see anything on matter how hard you struggle to. And in the first few minutes when we entered the exhibition, I struggled. I kind of had a “panic attack” where I felt fearful and helpless and wanted to find a way out quickly.

My greatest take-away from the DiD tour experience was something that one of the pre-tour personnel said. She said something like, “don’t worry and let the guides lead you to the light.” When I first heard this, I laughed. Not because I think it’s impossible, but to me, I thought that it was cheesy. But as we went further and further in the tour, I find everything she said coming to pass. The guide did lead us into the light and it’s not just about bringing us out from the exhibition safely. It’s about bringing us out from the pre-conceived notion that the visually impaired are always less productive in terms of work and more vulnerable than us. After this tour, I started thinking that it is not true. Given the platform, these visually impaired can also shine and make a positive impact in society. And instead of us “helping” them, it may well be the other way round.

I once heard the saying, “the greatness of your dream depends on the number of dreams it can hold.” And to me, DiD is like a big dream that holds on the many other dreams. Through DiD, many visually impaired get to realize their dreams. They get empowered and get to give back to the society. Not only so, DiD also educates and changes the perceptions of the general public. And as a learning model, it is a good example set for us to learn and practice before we leave the Ngee Ann shelter.

For me, I think BZSE students can help to come up with marketing plans and strategies to market DiD to the public. So that not only will DiD earn more profits, it can also expand its reach to the general public.

Sheena's DiD Reflections (Let them shine, not only in the dark.)

2009-11-07T10:13:00.008+08:00

Before heading for the DiD tour, I did not have any major expectations of the tour in terms of what awaits me. On one hand, I felt very excited as it was the first ever of such experience. On the other hand, I felt very uncertain on what to expect.

Heading into the exhibition with a temporary loss of sight and only a cane, the first few minutes were indeed moments of discomfort. However, our visually impaired guide, Wesley, was very assuring. He ensured that we were all close together as we moved from exhibitions to exhibitions.

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It wasn't simple moving around in the dark nor was it a task that you could 'get used' to as each and every exhibition is different. Just like how there are different scenarios and places that the visually impaired move around in their daily lives, it is not an easy feat. To add on, I was very amazed on how Wesley was so optimistic about life still. One would expect him to wallow in self-pity, but no. He is still standing strong with much positivity within him. This really calls for much respect and admiration.

Also, Wesley made a shout-out for those who attended the DiD tour to help any visually-impaired individuals with directions when we meet them on the streets. However, Wesley added that we should never ever give them hand-outs. After listening to the shout-out, I realised that the visually-impaired can be independent too. And that Wesley's job in DiD is so much more than being a guide in the dark. It is for sure that Wesley is in DiD for a higher purpose, to bridge the gap between the less advantaged and others.

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The business model with a social aspect of DiD is something that BZSE and PCS students can really use as reference in their projects or even when they step out into society in the future so as to create better social enterprises/organisations that would be able to benefit a larger group of people.

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I believe that as much as we have been impacted by the DiD tour, we should share this experience with others. Whether through words of mouth or marketing means, it can help heighten not only the awareness of DiD but also the needs and position of the visually impaired. To allow the visually impaired to shine, not only in the dark.

Sheena Lim
BZSE Student

Dialogue-in-the-Dark Assignment - BZSE 09

2009-11-07T10:13:00.005+08:00

Hi All,

Just to say that i was really amazed at how my experience at DiD turned out. Before the tour, i didn't really think that it would be a big mind blowing experience and that walking in the dark would be easy enough. But that was the greatest lesson or confrontation i had - to be confident to walk without seeing what's in front of you and rely on other people to lead you. I had so much fun with my rowdy group and i wasnt so scared anymore.

I think DiD Singapore is a great tool of learning for the students to be creative in the ways to meet the needs of society or the less privileged in a fun way. And it inculcates a 'shock' factor which challenges the minds and views of society towards them which is what i love. I guess a lot of SE's meet the needs and simply do publicity to create awareness but it takes more enterprising and creativity spirit to transform the minds of society. So this is definitely a good model for us to learn. =))

Even to contribute, i believe BSZE can market this SE to other schools in Singapore or even the world about DiD in educational institutions as a tool of business and social learning. We can also contribute by extending DiD into different aspects apart from Dialogue in the Dark to maybe, Reading in the Dark using brail, Daily in the Dark where we live our daily lives in the dark for a period of 5 days to experience the changes we need to make in our lifestyles if we were blind one day..such things like this.

Thanks
Halena

Bryan WONG Reflection on post-DiD trip

2009-11-07T00:10:00.003+08:00

When I heard that the BZSE course was going for a tour of the DiD centre in Singapore, I felt a tinge of excitement. The reason being DiD in Singapore is exclusive only to Ngee Ann Polytechnic. I heard about DiD through my lecturers and what I heard was only a broad view of the entire concept of DiD.

After the trip and amazing experience, I could only describe it as: "awesomely legendary". Everything within the 'museum' felt like the outside world squeezed into a single building. With help and guidance from my tour guide, Helemy (did I spell his name correctly?), I greatly enjoyed the DiD experience.

After the tour, I learned to greatly respect the blind. Even though they are blind, they were not daunted by the hustle and bustle of the outside world. Rather, they adapted and interacted with the environment around them independently and coped with any difficulties in their path. Being blind to them isn't a disability, it's a 'minor setback' to help them align to their goal in life, which is to be normal like people around them.

DiD Singapore, though in its initial stage of building up and establishing, has impacted many of us. To me, DiD Singapore will be able to address the strengths of the blind and create awareness amongst the general public. By allowing the public to experience what it is like to be blind, DiD Singapore is creating an opportunity for the blind to be the leaders, not the followers.

As a BZSE student, I feel that we can contribute to DiD Singapore by marketing their product to bring in public attention. BZSE students can also intern in DiD Singapore and use their knowledge to contribute to the growth of the social enterprise.

BRYAN WONG WEI ZHENG!

chengxi's DiD experience in "learning to see"

2009-11-06T19:46:00.003+08:00

when i first heard that we're going to take a tour in DiD, it just didnt felt much. expected that it's probably just another educational tour, the only difference is that we're gonna be blindfolded or something like that. it just wasnt that attractive to me. curiousity's the only thing which kept me looking forward to it.

arriving on the site that morning slightly changed my views. from the outside, it looked wonderful. upon entering the place, i was warmly greeted with "ice-breaker" games which were pretty fun and engaging, and i thought it was some sort of "warm up to being blinded" kind of stuff. but it wasnt. throughout the games, blindness was never mentioned. what was emphasized was engaging our sense of touch and hearing and our ability to communicate with one another.

scheduled at 1145am, we went into the dark room. and i swear, it's the first time i've ever experienced total darkness. it's like wondering into a whole new world, a place we've never been to, a concoction of fear, amazement, fun and helplessness. it's not something which we deal with in our daily lives.

the trip set me thinking alot, real lot. capturing every subtle messages the surrounding were releasing by feeling things around and listening carefully. William was our guide for the tour. as we sat down at the cafe inside with our drinks, william shared with us how he lost his sight. 20 years ago, age of 35, he lost the sight on one of his eyes, and the condition got worse, and soon he lost the sight on both eyes. since then, he lived in this "darkness" that was painted beautifully in the room. a darkness that no one can really comprehend.

in the dark, this experience of ROLE REVERSAL happens. us, the fully abled ones in the light, switched roles with the blind guide, which in this case, was william. in the dark, we become the ones disabled of our sight, and needed william to lead us around.
this role reversal caught my attention.

sure in our daily lives, we dont see visual impaired around much, but some point in life, we certainly will. before the trip, sympathy was what i thought they needed, after the trip, i believe that they could live just as well as abled people like each and everyone of us. and this fighting spirit in them to live on, is what i wouldnt have noticed if i hadnt attend this tour.

seeing things from another perspective is the greatest take away one can ever have. why?
cos it changes your life, it changes how you look at things, and it changes how you deal with it.
i believe that what impacted me most is the fact that blind people carries a stronger and more passionate will to live on compared to us who have led a smooth-sailing life. this determination brings them to a higher level, a sense of living to the fullest.

i believe that DiD is an excellent model for social enterprise and learning. it's an experience that you can never imagine until you go through it yourself. words can never be enough to describe something as big, as powerful as this.

the market for social enterprise is still in it's very early stages. DiD brings it to a whole new level, with an extraordinary approach. it also gives us a new style of learning about social causes, not by just studying dead useless books, but by experiencing and putting your feelings into it.

bzse students have so much to contribute to DiD. publicity is definitely one of them. althought it's impossible to describe this experience to others, we can always try our best to encourage them to take on a new challenge. sharing our learnings can also educate others about the visually impaired and engage them to try out this amazing learning experience.

i believe this works in these 3 ways.
feel it, know it, and learn it.

Matthew Han's

2009-11-06T12:01:00.002+08:00

The tour could be described in two words: world reversal. Upon entering my voyage into darkness, the other employees of DiD went through with us our other senses apart from our sight. Not sure if I should feel eager or scared, we proceeded into DiD's "infamous abyss."

Our tour group, consisting completely out of guys, and our guide being William quickly ensued from a mere acquaintance to someone we could not have gone through DiD without. The feeling of being in their world felt colourful. Not from sight, but from touch, hearing, and even smell. It surprising didn't feel empty at all. Rather, the tour made me appreciate so much more things that my sight was ironically "blinding" me of appreciating. The tickling sounds of the water splashes as we went through the Singapore River, the stimulating smell of the fruits, and the comforting touch of a friend, or a wall that you nearly bumped/crashed into. All almost seemed so real to the world of a blind person, if only I knew.
If only I knew how it was like, so we asked William. William, a 55 year old father, husband, lost his sight when he was 35, 20 years ago. He told us about losing his sight during an accident 20 years ago and the trauma he and his family faced. Father of two daughters, he had to find a way to support his family. He also shared about having a MBA and a PHD and jokingly stated how the stand for "Married But Available" and "Perfect Husband/Daddy." The reverse world effect actually made us the truly blind, rather than the guides. And if some dumb chance the sun were to day and the world be turned into darkness, we would know who to count on. :)

I am very amazed at how he takes life joyful even after losing his sight now that he has solved his employment problem thanks to DiD.

The structure of this organisation is very business-oriented and hence makes DiD suitable for self-sustaining itself. BZSE and PCS students can learn from this organisation that it is possible for the visually impaired or even those that are impaired in any other way to contribute to today's stressful and ever-moving economic society without being left out in the race. This helps them maintain their self-dignity into thinking that they are fully "dependent" on the community.

HMS students and lecturers, not only BZSE and PCS students, can contribute to DiD's growth here in Singapore in many various ways. Such of these include coming up with ways of improvement in its marketing, the tour, and to get more people into visiting DiD through the proper and appropriate publicity. Publicity as DiD as a teaching/training facility more of an "attention-grabber" to get potential students over to HMS or NP for that matter. And with more visitors from the publicity there will be more suggestions from the visitors for improvement on the tour.

JuoWi's DiD Reflection.

2009-11-06T10:53:00.000+08:00

Upon hearing that I will be going on a Dialogue in the Dark (DiD) tour, i felt excited yet skeptical. I'm going to attempt to live the life of a blind person! At that point of time, I did not have much feelings for the blind as I was not exposed to them much. Thus I see this DiD tour as a chance to widen my scope and expose myself to the lives of our blind counterparts.

After going through the tour, my whole perspective of the blind changed. I used to just think of them as disadvantaged, needing our sympathy and help to go through their lives. They may be healthy or smart or even talented in one way or another but they are still blind. Physically impaired. But the tour really opened my eyes to something new. In the dark, these blind people are the Lords. They know their way around and I even had to depend alot on my guide. Amongst all the chaos, fear and nervousness, the guide's calm and soothing voice led us through the tour safely. It seems as if now I am the disadvantaged one, needing to depend heavily on others to live my life. I finally understood how they felt all these while, living a life withour sight. However, I feel that their lives and our lives are very similar. They have to wake up in the morning, take the public transport, go to the market, go to work, eat, drink, interact with people, sleep at night. Basically it is just all that we normally do just without the aid of our eyes. Their other senses are heightened to be advantageous over ours. Thus we have nothing much to be proud of just because we can see. The next time I come into contact with a blind person, I will not look at him/her with sympathy in my eyes but with respect and treat him just as a normal person like how he/she deserves.

I feel that DiD is a very appropriate Social Enterprise (SE) to start in Singapore as there is nothing much here that really brings out the exposure towards blind people. There is no other organization in Singapore that makes the blind to become the advantageous ones while us being the disadvantaged. As a Business & Social Enterprise (BZSE) student, I feel that i have much to learn from DiD. DiD is truly a one of a kind empowerment towards disadvantaged people. It is a real creative and effective way to bring out the existance and most importantly the importance of the blind.

Being a BZSE student, I can contribute to DiD in a few ways. I can help spread by word of mouth to my friends and family about this SE. Through me, publicity will be made. I can also bring them down to try out the tour so that they can experience what I have experienced. I can also work at DiD as a volunteer or intern during my internship semester. I can learn how to mend DiD in the best way possible and help it to grow. I can also entertain the blind guides during their free time in school. Through that I might also learn more about the blind, making it a two-way connection with them.

Sheryl : Entering the Dark

2009-11-06T00:11:00.003+08:00

Before participating in the DiD tours, I did not have any expectations on what we were going to "see" at the DiD exhibition. Although we were fed with much needed information about what was going to take place, the only thing I had in mind was the curiousity about how the visually impaired guides would know exactly where things were and how real the exhibits and scenes were placed.

True enough, things can only be proven after we have been through it ourselves. I had a very enriching experience throughout the tour in DiD. In the beginning when I first stepped into the exhibition alongside my groupmates, it was pitch dark. We couldn't even see the outlines of any figures like how we usually see things when lights are switched off. However, our guide, Wesley was a very friendly person. He ensured our safety and a fun journey with him throughout. It was only through his words that we felt assured and at ease to move around in the dark.

Through this tour, the greatest take-away I had was being able to be in the shoes of a visually-impaired person. I never knew how it felt like to only feel the beauty of nature and every single detail of our environment through our senses other than sight. The tour has really met the objectives of DiD Singapore - to raise awareness and create tolerance for Otherness in the general public.

"After the tour, darkness is no longer fearful to me. Its an adventure, not an experience."
That would be my sentence to conclude my whole journey throughout Dialogue in the Dark.

As a whole, I personally felt that the establishment of DiD Singapore in Ngee Ann, led by our very own HMS director, Mrs Choo as the Managing Director for DiD Singapore acts as a very close learning platform for our students here in HMS. It is definitely a very good learning model as we personally are able to hear from the Director herself how much she went through setting up a Social Enterprise. We are able to obtain many learning experiences from her openly with no reservations.

As a BZSE student myself, I feel that with the use of what we have learnt through our diploma, we can definitely help Dialogue in the Dark in many ways. For example, marketing plans- coming up with various items for customers' purchase to advertise DiD SG to their friends- and improvement of business plans. As DiD Singapore may be new within the country, not many people may be aware of its existence. In this current phase, we can also help reach out to other visually impaired individuals who are still ill-informed about this new job opportunity for them.

Thank you.

Sheryl Tan
BZSE T01 Year 2

Yee Hong's Reflection

2009-11-05T19:33:00.004+08:00

I was expecting it to be an easy walk. As i thought that we were going from rooms to rooms. I did not even think that it was going to be fun in the first place. All i expected was the temporary blindness.

All of us were really depending on our guide, William. The feeling of being blind for about an hour walking through Singapore was a little scary in the beginning but it was fun. Being lead by a visually impaired guide which we all depended on

When we felt things throughout the tour its like wow! simple things like a tree, bicycle, car, ATM machine, window, orange, apple, watermelon and many others.. but they all seemed so new, like it was something we never seen/felt before. Its really hard to describe the feeling but its simply awesome. Learning to see appreciate the little things and "seeing" things in a different way.

I feel that DiD is a really good learning model for us to learn from as it is a really successful enterprise with such a wonderful and creative idea. Social enterprise is still pretty new in Singapore and DiD in the school will definitely allow people to know what is social enterprise about. For interns working at DiD i am sure they will get to experience and learn about how a social enterprise functions in general.

We can help by educating our friends about DiD and encouraging them to go for the DiD tour. This is very important because I am sure that many NP students might have seen the building but not many actually go in and take a look. Maybe more publicity can also be made by using NP mail to increase awareness on DiD.

The DiD Experience By Glenn Michael Danker

2009-11-05T14:11:00.003+08:00

The DiD Experience By Glenn Michael Danker 04/11/09

Honestly, I did not expect much from the DiD tour just that I thought we will be dining in the dark or just walking around in the dark. I seen DiD featured on some tour television show. So I was prepared to walk around in the dark. I just thought that DiD was just going to be walking in the dark in rooms.

When I got into the room, it was so dark that I could not see anything and I felt handicapped as my main organ for sight has been lost. Also, fear and frustration started to kick in as I no longer could see and I was very frustrated as everything has turned black now and the fear of being lost in the dark started affecting my mind. This experience truly impacted me and let me put myself in the shoes on the blind.

In the DiD tour, I traveled to many places and one of which is the boat tour at Singapore River where I sat on the “River Taxi”. This was the first time I sat on the “River Taxi” and everything was dark and I could only feel the boat moving and water splashing and hear the sound of the water and the boat engine. It was really boring as I could not see anything as the tour guide explains the various trademarks during the boat trip like “We are going under a bridge” but I can’t see any. Finally I realized that a trip for the people who can see may be very interesting but for those who can’t see is really boring. So this taught me to take note if the beneficiaries I am helping happen to be unable to see. This will prevent any miscommunications or misunderstandings when I work with them.

Throughout the trip, the blind guide, William was the one who is guiding us around. There was a role reversal as the sighted could not see and the blind guide was the only one who could “see” in the darkness and navigate us around. William also taught us the proper way how to guide a blind person which is to hold him/her by his/her arm. This tip is very important as this will prevent any misunderstanding of molest and the blind would know that someone is trying to help him/her.

DiD Singapore is a very good model for BZSE and PCS students to learn from as it is a good platform for the students to actually experienced how a SE works and what it stands for and DiD Singapore is actually in Ngee Ann Polytechnic which allows the students to travel easily to DiD Singapore to learn. Also, I think that DiD Singapore is very new but I believe it can work towards the image of the “ideal” social enterprise in Singapore. Since Ngee Ann Polytechnic is the first polytechnic to have a Business and Social Enterprise course thus, with DiD set as the benchmark, students in BZSE and PCS can learn from it.

I believe that BZSE students can contribute better marketing ideas to market DiD Singapore so that more visitors would visit DiD Singapore and experience the tour and learn what a social enterprise is all about. BZSE students could perhaps invite more of their friends to attend and educate them about DiD, its mission, its operations and its business model.

That’s all from me.

Written by
Glenn Michael Danker
BZSE Year 2