A team led by social worker Glenn Seet brought 17 clients from SPD’s Transition Programme for Employment (TPE), Sheltered Workshop, Employment Support Programme (ESP) and Specialised Case Management Programme (SCMP) to an event held at the Singapore Polytechnic (SP) on 13 October to commemorate World Sight Day.

World Sight Day is an annual event held globally to create awareness of vision impairment and blindness. SPD’s Community & Social Service Department (CSSD) collaborated with Optometry Giving Sight for our clients to undergo a comprehensive eye screening and thereafter prescription of spectacles. The professionalism of the SP students who conducted the tests was clearly evident and the selection of frames was well-organised and systematic.

Most clients were found to require new spectacles or reading glasses. Sheltered Workshop trainee Lim Lian Hwa was one who was prescribed two, one for long-sightedness and one for reading. “I am thankful for the free spectacles. I hope these checks can be done on a regular basis,” he said.

Several clients, who had been struggling with poor vision for years, were found to have eye conditions that would require follow up by doctors. Madam Soon Fei Guat, whose 32-year old daughter Rowena Yee is under the SCMP, was thankful for event. The examiners found that Rowena’s left eye vision was very poor and referred her to hospital for follow-up.

‘I am amazed by how thorough the eye checks were and I learned a lot about my daughter’s condition from the tests. I even had my own eyesight checked as well!” said Madam Soon.

Clients who were prescribed spectacles are looking forward to receiving them in a few weeks.

A big thank you to the good people of Singapore Polytechnic and Optometry Giving Sight for inviting us to this event!