On Monday the 13th of September, all Stage Artisans went for a trip to 'Dialogue In The Dark' held at Ngee Ann Poly. It is actually an exhibition. We were briefed upon what we could expect during the exhibition. It was supposedly an exhibiton where we could not see anything and could only feel our way through. It sounded rather scary to some of us.
When we reached the exhibition, we were told to separate into groups of 8 and to only bring along less than $5 inside the exhibition. Our bags were stored in lockers and we had to keep all light-emitting devices such as our handphones and digital watches. Before we went in, we were given walking sticks to help feel our way through the exhibition. They were the same kind of walking sticks used by blind people. My group members and i really did not know what more to expect than going into a dark room. We thought, if we could not see the exhibition, then what is the real purpose of it?
When we entered the room and the door closed behind us, we started screaming as it was totally pitch black. We could not see anything, anything at all so we got panicked and broke out into a mini hysteria. Luckily, the Ngee Ann poly staff calmed us down and told us that we are going to be guided by a visually-impaired person. When we heard that, we felt rather worried because we were scared we would lose our way or get injured in the room.
Our guide's name is Lily. When she came, she talked to us abit and reassured us that she was trained well enough and that we would have to listen carefully to her. Then, we started to walk. We walked in a single file and the first few steps wasn't smooth as some of us were still scared. Shabana, who was behind me, clenched really tightly to my sleeve.
Soon, we reached a stop. Lily told us to feel around the place and we slowly did. We got to feel leaves and the bark of a tree. We also heard birds chirping so we concluded that we should be at a 'park'. Then, we moved on and some of us yelped or gave a short scream out of shock when we accidentally bumped into something. We made a few stops where we had to use our senses except for our sight to guess our 'location'. Although we were scared during the first stop, we realised that the only way to benefit fully from the exhibition is to explore. Afterall, this was our only chance to really experience how it is like to be blind. One of the most memorable stops was on a 'boat at the Singapore River'. We sat on what seemed like a moving platform and suddenly, we felt a storng wind blow. We heard the sound of little waves. The best part was when the 'boat' we were on started to slowly move. maybe it was just vibrating slowly, but we could sense it was really moving and the engine is vibrating.
The last stop was at a mini cafe where we bought cookies and drinks to be consumed. The cashier, who is a student of Ngee Ann poly, prepared the things we ordered. She knew how much money we paid her and gave the exact change by feeling the size of the notes and coins. We sat on a bench after buying our snacks. When i ate the cookie, i found out that i dropped lots of crumbs because i could not see where i was biting. I even had to request for Lily to tear the packet for me.
When we finally got out, we were elated that we could finally see. Lily revealed herself to us and we instantly felt pitiful towards her. Her eyes were small and closed. We thanked her for the exciting tour and she smiled and went back into the dark exhibition room.
A visit to Dialogue in the Dark taught me one thing - never to take my sight for granted. I am sure it must have been very difficult for visually-impaired people to grow up normally. They cannot see the things and hazards around them and have the rely chiefly on their other senses. I wondered if they made friends and fit into the society without much difficulty. It is really depressing to only see black all around you and not know how beautiful the world is. I salute all visually-impaired people out there for having the will to go on with life despite their disadvantages.
Mrs Wee, i think you should give Dialogue in the Dark a visit someday. It was really an eye-opener (although were we're not able to see anything) for us, and i'm sure you will like it as much as we did.
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