By PRETHIBA ESVARY SUBRAMANIAN
I was prepared to cross the road when I heard the roaring sounds of vehicle engines coming to a slow stop. I took it as a sign that the green walking sign had come on. So, I firmly held on to the walking cane I had on my left hand and swished it from side to side as I began to walk. I could hear the familiar bumpy sounds produced by contact made between the end of my cane and the road surface; and the footsteps of my sisters who were trailing behind me.
All of a sudden, the sound of the engines roared back to life and I could hear our tour guide, Nor Aisyah binti Aziz, urging us to pick up our pace. Problem was, I did not know where I was going and I was not even sure if I was walking in a straight line!
Lucky for us, this was merely a simulation exercise. We were simply put into a dark room, filled with really good sound effects and props, and were simply tasked to find our way around and comprehend what was going on, by following the voice of our guide.
Crossing a busy road in Kuala Lumpur was just one of the few exciting activities that my sisters and I were involved in during an experiential journey through a series of specially-designed dark rooms. Spearheaded by its founder Stevens Chan Kum Fai, Dialogue in the Dark (DID) Malaysia is an exhibition/ experience centre and social enterprise. The purpose of DID is to educate the society about challenges faced by the blind community on a regular basis and to bring to light the ability of the blind, rather than their disability.
The tour around a series of dark rooms took about 45 minutes, where my sisters and I were led by a blind guide who took us on a ‘Cuti-Cuti Malaysia’ adventure. We found ourselves navigating through real-life settings such as the National Park, the foothill of Mount Kinabalu, Port Dickson beach, a bank, a market and even a cafe.
Throughout the entire experiential journey, my sisters and I were basically swishing our walking canes from side to side trying to determine what we were standing on and to avoid walking into walls or holes; finding our way to the railings to hold on to for support; touching random objects to determine what they were; smelling items to see if they were what they seemed to be when we touched them; and tasting food and drinks to tell what exactly they were.
When we were at the bank, we were tasked to look for a telephone booth. Oh we found a booth alright. Only it wasn’t exactly a telephone booth. I moved my hands across the booth and felt the familiar shapes and arrangement of a keypad. As I kept moving my hands, I felt a thin, rectangular slot which felt like a card could fit into. It was an ATM machine! Our tour guide then asked us how would we know what buttons to press if we wanted to withdraw some cash? Nor Aisyah explained that the dial that belonged to ‘5’ marked the centre of the keypad, thereby providing an indication to the blind of where and what the other numbers nearby are.
In the market, we picked up fruits and packets of herbs and spices from baskets. We did not know what each item was and so we had to use our sense of smell and touch to distinguish them. We found ourselves getting excited when we could correctly guess what we were holding and smelling. It’s amazing how much our sense of smell and touch can do to help our brain comprehend what’s in front of us, without having to see it.
Another interesting experience was when we came across a motorcycle and a car. Just imagine a couple of newly-blind people moving their hands all about a motorcycle and a car, in the dark. I am pretty sure we would have looked ridiculous. The highlight of this particular experience was when we could correctly guess the number plate on the car by moving our fingers around the letters and numbers. What would have taken seconds to read in broad daylight with proper eyesight, had taken a full minute or so in the dark.
The final stop of our journey was a cafe where we were tasked to make a purchase and have a meal. When the barista gave me my teh tarik and packet of cookies, I had to listen for her voice to know the rough location of where she was standing, to be able to predict exactly where she was holding out my meal. Once seated at the dining table at the cafe, I had to move my hands carefully across the table to find what I was looking for and ensure I got the right thing down my throat. Well, that was a tough one!
What I realized during the simulated expedition was how much more I had to rely on my other senses than I normally would. At the end of the journey, I recalled feeling a sense of amazement and also empathy for the blind community, because I finally understood what it felt like to not have my eyesight. If it were not for the reassuring voice of our tour guide, my sisters and I would have been at a lost in the dark! In the real world though, there is no reassuring voice telling the blind where to go, unless they have a constant companion with them. I know that after this experience, I am never going to look at a blind person the same way again because now, I will have a newfound respect and empathy for them.
The Founder of DID Malaysia Stevens Chan said the goal of DID is this: “...through the medium of darkness, people will learn to discover empathy, to love and appreciate light and not to take their GOD given eyesight for granted, while equipping, enabling and empowering the visually impaired community and enlightening the sighted community towards empathy to move beyond sight.”
Thus, it is time we saw blindness as an ability rather than a disability and learn to understand the world inside a blind person’s mind. They do not deserve to be sidelined merely because of society’s misconceived perception of them. As author Millie Huang once said, “blind is not the situation when people cannot see others but when people fail to feel or sense the existence of others.”
All of a sudden, the sound of the engines roared back to life and I could hear our tour guide, Nor Aisyah binti Aziz, urging us to pick up our pace. Problem was, I did not know where I was going and I was not even sure if I was walking in a straight line!
Lucky for us, this was merely a simulation exercise. We were simply put into a dark room, filled with really good sound effects and props, and were simply tasked to find our way around and comprehend what was going on, by following the voice of our guide.
Crossing a busy road in Kuala Lumpur was just one of the few exciting activities that my sisters and I were involved in during an experiential journey through a series of specially-designed dark rooms. Spearheaded by its founder Stevens Chan Kum Fai, Dialogue in the Dark (DID) Malaysia is an exhibition/ experience centre and social enterprise. The purpose of DID is to educate the society about challenges faced by the blind community on a regular basis and to bring to light the ability of the blind, rather than their disability.
The tour around a series of dark rooms took about 45 minutes, where my sisters and I were led by a blind guide who took us on a ‘Cuti-Cuti Malaysia’ adventure. We found ourselves navigating through real-life settings such as the National Park, the foothill of Mount Kinabalu, Port Dickson beach, a bank, a market and even a cafe.
Throughout the entire experiential journey, my sisters and I were basically swishing our walking canes from side to side trying to determine what we were standing on and to avoid walking into walls or holes; finding our way to the railings to hold on to for support; touching random objects to determine what they were; smelling items to see if they were what they seemed to be when we touched them; and tasting food and drinks to tell what exactly they were.
When we were at the bank, we were tasked to look for a telephone booth. Oh we found a booth alright. Only it wasn’t exactly a telephone booth. I moved my hands across the booth and felt the familiar shapes and arrangement of a keypad. As I kept moving my hands, I felt a thin, rectangular slot which felt like a card could fit into. It was an ATM machine! Our tour guide then asked us how would we know what buttons to press if we wanted to withdraw some cash? Nor Aisyah explained that the dial that belonged to ‘5’ marked the centre of the keypad, thereby providing an indication to the blind of where and what the other numbers nearby are.
In the market, we picked up fruits and packets of herbs and spices from baskets. We did not know what each item was and so we had to use our sense of smell and touch to distinguish them. We found ourselves getting excited when we could correctly guess what we were holding and smelling. It’s amazing how much our sense of smell and touch can do to help our brain comprehend what’s in front of us, without having to see it.
Another interesting experience was when we came across a motorcycle and a car. Just imagine a couple of newly-blind people moving their hands all about a motorcycle and a car, in the dark. I am pretty sure we would have looked ridiculous. The highlight of this particular experience was when we could correctly guess the number plate on the car by moving our fingers around the letters and numbers. What would have taken seconds to read in broad daylight with proper eyesight, had taken a full minute or so in the dark.
The final stop of our journey was a cafe where we were tasked to make a purchase and have a meal. When the barista gave me my teh tarik and packet of cookies, I had to listen for her voice to know the rough location of where she was standing, to be able to predict exactly where she was holding out my meal. Once seated at the dining table at the cafe, I had to move my hands carefully across the table to find what I was looking for and ensure I got the right thing down my throat. Well, that was a tough one!
What I realized during the simulated expedition was how much more I had to rely on my other senses than I normally would. At the end of the journey, I recalled feeling a sense of amazement and also empathy for the blind community, because I finally understood what it felt like to not have my eyesight. If it were not for the reassuring voice of our tour guide, my sisters and I would have been at a lost in the dark! In the real world though, there is no reassuring voice telling the blind where to go, unless they have a constant companion with them. I know that after this experience, I am never going to look at a blind person the same way again because now, I will have a newfound respect and empathy for them.
The Founder of DID Malaysia Stevens Chan said the goal of DID is this: “...through the medium of darkness, people will learn to discover empathy, to love and appreciate light and not to take their GOD given eyesight for granted, while equipping, enabling and empowering the visually impaired community and enlightening the sighted community towards empathy to move beyond sight.”
Thus, it is time we saw blindness as an ability rather than a disability and learn to understand the world inside a blind person’s mind. They do not deserve to be sidelined merely because of society’s misconceived perception of them. As author Millie Huang once said, “blind is not the situation when people cannot see others but when people fail to feel or sense the existence of others.”