Title | BLIND. FAITH. |
Brand | SINGAPORE ASSOCIATION OF THE VISUALLY HANDICAPPED |
Product / Service | PUBLIC SERVICE |
Category | B05. Public Service, Charity & Fund Raising |
Entrant | EURO RSCG SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE |
Entrant Company: | EURO RSCG SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE |
Sales Promotion/Advertising Agency: | EURO RSCG SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Victor Ng | Euro RSCG | Chief Creative Officer |
Kelvin Lim | Euro RSCG | Associate Creative Director |
Victor Ng | Euro RSCG | Copywriter |
Adrian Sim | Euro RSCG | Copywriter |
Kelvin Lim | Euro RSCG | Art Director |
Candice Tang | Euro RSCG | Art Director |
Farizal Akramhan | Euro RSCG | Art Director/Editor |
Darius Shah | Euro RSCG | Editor |
Eugene Chong | Euro RSCG | Technology Director |
Joel Ng | Euro RSCG | Production Director |
Lam Yiren | Shooting Gallery Asia | Director |
Abdul Hisham Bin Abdul Muin | Shooting Gallery Asia | Director of Photography |
Adrian Quek | Shooting Gallery Asia | Director of Photography |
Mohd Fazrin Bin Mohd Affendi | Shooting Gallery Asia | Director of Photography |
Eric Ng | Shooting Gallery Asia | Photographer |
Chris Loo | Shooting Gallery Asia | Producer |
Audrey Yap | Shooting Gallery Asia | Producer |
Grace Chung | Shooting Gallery Asia | Producer |
Leollyne Teng | Shooting Gallery Asia | Producer |
The Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH) was facing two interlinked problems: (1) The public subtly discriminates against the visually impaired as they are perceived to be incapable of integrating with the society. (2) Conversely, the visually impaired generally feel a lack of self-confidence to be useful members of the society. These perceptions cannot be further from the truth and SAVH wanted to take a definitive step to debunk them.
Our insight is blindingly simple: if one cannot see, he hears much better – and that makes him a better listener than those who can see. For the visually impaired, this idea turned their handicap into an asset. We trained 12 visually impaired members of SAVH to become counsellors and set up a phone and home counselling service to the general public – who are oblivious that they were being counselled by someone with a devastating disability.
The success of the campaign is best measured by the reactions of those who contemplated suicide and sought counselling. After face-to-face sessions, many were humbled and inspired by their disabled counsellors’ courage to live on. In just one month, our unique counselling service has helped over a hundred people find their way and will to live. But nothing beats having the visually impaired being seen in a completely different light.
It is widely known to people that the visually impaired have a more acute listening ability. By making them listeners to people with problems, we allow them the opportunity to be visible to society and relevant to a very pressing societal problem – a year-on-year increase in suicides. The idea of the visually impaired as counsellors? It is a world-first.