180 Tampines residents aged 40 and above participated in Our Eyes for Life (OEFL) Day today, which was held from 10am to 5pm at Tampines Mall. OEFL Day on last Saturday (24 Feb) , which is organised by Our Eyes for Life, a final-year project by four students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, consisted of a free eye screening for over 150 Tampines residents and a series of health talks.
Our Eyes for Life is a communication campaign run by four final-year-students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, as part of their final-year-project. The team, which comprises Lim Wei Hao (25), Chan Shu Hui (23), Nicole Ang Xin Pin (23) and Lydia Teo Rui Jun (23), was inspired to focus on eye health after realising that all of their parents have suffered from some form of eye disease.
Held in collaboration with the Singapore Optometric Association (SOA), the eye screening was able to test for the four major age-related eye diseases in Singapore: cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy (DR) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
A series of talks in Mandarin and English was also conducted by Dr Tan Kah Ooi, treasurer of SOA, Ms Patricia Koh, technical manager, Essilor Mission Division and Mr Kothubutheen Mohamed Farook, principal optometrist, Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) to educate the public about eye health and health in general.
“Eye health is an increasingly pertinent topic and it is important for all Singaporeans, especially those aged 40 and above, to go for regular eye screenings,” says Mr Desmond Choo, Mayor, Northeast District, Adviser to Tampines GROs and MP for Tampines GRC.
“I am glad that so many Tampines residents were able to benefit from OEFL Day and I am heartened to see youths stepping up to spearhead community-driven efforts such as this to benefit the society.”
“I’m very thankful that this free eye screening was organised for us,” says 49-year-old Tampines resident Leo. “Before, I didn’t know much about eye health and was not very concerned. However, after going through the screening and talks, I’m now more aware of the different eye diseases and will go for regular eye screenings.”
The Our Eyes for Life campaign is held in partnership with Tampines GRC, SOA, SNEC and Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI). It is supported by Essilor International Research and Development (R&D), Essilor Vision Foundation (EVF) and National Youth Council. Volunteers from SOA, SNEC, Essilor International R&D, EVF and optometry students helped to run OEFL Day.
“Today we are privileged to have a variety of stakeholders from the eye care community coming together to serve the residents of Tampines. To see everyone working together also shows that we strongly believe in the importance of visual health and the benefits good vision can bring to every individual. We certainly look forward to co-organising more initiatives like this in the future,” said Ms Germaine Lye, Head of Essilor Vision Foundation ASEAN.
The Our Eyes for Life campaign is running from now till end-March 2018. The public can stay updated on Our Eyes for Life at www.facebook.com/OurEyesForLifeSG. Alternatively, subscribe to WhatsApp service by sending a WhatsApp message saying “JOIN” to +65 8493 5443.
