It was August 3, 2017, and the then-47 year-old had returned home from his job teaching speech and drama to preschool children. It had been a long day at work, and he was tired.He noticed that his surroundings seemed a bit blurry, but he wrote it off as simply a sign of exhaustion. It was August, which was a busy time of the year with rehearsals for preschool graduation concerts starting to intensify.
He loved his job, which he had been doing for more than 12 years. In his free time, he enjoyed running marathons, bowling and swimming. Doctors told him that early symptoms included floaters and black spots. But prior to that fateful day, he had showed no symptoms.I told the doctor, let me just jump down and kill myself.GETTING BACK ON HIS FEET
He moved in with his second sister, Teresa, and her family, and with their help, he began to adjust to life. In fact, he completed mobility training – which involves aspects like using the white mobility cane, moving around the house safely, and taking public transport – in just three days, well in advance of the three to six weeks a typical adult would need to complete the training.With each course he took, he gained confidence. Impatient to start earning an income again, he asked his social worker about employment opportunities for the visually impaired. But that was when reality struck.
He was willing to try, but he soon learnt that the course would take more than two months, during which he would not receive an income. His name was the second on the list, and they needed six participants to start a course, which meant an even longer delay before he could start work. There were rounds of selection tests he had to go for, where he was required to smell and describe different fragrances. He knew that there were many others who had applied, and only a few could get through.
On her own, Siau Choon decided to approach the SAVH in 2016 to gauge their interest. Worried about being turned down by the association, she thought it best to get their buy-in before bringing up the idea to her bosses. “We had them in mind right from the very beginning,” he said, explaining that the office building they chose – Ascent at the Singapore Science Park – has ramps and wide lift lobbies to help those with disabilities get around.
After a bus journey from SAVH with other visually impaired applicants, he was ushered into a room to wait for the Firmenich staff to begin the interview and selection process. Bernard’s white mobility cane was folded and placed carefully at the side of the room. Apart from the sunglasses some of them were wearing, it was hard to tell the difference between the sighted and visually impaired panellists as they laughed and joked with each other.
It looked almost comical, but it was there for practical reasons: Each board fits snugly on top of an iPad, working as a touch-template to help panellists like Bernard rank the intensity of each fragrance with minimal assistance. “We still wrote manually then and used a lot of paper," he added."But then Thibault came along and improved it even more by adding the iPad.”
The tactile cut-out, coupled with the iPad, allows the panellists to more easily record their observations of smell notes in a fragrance. “I can’t deny that there was a bit of a stereotype – I thought they would struggle to lead a normal life,” he said. “But when I saw them, I realised they’re quite independent and able to manage really well on their own.”
The panellists also test the fragrances on their own skin, because the smells can differ on different surfaces. “When they ask me what I’m doing here, I tell them that I work with Firmenich, and what I do,” he said.In his quest to return to as independent a life as possible, Bernard has achieved much: Apart from getting the part-time position at Firmenich, he also scored a full-time job as a waiter at NOX – Dine In The Dark, which he does in tandem with his job at Firmenich.