SATS partners Orbis Singapore to raise awareness about the challenges facing the visually impaired

SATS PARTNERS ORBIS SINGAPORE TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT THE CHALLENGES FACING THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Blindfold lunch at ITE raises awareness of the difficulties faced by visually impaired travellers amongst Passenger Services students.

Singapore, 27 July 2018 – SATS Ltd. (SATS), Asia’s leading provider of Gateway Services and Food Solutions, announced today it is partnering Orbis Singapore, an international charity for blindness treatment and prevention, in their effort to raise awareness of preventable blindness. The partnership will see SATS providing bento lunch sets and volunteers for Orbis’ Blindfold Lunch sessions in schools.

Orbis Blindfold Lunch is an initiative targeted at helping school children to develop empathy for the challenges of the visually impaired. The programme also aims to educate the children on the importance of eye care. At a session conducted at ITE today, 60 students from Passenger Services ate their lunch blindfolded to get a hands-on experience of eating without sight. Staff from SATS Passenger Services and Cargo operations volunteered as facilitators for the session and provided practical career advice to the youths.

Said Tan Li Lian, SATS Senior Vice President of Human Capital, “SATS is a people-led company that believes in helping everyone to fulfil their full potential. As Asia’s largest provider of Food Solutions and Gateway Services, we help to connect people from around the world. There are a quarter billion of people in the world who are visually impaired and unable to move safely and efficiently on their own. By doing our part to raise awareness and empathy, SATS hopes to fulfil our vision of Feeding and Connecting Asia.”

Orbis Singapore runs a number of programmes for blindness prevention including The Flying Eye Hospital. Supported by SATS, the charity plans to run 6 sessions of Blindfold Lunches. Elaine Woon, Project Orbis Director, said “SATS-supported Orbis Blindfold Lunch experience in schools will be a fun and engaging way for school children to understand how it feels to eat without their sense of sight. We hope the experience will bring the message across that everyone needs to prioritise eye health and go for regular eye screenings before it is too late.”

Dr Yek Tiew Ming from ITE added, “This collaboration with SATS, Orbis and our ITE students from the Passenger Services course has helped our students to understand the hardships and daily struggles of the visually handicapped. By participating in this immersive blindfold lunch experience, the students will develop empathy to handle a passenger with disabilities better.”

– End –

About SATS Ltd.

SATS is Asia's leading provider of Gateway Services and Food Solutions.

Our comprehensive gateway services encompass airfreight handling, passenger services, ramp handling, baggage handling, aviation security services, aircraft interior and exterior cleaning as well as cruise centre management. Our food solutions include airline catering, institutional and remote catering, aviation laundry as well as food distribution and logistics. SATS is present at 62 cities, 60 airports across Asia and the Middle East.

SATS has been listed on the Singapore Exchange since May 2000. For more information, please visit www.sats.com.sg.

About Orbis International

Orbis is an international non-profit working to eliminate avoidable blindness. We are a pioneer in the prevention and treatment of blindness for over 30 years and have worked in 92 countries. We operate the world’s only Flying Eye Hospital onboard an MD-10, a state-of-the-art teaching hospital that allows us to travel the world to share knowledge and develop skills with communities that need it most. Orbis provides education that is both high-quality and long-lasting so that these medical professionals can use their new skills to treat their patients even after the Flying Eye Hospital departs. Visit sgp.orbis.org to learn more.

Media Contact

Carolyn Khiu
Vice President, Public Affairs & Branding
SATS
DID: (65) 6541 8200
Email: [email protected]

Elaine Woon
Director
Project Orbis International Inc (Singapore) Ltd
TEL: +65 6479.5875
Email: [email protected]