Since Circuit Breaker and extended Circuit Breaker measures kicked in, I have not stepped out of the house at all. I was completely staying at home, working from home.

During the stay-at-home period, my friends and I, just like so many others, sent food packages to one another. Rice, noodles, snacks, desserts, you name it. They can be found in the food delivery apps (more choices became available during the extended Circuit Breaker where more food operators reopened). One of my friends also sent me grocery items from the supermarket and Marks & Spencer. With the Circuit Breaker measures in place, we could not dine in and we could only do takeaways or have food delivery. That is when inaccessible food menus in restaurants, signboards of food stalls became accessible. On the food delivery platforms, I could easily read what the restaurant offered using my assistive device, the descriptions of each dish like the weight, the ingredients and even the methods of cooking. From a simple dish like pancake where you choose peanuts or cheese fillings to even mixed rice or a salad bowl, you could customise it however you want with a swipe, or a tap.

When Singapore exited from the Circuit Breaker phase and began to safely reopen, I finally got the chance to go out for some sunshine and fresh air. Right when Phase Two started, the weather was relentlessly rainy for days. I still decided to walk in the rain with a friend.

Siew Ling, drenched in the rain, in a sheltered overhead bridge which led to the McDonald's outlet at Stadium with the Goodman Arts Centre behind.

This photo showed me in a sheltered overhead bridge which led to the McDonald's outlet at Stadium with the Goodman Arts Centre behind. You can see that I got drenched by the rain.

It is also important to wear a mask when one goes out. The problem I faced was whenever I wear a mask, I have this psychological feeling of an obstacle right ahead and I would be crashing into it very soon. At a noisy place like the nearby Hawker Centre, friends cannot hear me very clearly as my speech becomes muffled by the mask I am wearing.

As Singapore continues to safely reopen in stages, we must make an effort to observe all the safety guidelines to ensure our well-being.

Tan Siew Ling is fully Deafblind, having lost both her sight and hearing to a neurological condition, Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). She carries a screen reader with a Braille display, which she fondly names it as “Bear Bear”, everywhere she goes. Her humour, wordplay, and love of puns keep friends on their toes. She enjoys reading books in her free time and loves to pen down her thoughts, often on a whim, which can be entertaining at times, on her social media. When she is not writing or reading, she can be seen doing insanely 72kg leg presses or swinging a 20kg kettlebell to and fro. You can find out more about Siew Ling and her journey here.