JOSEPHIANS | LUMEN
21
When Ian was only eight years old , he lost sight in his right eye due to glaucoma . By the time he was fifteen years old , his left eye was affected by glaucoma too . After taking a break from school in 2013 , he came back to school in 2014 - completely blind . Nevertheless , he did not let his disability stop him , and he continued his preparation for his ‘ O ’ Levels . After months of trials and tribulations , he attained 11 points at the 2014 GCE ‘ O ’ Level examinations .
Micaela : Can you take me through your thought process , your feelings , when you gradually lost your vision ? Ian Luke Chan : At first , when I started losing my vision , I guess I was more surprised than anything , because I hadn ' t expected it to happen any time soon . But after the initial surprise , I guess I felt numb , because I didn ’ t really want to believe that I was losing my vision . But when I finally lost most of it , I guess I was angry because I didn ’ t understand why it was happening to me . I already had lost vision in one eye by then , so I didn ’ t know why I had to lose my other eye . So after the anger , I didn ’ t really want to do anything for a while , but eventually I just accepted the fact that I would go blind so I had to cope with it .
M : How did you cope with the disability ? I : I spoke to people who are blind as well , longer than I have been , and the way they coped with their life , I guess it inspired me to a certain extent , ‘ cos if they could live with it so much longer than I had , I just wanted to try and be like them .
M : What is the thing you miss most after losing your sight ? I : Gaming . I guess you could say that [ I was an avid gamer ].
M : What gave you the strength to persevere ? Ian : The constant support from my family definitely helped , because I was apprehensive when I lost my vision , I didn ’ t think anyone would support me . But after knowing that my family kept on supporting me , it just motivated me to keep on trying , and also when I returned to school , I was quite nervous whether my class would scorn me because I was blind , or because they didn ’ t understand how to treat a blind person . But I was just accepted , just like that , so because of that , I just carried on .
M : How did the people around you ( classmates , teachers , family ) support you through this journey ? Ian : My teachers were patient with me - they offered to give me extra help for my studies and such . My classmates were also patient with me because they were able to help me navigate around the school , and they didn ’ t get impatient as well . And my parents were helpful because they kept on finding resources that I would be able to make use of , even in my state . The environment in school helped a lot , because most people in SJI are generally quite nice people , so I guess I felt more accepted .
M : What would you say to any naysayers who believed you could not make it through ‘ O ’ levels ? I : I guess I just proved them wrong , because I don ’ t think there was anyone that I personally knew who thought that I wouldn ’ t get through O levels , so I ’ m not so sure what my response would be . But if there are anyone out there who thought that , then I can just say that I did it . because I don ’ t think I can do all the necessary stuff that a doctor has to do . So the next best thing that I thought of was to become a psychologist , so that I can counsel anyone who is going through a similar kind of problem , in the future , because I ’ ve already gone through these issues , so I can help people more .
M : Do you have any words of encouragement for those who may be facing difficulties of their own ? I : To those who are facing any problems , like me , just find someone who will unconditionally support you , and just draw strength from them , and not to give up , because there are many other people who are in worse situations than us , and if they can cope with it , so can we .
M : Do you have any words of motivation for the next group of secondary 4 students ? I : Just do your best , and always listen to your teachers , ‘ cos they know what ’ s right .
M : What is the most precious lesson you have learnt from your journey thus far ? I : The most precious lesson is , even if you think there ’ s nothing left that you can do , no matter what , there is always something that you can eventually do to get out of your situation . Yeah , I think that ’ s the most precious lesson .
M : I read in the Catholic News that you hope to pursue psychology . Do you hope to help people one day ? I : At first when I was not blind , I wanted to become a doctor , because I wanted to try and help people who had eye problems , like me . But after I went blind , I knew that poses a major problem and couldn ’ t be a doctor ,
M : Do you think you have come out from ‘ O ’ levels as a stronger person ? I : I think I have , because I know I ’ m stronger in will , ‘ cos I didn ’ t give up .
Facing page : Ian and his parents , happy and proud of his achievements .
This page ( top ): Ian with some of his classmates in school
This page ( left ): Ian and his friends , celebrating the end of ‘ O ’ levels and the school year