Let’s get this straight — this is not a sob story about Hafiz’s blindness.
In fact, there’s nothing remotely tear-inducing about the way this guy lives his life. He makes no-holds barred jokes about everything, including his own blindness (yes, we’ve asked if we should refer to the condition as ‘visually impaired’ or ‘blind’).
He’s got a way with people. From taming rowdy customers, hijacking personal cars, to stealing girls’ hearts, there’s nothing this charmer can’t do...and get away with.
He’s born this way — and happy.
“I was born blind. I can see a little, only at bright places. But I work in Nox, so we don’t need to use sight to work here.
Honestly, I don’t know what my condition is. Since I was young, my mother and other people have asked me to check. But I don’t see a need. I’m comfortable like this. I’m happy in a way that people don’t understand.”
Working at Nox is part of his personal mission.
“I spend my whole life trying to teach people how to communicate with blind people. So working at Nox is personal. It’s a way I can let people understand me.
Usually after dessert, we have time for a little chat. Sometimes it leads to a half-hour chat!
Customers will ask me a lot of questions about how a blind person lives. Before the Nox experience, they didn’t understand, for example, why sometimes blind people eat in a funny way.
Others don’t know how to approach and help a blind person. Some of them just tried to help by pulling the cane. It’s a bit funny! So I’ll explain to them.
Being a waiter or waitress, if you just serve and food and go away, you don’t add much to the job. It’s just simply a job. But if you do more, speak more, engage more, at the end of the day you feel happier and customers enjoy it. It’s the ‘Hafiz touch’!”
He’s so awesome there’s a cocktail named after him.
(What’s cooler? Having a school/library/administrative building named after you, or a cocktail?
The ‘Hafizz’ is a creation of Ruban, Head Bartender of Nox. Which as the name suggests, is a more carbonated twist of the real deal, but no less sweet.
Human Hafiz doesn’t drink, but he sure does appreciate the gesture.)
Sometimes being blind has its advantages…
- People are nicer
“Sometimes there big groups at Nox. You know how people are in the dark — they’re with their friends, excited and talk a lot, laugh a lot, make noise…
There was a group that was rude at the start and didn’t want to listen to instructions. But I realised generally, people are nicer and more respectful when they know a person is handicapped.
So when I mentioned that, the group became more tame! Sometimes I enjoy being blind…”
2. Make friends easily
“I don’t mind people talking about my blindness, and actually it’s easier to make friends! When I’m walking on the street, someone would come help me, and from there we become friends. From young people to old uncles.”
He’s a daredevil and high adrenaline sport junkie.
“I love roller coasters! The crazier and scarier the better. There was one I tried in Jakarta. It went round and round 2–3 times — that was the best! I want to try bungee jumping, but there’s no chance yet.
In Korea, you can either take a zipover to Nami Island. I’ve always wanted to try that — it’s like flying like Batman over the sea. I wanted to try but my wife was scared, so in the end we took the ferry. It didn’t even rock. So boring…
I tried Go-Kart once — had to bypass security because they wouldn’t allow blind people in! But I can see a bit, so it’s okay.”
He likes rough games…
“This must be a shock right! I play soccer specially for blind guys, called Football 5-A-Side Singapore.
It’s a rough game, but I like the contact. Because you can’t see, when you run you’re like a bull.
The goalkeeper is a sighted guy. He needs to control his team and tell us roughly where the ball is. It’s tough to score, but if you do you feel more satisfied!
Sometimes, we invite schools to play with us to get exposure. When we play with sighted students, we first break the ice. We want them to know that this group of people are badass guys.
In a real competition, everyone is blindfolded, even the blind guys, to keep the fairness of the game. Who knows — one of the guys can see a little, like me!
I like to be the striker. Well, I asked my wife to watch me play and be stylo, but she said I’m no good!”
‘Love at first sound’
“My wife is a sighted person. She’s a senior preschool teacher and we’ve been married for 2 years.
You know how usually people say ‘love at first sight’? My story is more of ‘love at first sound’ or ‘love at first voice’.
I used to work at an exhibition in the dark at Ngee Ann Poly. At that time my wife was a student there, and every student had to experience it. She was crying because it was her first time in the dark, so I helped her.
To be honest, I was the first blind person she knew.
I love her and want to be with her. So everything was up to me — how I wanted to change her perception, and how I wanted to convince her that a blind man could still be as reliable.
During the start, there were some misunderstandings, because she didn’t know how to handle a blind person. So I showed her how to do it. At the same time, I don’t show myself as a weak person. I’m independent and don’t need her to do everything.
Whenever I can, I do things for my wife. For example, when we went to KFC, I insisted she sit down and I’ll order. Even though, in my heart I was thinking, can I not? What if I drop the food?
But I just did it!”
He’s an inspiration when it comes to relationships
“One of my blind friends has a sighted girlfriend. He wanted her to experience and understand blind people, so he brought her to Nox.
Because I have a sighted wife, I could help explain to her how our life is like. We could pass her a message on his behalf — that it is possible for a sighted lady to marry a blind man.”
Funny incidents?
(According to Hafiz, being blind can be a hoot sometimes.)
- He hijacks personal vehicles…and gets away with it.
“Usually when I’m looking for my cab, I’ll point the app on my phone to the car plate — it will read the number out to me. Sometimes, I will ask the driver to honk once, so I’ll know where the car is.
Once I booked a cab to a lobby. That day, I didn’t check the car plate. So I went down, opened the car door, got inside, and told the driver, ‘Uncle, Yishun!’
The guy said, ‘This is not a taxi!’ ”
2. The brutal honesty of children
“Recently we had a school programme at Pasir Ris Primary to raise awareness for blind people. I played the guitar and my colleague sang to the kids.
Kids are the most honest people! Sometimes they’ll shout things like, ‘There’s a blind man there!’ But it’s okay because we’re used to it.
Or they ask funny questions like, how do I wear my clothes, how do I know the colour I want to wear today, how do I eat…sometimes I don’t even know how to answer them!”
For the full-fledged Hafiz experience, visit Nox. Alcoholics can ask for a Hafizz to complete the circle.
About Rezhelp:
We’re an F&B community for people who love what they do. We believe there’s nothing stronger than inspiration in action.
