SP welcomes students back to school with cat therapy event
To welcome students back to school, Singapore Polytechnic (SP) organised a cat therapy event and adoption drive, Purrapy, as part of its four-day Distraction Arts Festival.
More than 500 students and staff turned up for the event on Tuesday (June 27), and many queued up to spend three minutes in a room with the six cats.
The community cats, aged two months to three years old, are taken care of by an independent caregiver who wanted to be known only as Mrs Wong, 76.
Event organiser Carrie Lim, a student development officer from SP's Department of Student Affairs, told The New Paper that cat therapy can help with loneliness and blood pressure.
She said: "Cat therapy has been proven to alleviate stress. (The purring of cats)has been shown to decrease stress levels and increase happy hormones in people."
Miss Lim hopes to increase students' awareness of animal welfare and to develop a deeper sense of appreciation for community cats through this event.
Students and staff can also indicate interest in adopting the cats, and SP will conduct a screening process for potential adopters.
Postcards and notebooks, costing $1 and $20 respectively, were sold at the event with all proceeds to go towards helping the community cats under Mrs Wong.
Separately, Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) launched a month-long campaign Inclusivity & Me, yesterday, to better integrate students with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities on campus.
A Sunshine Room was launched, equipped with multi-sensorial toys such as small stones and whiteboards, for SEN students to destress.
There is also a Reflect & Relax Room where peer helpers play games and study with the SEN students. Students also participated in activities like navigating a canteen in a wheelchair.
Mr Alvin Seah, 38, a wheelchair user and a member of the administrative staff with NP's School of Film and Media Studies, said: "Awareness is very important to everyone's understanding of the other person's capabilities. (This activity) is a great way to gain insight."
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