Tan Hua Yeow's Letter

Pasir Ris Secondary School
390 Tampines Street 21
Singapore 529400

21st July 2008

Mr Mah Bow Tan,
Minister of National Development,
Member of Tampines GRC.

Dear Minister Mah,

Feedback and suggestions to improve the playgrounds in Tampines

The playgrounds in Tampines are fun and amusing for children. After many years, your playgrounds have become more and more fun and safe. For example, in the past the playground floor was made of concrete, causing several injuries. Now you changed the flooring into some soft carpeting. My compliments to the designers and also personal thanks to them for inspiring me to be a designer too.

However, there are some matters that need to look into. Recently I have done some research on Down syndrome. Many factors led me to believe that your playground is not good for children with special needs. For instance, children with Down syndrome have lung problems or weak muscles.

My group of designers and I have specially designed a playground for the children with special needs. An example would be that instead of using stairs we changed it into ramps. Also for the handle bars we added a rough layer of grip onto it, so that in case the children’s hands are wet, their grip won’t be lost. At the bottom of the slide there will also be some soft material to cushion the children when they slide down.

I hope you would consider my ideas. If you prefer, I could send some photos of our designs. Hope you reply to us soon, and thank you for spending some time to read the contents of the letter.

Yours Truly,
Tan Hua Yeow,
Student,
Pasir Ris Secondary School.