Dear everyone,

I am a student in Hwa Chong Junior College. Several classmates and myself are planning a proposal for a community service project in which aquariums can be used to benefit the elderly. We are currently conducting surveys of possible volunteer groups to gauge the receptiveness to such a project, and hence, the feasibility of this project. We would like to ask for your help in completing this simple online poll for this purpose.

This project proposes the use of aquariums and fishkeeping as an activity to provide mental and physical stimulation to senior citizens in day care centers.

We believe that fishkeeping is a good activity to engage senior citizens in. It demands knowledge, interest and certain skills, and in this way, can provide mental and physical stimulation for elderly people, which is the aim of day care centers. Aquariums are also excellent aesthetic features with great interest value. They can provide long hours of engagement and amusement (as I'm sure all of us can testify to).

We feel that fishkeepers, like all of us, can do much in a project such as this to contribute to the community. Volunteer fishkeepers who can come forward simply to help set up aquariums in day care centers, and possibly to teach senior citizens how to care for an aquarium. The expertise, experience and dedication many of you have will allow you to be highly effective in doing so.

This poll is intended only for a quantitative assessment of the rough proportion of the hobbyist population willing to participate in this project. Through this, we hope to gauge the feasibility of actually carrying out such a community service project. Participating in the poll does not imply a commitment to participating in this project. We are also not asking hobbyists to financially sponsor this project, but only to contribute their time, effort and expertise.

At the moment, we are still at the proposal stage of this project. Details for the exact implementation have yet to be ironed out. Any feedback or comments you have regarding this project are welcomed and greatly appreciated!

We would like to thank you for taking the time to read this long post, and for completing the poll. Thank-you and happy fishkeeping!

Matthew Koh
"Enda"