Singapore gym starts inclusive fitness programme for visually impaired persons
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Each session includes mobility drills, a 1km run near the gym, and skill practices such as balancing.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
Megan Wee
- Fire City Gym offers free weekly fitness classes for visually impaired and deaf individuals, growing to 30 participants since July 2025.
- Participants, like Ms Siti Fairus Rahmad, find confidence and support at this gym, overcoming previous discomfort and feeling understood.
- Founder Samuel Lim seeks funding to raise awareness and inspire other gyms to adopt inclusive fitness models for persons with disabilities.
AI generated
SINGAPORE - At the starting line of the 2XU 10km Compression Run 2026 in April, Ms Siti Fairus Rahmad could not fully see the route ahead – nor hear everything around her. But she finished the race anyway, with the help of a guide.
Diagnosed at the age of 11 with Usher syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that gradually causes vision and hearing loss, the 27-year-old has tunnel vision in both eyes and partial hearing in her right ear. Fitness also did not come easily to Ms Fairus, who struggled with obesity during her secondary school years.
Besides being part of a running club, she now attends weekly gym sessions on Saturdays at Fire City Gym with other visually impaired individuals, supported by volunteers.
The gym’s founder, Mr Samuel Lim, 44, started operations in 2011. In July 2025, he opened classes for about seven visually impaired individuals. He had no intention of charging for the two-hour sessions, but participants voluntarily paid a token fee of $13 per class.
Since May 2026, Mr Lim has been offering these classes for free to provide persons with disabilities with more access to fitness sessions.
The group has since grown to about 30 participants, mostly visually impaired individuals, and a few who are deaf, ranging in age from their 20s to 60s.
About 10 of them regularly fill up the 185 sq m gym in Kampong Bugis every Saturday.
The move to offer the classes for free and expand the programme was partly inspired by his experience competing in two Hyrox doubles events in April with visually impaired participants from his class.
Furthermore, media coverage of their participation generated a wave of enquiries from people keen to volunteer or enrol their loved ones with disabilities at the gym.
Fire City Gym founder Samuel Lim hopes to provide persons with disabilities with more access to fitness.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
Each class begins with vision mapping, where Mr Lim describes the gym layout and environment to participants. Time is also set aside for participants and volunteers to get acquainted with one another.
This is followed by mobility drills, a 1km run near the gym, and skill practices such as balancing. The session ends with a workout involving exercises like lifting weights.
Although Ms Fairus had joined an inclusive running club in April 2025, finding a suitable gym to work out in was a challenge for her.
“I had experienced going to the gym, but I didn’t feel comfortable alone because I am blind, and people assume that I cannot exercise,” said the part-time food server at the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped’s Dining In the Dark.
Then Ms Fairus was introduced to Fire City Gym, and started attending sessions in February.
“I feel much better because Uncle Sam supports us... he understands how he should (help)... like how I dislike distracting background noise,” said Ms Fairus, adding that she is now friends with the other attendees and volunteers.
To support his expanded initiative, Mr Lim has applied for funding under the SG Partnerships Fund (SGPF) that was introduced during Budget 2026 to support ground-up community projects.
SGPF, which is under the Singapore Government Partnerships Office (SGPO), has three tiers of funding for projects of varying scale.
Mr Lim applied for the Seed tier, which will provide up to $5,000 of funding for pilot or small-scale projects, to cover up to 100 per cent of eligible programme costs, for up to a year.
His proposal is currently under assessment by SGPO. If approved, he hopes to use the funding to thank volunteers by providing snacks, lunches and refreshments. He also wants to engage photographers and videographers to document the classes to raise awareness of the initiative.
For Mr Lim, the immediate goal is to keep building the confidence of visually impaired individuals through fitness.
In the long run, he hopes more gyms will open their doors to persons with disabilities (PWDs).
“The ultimate goal would be to share what we have with everyone else in the industry across borders, and have them understand that this is possible,” said Mr Lim.
“If you can replicate this model, share with other gyms or have a discussion with other gyms and facilities to empower and build confidence among PWDs, then that is the best.”
Applications for the SGPF are open via www.sgpo.gov.sg/sgpf
