'Give her a little more hope': Poly student tries curing mum's Covid-19 smell blindness with final year project

When Tiong Jia En's mother lost her sense of smell due to Covid-19 in 2021, she was none the wiser.

Her mother, who enjoys cooking, began to ask her for help with little things, from taste-testing food to smelling if milk was going bad.

"She subtly gave me hints," the 19-year-old told AsiaOne on Thursday (March 12). "But I never picked up on it immediately that there was something wrong.

"I just thought like it was normal, maybe… she just wanted to include me in the cooking experience."

It was only two years later in 2023 when Tiong brought something to her mother to smell that she started to realise something was amiss.

"I kept repeatedly asking her over different [occasions] to smell different things. And then that's when it occurred to me that there might be an issue there that she's not willing to say out loud.

"When I persisted, that was when she actually admitted to me that she hasn't been able to smell since Covid-19 happened."

While she does enjoy helping out her mother in the kitchen, it came as a bittersweet experience for her.

Watching her mother, once a confident swirl of culinary skill in the kitchen, start doubting herself and relying on her, Tiong felt disheartened.

"It's saddening to see that her confidence has been affected, especially since she used to love cooking so much.

"Sometimes, if the food tastes a bit weird, it does break my heart a little to be the one to deliver the bad news."

An unseen minority

Her chance to turn things around for her mother came with her final year project at Temasek Polytechnic's School of Design.

Tiong, who is studying for a diploma in product experience and design, began her final year project in October last year.

She came up with three separate solutions to aid her mother and others who may be suffering from anosmia, or smell blindness.

Eventually, she settled on Remor, a guided smell retraining kit with a companion application, helping those with anosmia recover through structured scent exposure and calming routines.

This helps strengthen their sense of smell by training their olfactory system, guiding the brain to form connections in hopes of recovering their sense of smell.

"During the process of coming up with this project, I was always focused on trying to design things that would help create meaningful conversations," Tiong told AsiaOne.

She explained that she wanted to give others with anosmia a sense of hope, not just in recovering, but also in that there might be other people out there who see them and want to help.

Unlike other disabilities, there aren't many products in the market to help those suffering from anosmia, she said.

Tiong said: "For people who can't smell, there's not much out there for them, so it makes them feel like a minority [or someone] unseen."

She added: "I wanted to create this product to show that I also stand with them, and I want to raise awareness on this issue as well."

Giving her hope

Over the four months between October 2025 and February 2026, Tiong toiled in creating her product to help those with anosmia, reaching out to experts to fill her gap in scientific knowledge on the matter.

Speaking with AsiaOne, Tiong shared her hopes for Remor in helping her mother recover from anosmia.

"I would like to give her a little more hope in recovering, because for her, after I found out that she actually lost her sense of smell, I didn't question why she never once went to a doctor or seek professional [help].

"She just accepted it, and clearly it affected a lot of her experiences after that as well as how she feels emotionally."

Tiong also revealed that she was worried her mum felt alone in her quiet battle against the impacts of anosmia.

"With this product, I do hope that she will be able to gain back confidence and know that there are people out there that would advocate for her as well."

Her prototype, Remor, is currently featured at Temasek Polytechnic's Design Show 2026 among the more than 330 products from graduating students of the School of Design.

The show, which will run until March 17, also saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the polytechnic and local fashion label Charles & Keith at the opening ceremony on Thursday evening. It is open to the public.

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