  We explored an efficient method to identify evolved stars with oxygen-rich
envelopes in the late AGB or post-AGB phase of stellar evolution, which include
a rare class of objects - the "water fountains". Our method considers the OH
and H2O maser spectra, the near infrared Q-parameters (these are colour indices
accounting for the effect of extinction), and far-infrared AKARI colours. Here
we first present the results of a new survey on OH and H2O masers. There were
108 colour-selected objects: 53 of them were observed in the three OH maser
lines (1612, 1665, and 1667 MHz), with 24 detections (16 new for 1612 MHz); and
106 of them were observed in the H2O maser line (22 GHz) with 24 detections (12
new). We identify a new potential water fountain source, IRAS19356+0754, with
large velocity coverages of both OH and H2O maser emission. In addition,
several objects with high velocity OH maser emission are reported for the first
time. The Q-parameters as well as the infrared [09]-[18] and [18]-[65] AKARI
colours of the surveyed objects are then calculated. We suggest that these
infrared properties are effective in isolating aspherical from spherical
objects, but the morphology may not necessarily be related to the evolutionary
status. Nonetheless, by considering altogether the maser and infrared
properties, the efficiency of identifying oxygen-rich late/post-AGB stars could
be improved.
