I was requested to blog bout our Touch Christmas Celebration which was held yesterday..it's my first time posting an entry on this blog so pardon me if it's not interestingly-written! =p

yesterday, we had our Touch Christmas Celebration with the elderly at the void deck of Block 61 (did I get the blk no right?). other than having the elderly whom we usually visit with us, we also had some other elderly joining our celebration. we started off with a few games and first up was the elderly's common and favorite game - Bingo! we played two rounds of Bingo and all the time, I was standing behind Gam Por and a Mandarin-speaking elderly whom I don't know but she was quite enthusiastic about the game as she kept asking me if she ticked off the correct number after every number was read out.

playing "Bingo"

The next game involved throwing of cards on this sheet of cardboard and required the elderly to be split into 2 groups. So it was like a challenge between both groups to see how well the elderly can aim their cards on the cardboard sheet. Think the elderly kinda enjoyed this game as well as they were enthsiastically participating in it. As I was still standing behind Gam Por, I heard her telling the elderly beside her that that all 5 cards which she threw did not land on the cardboard sheet haha.

the elderly trying hard to aim at the cardboard sheet

volunteers doing the count to determine the winning group

The final game required the elderly and volunteers to help dress up an elderly into a Santa Claus. wah didn't know the elderly were so sporting..we didn't have to say much and one elderly from each group volunteered themselves. One of them was this very "on" auntie who always seems to appear whenever we have such programmes held for our elderly..think she's a friend of Gam Por as she came over to Gam Por's place during one of the visit. Anyway, the other elderly from the other group was Mr. Paolo (I hope I didn't get his name wrong?). within 5 mins, we had both elderly dressed up..though frankly they dun look like Santa Claus at all! oops haha.. Many of us cldnt help laughing when we saw Mr. Paolo standing very still coz he didnt dare to move as the cup we had placed on his head kept falling off haha. anyway we asked both elderly to dance Macarena and got Lixian to demo to them. And both elderly were very sporting, they followed Lixian's actions and danced to the music..cld see that they were enjoying themselves and so were the other elderly who were very entertained by them.

the very "on" auntie posing for e pic!

Mr Paolo looks like he's very pleased with his "costume" haha

after the games, we had a sing along session whereby we sang some Hokkien, Canto & Chinese songs. guess the most popular song among the elderly is "Ai Pia Jiah Eh Hia" coz that's when we hear some of them singing along, especially one of this auntie who stood up immediately and joined us by standing in the front when the song started. when we finished, it was refreshments time so we served the elderly the food some of us had prepared. finally we ended the celebration with another round of "Ai Pia Jiah Eh Hia" & also a christmas song. guess singing the christmas song was the most "Christmas-y" part of the Xmas celebration le haha.

e potluck food prepared by us

serving the elderly who seemed quite hungry haha

sing along session!

well i've got to admit my boring post does not bring justice to the great time we had during the celebration..but those volunteers who had been part of the celebration dat day will know that it was indeed enjoyable and definitely heartwarming to see that the elderly really enjoyed themselves and were thankful to us for planning this for them as many came to shake our hands at the end of the celebration =)

alright dat's all for my post! anyone else who care to share your thoughts on the celebration as well pls do so!!

Clarice =)

This was my 3rd visit to CSC Touch Seniors and actually I was prepared for some painting work..equipped with newspapers to make paper hats when I was informed that it was Christmas celebrations instead ...oh wells..( hint: pls add me into yahoo grps)

So the Christmas celebration started with the Bingo game and though the elderly has played this game several times..they are still ever excited about it. Haha..the aunty who won during the previous maf celebration won again for the 1st round of Bingo. She really is one lucky aunty.

The next game was a versus game whereby 2 grps of elderly threw paper sheets onto a cardboard sheet and the grp with the most paper sheets wins. In the first round, the elderly was so enthusiastic about the game..they just threw all the paper sheets they had haha =P. In the end, one group won by a close margin of 1. Woah.

The final game was dressing up an elderly to become Santa Claus. Wah..they were very sporting and creative as well..yah i agree with clarice..they don't look like Santa Claus..perharps a disco version bah...Poor Mr Paolo has to stand very still in a vie to balance the cup on his head which still drops at the end of the game anyway. When I watched him, I realized that as volunteers, we so often think that we are the ones who bring joy and laughter to our beneficiaries..but in fact the joy and laughter that they bring to us can be more than we can ever give. I think the mutual desire of bringing joy to one another makes this volunteer-beneficiary relationship sweet.

As usual, we got lixian to demo Macarena...in which the two elderly tried to follow. ( Mr Paolo having a difficult time here ) and we end off with sing-a-long session and pot luck. Though the christmas celebration is not very "christmas-y"...the warmth there is like that of Christmas...

Merry Christmas to all.....signing off Elicia

Goodbye, my dear friend...

Love Me

By Collin Raye

I read a note my grandma wrote back in nineteen twenty-three. Grandpa kept it in his coat, and he showed it once to me. He said,"Boy, you might not understand, but a long, long time ago, Grandma's daddy didn't like me none, but i loved your grandma so."

We had this crazy plan to meet and run away together. Get married in the first town we came to, and live forever. But nailed to the tree where we were supposed to meet, instead I found this letter, and this is what it said: "If you get there before i do, don't give up on me. I'll meet you when my chores are through;I don't know how long i'll be. But i'm not gonna let you down, darling wait and see."

And between now and then, till i see you again, I'll be loving you. Love, me.

I read those words just hours before my grandma passed away, in the doorway of a church where me and grandpa stopped to pray. I know I'd never seen him cry in all my fifteen years. But as he said these words to her, his eyes filled up with tears.

If you get there before I do, don't give up on me. I'll meet you when my chores are through. I don't know how long I'll be. But i'm not gonna let you down, darling wait and see. And between now and then, till i see you again, I'll be loving you. Love, me. Between now and then, till I see you again, I'll be loving you. Love, me.

This is a song that I will listen to whenever I am feeling sad over the demise of an elderly. The part that I like the most is this:
“If you get there before I do, don't give up on me. I'll meet you when my chores are through. I don't know how long I'll be. But i'm not gonna let you down, darling wait and see. And between now and then, till i see you again, I'll be loving you. Love, me. Between now and then, till I see you again, I'll be loving you. Love, me.” – It signifies my promise to the departed elderly that I will continue to bring a piece of sunshine for the elderly who are still with us. I don’t know how long am I able to continue to do so but as long as it is still within my ability, I will try my very best. Also I will always cherish and love the time that I have spent with every elderly. Hee… Just sharing some of my thoughts that have crystallized during my few years in Touch.

Our elderly cannot be with us forever and ever. The time that we can spend together with them is very short. However, what matters is not how long but how meaningful is our time spent together. Each and every visit may be the last time that we are able to share laughter and joy. I will always archive the happiest time in some pockets of my mind and take them out whenever I am feeling down or when I am missing the elderly. The memories cheer me up a lot.

Mdm Ong’s courage and determination to live life independently has taught me to be brave and 潇洒 whenever I face the various adversities in life. I think not only Mdm Ong bah, all the elderly have let us seen this 不倒翁 spirit. I really hope that I can be like them when I am old liao!

It really feels better after I have written something to express my feelings. Anyone who is feeling sad can try this method too! I think this is a good way for us to organize our thoughts and say our own goodbye to Mdm Ong…

Regards,
Li Xian

I come from Hong Kong and my mother tongue language is Cantonese. It makes me feel like going back home when I join the Canto group and talk with the elderly as the same way when I was in Hong Kong. Haha =)

This week we spent lots of time talking with 金婆. There were more sad stories coming from her. No doubt, she was born at the wrong time. As she said, it does really matter for an 18 years old girl and 8 years old kid in facing the challenging situations during the war period. Even after the war, everything was still in a mess but you had no choice but shared the burden of the family. I believed she was facing an extremely hard time during this period, especially after her husband died and she needed to bring up three children on her own. Now I think it is time for her to enjoy the life but she gets some problems in her legs. Maybe next time we may also sing a few Chinese songs to her and drive away her sadness…..

At the end, we had a great time in celebrating birthday to Janicia, Jiancong and Yue Xuan, and it was grateful that we always had the last song in the Hokkien group too!!! It was always a good time joining with TOUCH and I really appreciate the students here and you all voluntarily and well organize the visit to the elderly…..I believe we also have many elderly need to be cared but we only have a few students to get involve in HK…..

Wing Lok

Last Visit b4 Exams...

Hey, shall show all of you some photos that were taken during this visit!! Hope everyone's faces appear at least once in these photos! =)



I was with the Canto group this time (as usual, haha =p). We first went to visit Kam Por, and this visit to Kam Por was a really interesting one! One of the mysteries of was unveiled... We finally know Kam Por's full name le!! Wat we are calling her is actually the last word of her name, 金. So we are actually calling her 金婆 in canto... Haha...

Also now we know more about her past. She got married at around 22 and her husband passed away when she was 36, leaving her with three children and the eldest was only 12. Then she told us about how she earned a living by selling drinks without a license and was nearly caught. It's the first time she told us so much about her past, and now we feel we know her better!! =)

Then came a knock on her door, and we thought it's one of her family members again, like the previous visit. But it's actually her fren who lives upstairs. Being also a friendly and talkative lady, she joined us in the chat. Some of us who have went for the TOUCH MAF actually have seen her b4, she is the very naugthy lady who tried to 'sa-bo' LiXian during Pass-the-parcel!! Haha...

Kam Por started sharing abt her war time stories, what she worked as during the war etc. Then the argument between Kam Por and her friend started! Her friend is actually ~9/10 years younger than Kam Por, and she was saying that being 10 years older is no big deal! But Kam Por was saying that she is actually around 19 years old when the war started, and being 19 years old she had already started working and could earn a living. Then the argument went on for a while, then we just sat, listened and laughed... =p

Her friend also taught us self defence using keys! Interesting!! But I wonder has she tried it b4, and issit effective? lol... SHHhhh....

Our second stop was to visit Mdm Tan, when the two groups will meet!! I had a secret plan to surprise the November babies, but only a few were informed! Accomplices include PinChuan, Lixian and ZhenQin!!

Partners in crime: Lighting the candles. Three candles for three November Babies!

From top to bottom, left to right: Here comes the cake, Janicia: Huh? Whose birthday today? Huh, mine included arh!! =) ,

Happy Birthday to Janicia, JianCong and Yue Xuan!!

and all other November Babies from TOUCH who couldn't make it for this visit!!

Then the song singing continued!! =)

From top to bottom, left to right: The cake was passed around to be kept and cut later so as to not dirty mdm Tan's place (with a murderous intent!), Mdm Tan clapping along while we sing, Our Superstar JianCong!!

Everyone singing happily to the songs play and lyrics prepared by JianCong:

All the volunteers that came for this visit:

Hope everyone had a meaningful and fun-filled last visit before the exams!

To all TOUCH volunteers: 加油 for the exams!! Good Luck!!

Note: If you all want the photos, they're with me... Add me on MSN, then I'll try to send them to u... =)

Jasmine...>",<

Last visit before exams....

Yesterday mark the last day of our visit before our exams. Due to the lack of homes to visit, we were divided into 2 grps, i.e. the Hokkien and Cantonese speaking members. Well I belong to the hokkien speaking group...the first home we visited was Mr Chui's. We had conversation as usual, but what made this visit much special than the rest was the fact that one of our members, Jian Cong, brought along his guitar and started strumming melodious music for Mr Chui to hear. Together with the rest of the members, I started to sing along with the lyrics provided by Jian Cong. During this sing along session, we discovered the singing talent of Derui and the great guitar skills that Jian Cong have. :) I'm sure Mr Chui enjoyed himself as he requested us to sing some of the songs he like. In fact, he had already asked us to prepare a list of songs which he would like to hear in our next visit!

After the visit to Mr Chui's home, we dropped by Mdm Tan's home. We gathered with the rest of the cantonese speaking members and started our sing along session there. I could see Mdm Tan's smile as we sang harmoniously with the rhythm of the guitar. Janica, Jian Cong and Yue Xuan were caught by surprise when a birthday cake was brought in. We started singing the Birthday song as the november babies stood in the middle of the room, still surprised by the celebration. Once again, I would like to wish the 3 of u, Happy Birthday!!!

On the whole, I feel that the guitar cum sing along session is a great idea to entertain the elderly during our visits. This not only bond the members together when we sing, but it also makes the visits much interesting for the elderly themselves. But this will trouble Jian Cong though...haha~anyway I do appreciate the effort he put into this guitar session. Really great job! This was indeed a memorable last visit before the exams. Last but not least, I wish everyone all the best in the upcoming exams! :D

-Valerie-

Hi. Sorry for the late entry. It’s now my turn to update on last Saturday’s visit on behalf of the canto group. We visisted 3 elderlys that day : Kam Por, Mr. Paolo and Mdm Lim.

Kam Por was in great spirits, why? Must be her grandson's visit that morning. The bunch of us were settling down around Kam Po to chat when a mysterious guy appeared beside us. Kam Po told him to sit down with us, until she realised he's actually her grandson! When she realised that, she was extremely amused by her own mistake. Her grandson wanted to give her some cash, and then there was a round of pushing. You know, “Take it lah”, “No lah”, “Take it lah”, “No lah”. Although her grandson only stayed for a few minutes, he really did raise Kam Por’s spirits. She appeared to be so cheerful throughout the whole visit. And she finally said she’ll remember me the next time and not think I’m a new volunteer again. When I left I told her “Kam Por must remember me next time ar” then she was like “Ok ok.” Next visit.. i will test her XD

Then we visited Mr Paolo. I don't know how to spell his name so I made it up. Correct me, anyone? If i'm not mistaken, he's not in our list of elderlys but we visited him because of a promise. Anyway, it's to thank him for helping us out during MAF. Thanks, Mr. Paolo XD Like Kam Po, he was quite cheerful throughout the visit, although sometimes we have to speak louder to catch his attention. Jasmine helped to sweep his floor, which appeared to be clean until she brought the broom under the bed and cupboards. There was a lot of dust and dirt that was hidden in inconspicuous corners. Sounds like me when I'm forced to sweep my own room.

And then, we made our way to Mdm Lim's house. I think she can be awarded the most popular elderly. Because every week there will be at least 2 groups who visit her. We sat and chatted with her about her favourite topic: Kopi. She told us about how good she feels after drinking coffee, but because of her addiction to caffeine she doesn't consume other drinks (not even plain water o.O). And she has no appetite to eat. And she gets sleepless nights because of too much coffee. "Then cut down on your intake," we said. And she was like, "I can't. I will feel very uncomfortable." And so she continues to drink and continues to lose her appetite and sleep. Vicious cycle? = =''

Here's something I found: http://www.teeccino.com/caffeineaddiction.aspx

Do you think this could help her? Lol

- Enqi

A Visit to Be Remembered By Me Always!

This is the first time I am blogging in TOUCH blog yeh. Hee... It is a long time since I contribute to TOUCH summary! This visit is a special one for me because two of my cousins followed me to the visit. They are Debra and Esther, 12 years old and 14 years old respectively. They have asked me some questions about my volunteering experiences and they are quite interested in joining me in all the different visits. So I think I will try to bring them around as much as I can. It is good for them to see another side of our Singapore society.

Me and my cousins joined the Chinese/English speaking group. I knew we would be visiting Mdm Ong and I think Mdm Ong is the perfect person for my cousins to visit. I have always admired the cheerful way that Mdm Ong has towards life. I hope my cousins can see how difficult life can be for some people and yet they can live happily.

Today Mdm Ong got a lot of groceries to buy. We got two shopping groups. One was led by Janicia and armed by Margret and Debra. Another group was being led by... none other then Mdm Ong herself and accompanied by Khoon Hong, Esther and me. We are all quite surprised when she said that she want to go and do the shopping herself. She seems to be very strong today and so we didn't object. She taught us how to open her mini oxygen tank and we pushed her in a wheelchair with the tank.

Mdm Ong is super strong today lor! She can get out of the wheelchair without any of our support to choose the stuff she wanted to buy. She can make do without our help and oxygen support for a full 15 to 20mins! I think today we really witnessed a great improvement to her health.

To see Mdm Ong like this really make me feel that what little that we can do for the elderly is really worthwhile. The groceries that we have helped her to do has really helped her relieve her household chore pressure. And whenever we leave her house, I can feel her gratefulness for our help. She will always salute us when we are leaving. And she is quite mischieveous also! She will try to make fun of us whenever we are caught unaware.

Everytime when I come to visit, I will feel so energetic. A whole week of frustration at work or lesson seem so insignificant when I come for visit. How much is my frustration worth when compared to the difficulties that the elderly faced each day. So I will always strive to make the elderly smile and forgo their own frustration momentarily. I hope a moment's laughter can be remembered later when things are not good for them and bring a bit of happiness for them.

Hope you all are not bored by my long blog! :P

TOUCH Woosh!!!!
Li Xian

Touch Visit - 27 Oct 2007

27th Oct 2007
It was a Saturday (weekend).
It was raining (nice weather to sleep).
It was 08:00 am (too early to wake up).

Suddenly my alarm RANG. Still feeling sleepy, I disabled my alarm and tried to go back to my dreamland. Just as I was about to sleep again, suddenly I remembered that we had a TOUCH visit. I cannot sleep anymore; I have to go to TOUCH. The elderlies were waiting for me there. Haiz…..Kind hearted is really one of my major weaknesses…..So what to do…. I sacrificed my sleep and dragged myself out of my bed for the sake of the elderlies no matter how tired I was and set off for TOUCH visit.

It was 10:30am when I arrived at the TOUCH centre. As usual I joined the Hokkien speaking group even though I have a poor command of Hokkien. Our first stop of the day was Mdm Lim’s house. We started off with some routine questions like “have you eaten?” , “what did you eat just now?”, “how is your back?”, etc. We chatted quite normally until we came to the topic on her back problems. She complained about her back; how it gave her problems and how the pain prevented her from sleeping. She then linked the topic to death like what she did sometime when we talked about her illnesses. The topic about death is forbidden in TOUCH session as we do not want the elderlies to develop such negative thinking. Maybe in future, even though we are concerned about their illnesses, we should also try to cut down on this kind of topic that can link to death. So, immediately we try to change the topic to something else more happy and relaxing. We decided to give this zhong ren to Choo Min who was sitting beside her. Instead of coming out with a topic, she colluded with Mdm Lim and started bullying the guys. Mdm Lim suan us one by one and said we are bad people. For example, Mdm Lim was telling me that tan skin is good. But suddenly, 0.1sec later, she turned to Jooch and shoot him, saying that he is too white and that’s not good. Mdm Lim was really on TOP FORM that day. She ‘shot’ all the guys down one by one, leaving all of us speechless. She seemed to be enjoying that moment a lot as she kept laughing as she continued to suan us. However, we did not mind at all as long as this can make her happy and bring laughter to her (Haiz… told you all le… Kind hearted is really my weakness). Tong ku de re zi really zhen nan guo, the clock ticked slowly to 12:00pm before we were spared of all the suaning as we needed to proceed to Mdm Tan house le.

Mdm Tan looked very happy when she saw us. As usual she is very hospitable and wanted to offered us drinks and food even before we sat down. And as usual, I will tell her that we ate something before coming up to her house. As Mdm Tan is illiterate, she took out some mails and asked us to help her see what they were about. One of the mails were in fact some post cards, however, we have difficulties explaining the use of the post card to her. Luckily after some attempts we managed to explain to her. After that we started the chit chatting session. As compared to Mdm Lim, I feel that Mdm Tan is much more optimistic, at least she didn’t talk about death and unhappy things. But that day she and Mdm Lim seemed to have one thing in common – that was they were both on form. Mdm Tan seemed to be talking much more that day as compared to last time. There was a point of time when she talked to Khoon Hong and De Rui for quite long. Because she spoke quite softly, I cannot catch what she was talking about even though I tried very hard to listen. This chat continued all the way until 01:00 pm where we had to stop our session and gathered at the void deck for debrief which will round off the TOUCH session for the day…….

Everytime I went to TOUCH, I feel quite sad for the elderly living there. They seemed pitiful living there alone. Moreover, as most of them have difficulties in moving around, this will mean that they will have to stay in their home for most of the time. Staying alone in the house with nothing to do may also allow them to have more time to think of negative things just like Mdm Lim, so our visits would mean alot to them. I can tell that they feel very happy whenever they see us and they appreciate our presence a lot. Maybe we cannot always keep them happy during every visit but our chatting with them and singing for them can make them feel that there are still people out there that care for them and they are not alone. So let’s hope that everyone can continue to TOUCH their hearts with our care and love for them and keep this spirit going….until…… even after we grow old and students from NUS CSC will also come to visit us like what we are doing now…… (Pls don’t be surprise.Yes I am Jun Hui. These are all written by me. Haha)

Everyone pls feel honored because this is my first ever blog entry. Wo ba wo de di yi chi xian gay ni meng le.

Jun Hui

Since i'm one of the quietest ones in touch, i guess i should make up for my lack of contribution (during debrief sessions and chats with the elderlies) with a post here =P

This week's visit was actually quite meaningful for me, as i was 'upgraded' to sitting beside mdm lim on her chair. To me, that seat has always been reserved for the seniors; for those who know mdm lim well enough, for those who are closest to her. It was quite an honour to have the chance to get closer to an elderly, as she now knew who i was (at least for the session) and would talk directly to me. Maybe this wouldn't mean much to others, but it was really the first time i ever spoke to an elderly in touch, and even have her talk to me as an individual, not someone in the crowd.

Haha felt grateful that i know both canto and hokkien, as mdm lim kept switching to canto today (leaving the majority in our hokkien group clueless), and even took advantage of that to share secrets with the ones who know canto =P The terrible thing is that i can't really differentiate when she's switching between the 2 languages, so my mind gets jumbled up with canto and hokkien, and i can't think of what i want to say without mixing them up. But at least mdm lim didn't mind me just nodding in response =P (observation: i think mdm lim prefers speaking canto..)

Seems like the elderlies really enjoy hearing us sing too, as mdm lim kept requesting us to sing for her today. I guess the sound of singing voices filling up a room really cheers people up; music soothes the soul =) It's really a good idea to incorporate songs/music into the session..

Glad to see that both mdm lim and mdm tan were in good spirits today, chatting away and cracking jokes with us. Hope that the elderlies will continue to stay healthy and maintain their positive outlook! May all volunteers find your visits worthwhile too!


Choo Min

The extremely-hot Touch MAF Celebration

to intro myself, i'm an old bird called chloe. but i can still fly, and i WILL fly back to Touch when i dont have to work on saturdays (which will be rare; whine...)

After a 5-month absence, I made my way towards the same old meeting place, to be greeted by a bunch of new faces, some old birds like me flapping around still, a PA system in the corner which a lot of people were doodling with, bags of goodies, and a ring of plastic chairs. This was no typical Touch gathering, but festivity was in the air as we prepared to bring the elderly down to the void deck and celebrate the mid-autumn festival with them. Soon the Canto Couple came downstairs, so enthusiastic were they. So up we went, to invite (and in the case of Mdm Lim, persuade) the eldery to come downstairs for the celebration.

I guess the elderly felt excited; you could see it in their faces. Something different, something to look forward to, something to talk about after. As they took their seats and bade greetings to each other, one could sense this warm feeling of neighbourliness, and anticipation for the celebration that was about to unfold. Finally the elderly got distributed their Bingo papers and started filling them up. Most of them were encouraged to try to fill it in themselves, and I felt this sense of sadness as I saw them clasping their pens with trembling fingers, painstakingly writing out a numeral in their shaky handwriting. I was with the Canto Couple, and it was very encouraging to see the uncle balance the mooncake box on his lap for a table and write numbers so slowly and carefully. The canto aunty got mixed up and lost count, which generated a lot of laughs. She is very amazing too, for she has not learnt to read and write, yet she tries so hard. Perseverance and patience.


The elderly love to play bingo. With each announcement of the magic number, they search frantically, calling us volunteers to point out to them the numbers. Sometimes jooch's eyes are too small he also cannot see the numbers. When we saw it, we would tell her to look carefully, and not directly show her. I feel that that made her more independent. They really threw themselves into the game. They have such a competitive spirit; peeking at their neighbour's to see how many they have left. Counting and re-counting how many more numbers left to strike off, shouting out the numbers they hope to be called. Really amusing to see them, and their enthusiasm is so catchy that us volunteers got excited too, rooting for them. Uncle Xiqian started shouting out numbers in hope that they would be called, but was slighted by emcee Derui. In the end, everyone got a prize. I laugh at the simplicity of it all, and the joy and pride they got when they completed Bingo, and got their prize – a lantern and a mooncake.

Next they played pass-the-parcel, which went a couple of rounds. There was this amusing aunty who refused to take the box from lixian, only to shove it on to zhenqin. This was mimicked by the Canto Uncle, and it was really very amusing to see him so mischievous, a side which i had not seen before. See, although he has dementia, he can still understand playfulness, humor. Layer after layer of papers came off, finally to reveal a huge box of biscuits which some delighted aunty took home proudly. (that generated a lot of ooohs and ahhhhhs and whoaaaaaas.) And lixian did her dance. And dragged 2 poor others into it. Hahahha. Lixian... you certainly bring smiles wherever you go.. =)

the next segment probably got the elderly the most hyped up of all. The song-singing time. Lixian went on stage to sing the hokkien song ai piah zai eh yar. But guess what, she got drowned out by the chorus of elderly heartedly singing away. And there were actions too!!! I have never seen our elderly so energetic, so lively. It seemed like they were so young again, reliving their youth as they sang (or shouted) to this favourite song. The rest of the songs had them clapping along, or being amazed by the wonderful voice of our superstar Derui. (he can reach high octaves. And go very mellow also. Amazing. *end of praising derui)

Soon, everything drew to a close, and we gather to sing our Sept and Oct babies a birthday song. Took a happy group photo of all of us grinning away, and then we led our elderly back to their homes, admist profuse thankyous and goodbyes. We brought mdm lim upstairs, and chatted to her a bit. she still recognizes me as the pui-eok girl (pharmacist). feel so touched she remembers, and feel so helpless that i cant see her when i would dearly love to.

I dont know when i wont be working on saturdays again to be able to come for Touch, dont know when i can see them all again. Will they still be able, to smile, to engage cognitively with us? As Mdm lim held my hand when we said goodbye, and closed her door, i know that she will be in good hands, in the hands of these juniors who organized such a great show, who truly care for our elderly. Year by year Touch has been improving, and this MAF celebration i daresay is one of the more memorable events. As an old bird, i look with pride at what others have built up over the years, and look with excitement as i see the same passion that fired us, burning in these thoughtful juniors. Well done, for MAF 2007!!!

A Special Day in Touch - Mid Autumn Festival

Hallo everyone!

Today is my turn to write a quick summary! Anyway, for those who do not know me, i am joo chuan, one of the seniors and one of the shortest in touch.

And yesterday we had a superb day in touch celebrating MAF! Kudos to the organizers!

Anyway, we arrived punctually at the center, and were despatched to bring the elderly down. As usual, i went up to find mdm lim. Mdm lim seemed more excited than us! She even wore nicer clothes than usual. She said she took a dose of medicine before the event, just so that she won't feel that painful. We brought her down to touch center, and they were chatting away so happily..

And our first game started! The game was an extended version of bingo, and the elderly took no time in writing the numbers down. Even this simple game got the elderlies very excited about it. I was talking to mdm chua, and everytime a number shouted correspond to hers, she would say "wu ah! wu ah! di zi dao!" (got ah! got ah! over here!)

And with my luck (and some winking at the organisers), mdm chua won the first prize! Yay! Everytime the elderly win, they would be so elated that they will hold their hand up and wave around. Of coz, everyone won. :)

Next is the pass-the-parcel. Initially I thought, it must be boring for the elderly, to pass the parcel around, and to tear off a piece of paper. But the elderly indeed knows how to entertain themselves better than us. Some even purposely SABOH-ed the volunteers by delaying the parcel passing.

The volunteers who were SABOH-ed also gamely did a dance for the elderly. (You should obviously know who is the dance leader!)

Finally, we had a sing-along session, with the most popular song "Ai piah zai eh yar" . Our sing-along session even gathered more support from other people, and one of the elderly even danced to the songs! Thanks to Lixian, Jasmine, Ailin, and Derui who led us in the songs. :)

We had a final group photo before bringing the elderly back respectively. Can see that both the seniors and the volunteers have enjoyed themselves tremendously in this simple MAF event. Definitely one of the best session i've seen so far. :)

Okay, enough talking. For those who missed the event, do not be too disappointed, for there'd be more to come, hor? And I took 2 photos from my hp, so hope to share the joy with everyone. :)

Impressive visit

Terence is just too busy then he asked me to post his experience for him.

For the 22nd September CSC Touch Visit-

" I was impressed that the more experienced volunteers divided the chores very well. More hands make work light!

After helping madam Ong with her chores, we had some time for casual chit-chat and even a mini- exchange program for origami: We demonstrated folding paper cranes while she taught us to create paper dustbins! There are always so many things that we could learn from our beneficiaries.

I am looking forward to next opportunity for me to come down here because the visit is really the way too meaningful to me."

Yay!.. Always been looking forward to every visits to Touch!!.. oh oh let me intro myself first, I'm Jiancong, currently in the Hokkien group! 'whua hee tail ho!' (means just be happy!) Favourite elderly: Mdm Lim!!

Every visit seemed like a rest from our school work, a time for us to chill a little, put you work all aside and just enjoy your time interacting, with the elderly as well as friends and new friends who you made in Touch. At the same time using this rest time to do something meaningful, bringing warmth to the society, making a difference in others. Along the way there are precious lessons learnt too!

I feel that our presence really mean a lot to the elderly. I heard stories about leexian, go into their house and her first thing to do is to wash toilet! But so far that did not happen to my group at all. The most we did was just to sort out medicine for them, to ensure that they eat the right quantity of each medicine they were given. The rest of the work just lies on talking and laughing, suaning each other and denying that lao jiao still not old yet.. (junhui.... wink wink*) haha. Everytime we visit them, they always seem so happy with a large welcoming smile.

Perhaps the first few visits we go because of friends who are going as well. But subsequently as we build bonds between the elderly, as well as knowing new friends from Touch, leave me no reasons to stop coming to Touch.. hehe.

Please also at the same time treasure your grandparents around you too! =)

Mid autumn festival is coming!!.. will be preparing songs related to the moon (like yue liang dai biao wo de xin).. so please look out for them!..


Jian Cong

Duck Race 07

TOUCH Community Services was one of the beneficiaries of the SCS Duck Race 2007, held last Sunday 9 September 07. As such, some of our volunteers from TOUCH Seniors were down at the Singapore River on that fine Sunday afternoon to help out in manning a booth that TOUCH had set up.

Well, not really afternoon, we came down at 10am in the morning, and our dear lau ban niang was slightly tardy so we had a short morning jog from the MRT station to Singapore River. :-) At the river, the TOUCH volunteers briefed us on what they needed us to do that day. Basically, aside from the race that gives this event its name, there would be stage performances, photo-taking with the giant balloon duck, and funfair booths along the river, giving the whole event a carnival feeling while we waited for the race. TOUCH's booth was a games booth; for a token fee of $2, customers would try to win prizes by shooting down toy soldiers with a rubber-band gun. The guns were well-crafted wooden toy guns, capable of shooting rubber bands over quite long distances, but what impressed me most is that they were made by one of the elderly residents at the TOUCH center. I mean, I can't even tie a knot properly, and he can carve out a whole gun out of wood! I felt so 惭愧! (That's ashamed for our non-Chinese friends:-p)

So anyway, we manned the booth from 10am to 2pm, with occasional breaks in between to take photos with the giant duck, watch couples go and come, take more photos, play our booth games, have lunch, and look for helium balloons. Hmm, I think I'm quite blind, so many people were going around carrying balloons, but I couldn't find where the balloons were appearing from! I never got a balloon throughout the entire thing! So irritating... We became very good at shooting the toy soldiers, and even Jasmine could hit her target once in a while. :p And I made a fool of myself shouting "Two dollars for 5 tries! Got try got win! Sure win something one!" But my repertoire of soliciting phrases ends there. Ya, I know, I'm not cut out to be a fish market stallholder...

At about 1pm, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived! The duck race is on! Or rather, as I found out to my chagrin, the race and been on for quite some time, and we were just waiting for the ducks to float downriver. We were very lucky, because the finishing point of the race was just in front of our booth. So everyone rushed forward to the riverside to see the sight of hundreds and thousands of yellow ducks being carried by the river towards us. We even managed to catch a picture of the leading duck! :-)

We left Singapore River at 2pm, when people came to take over manning the booth. We were quite tired, but we did have fun at the same time, and we did manage to accomplish something. Look out for the photos soon!

"In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us." - Flora Edwards

We see ourselves as volunteers who help others without expecting or receiving anything in return. But often, life throws lessons at us when we least expect it. Lessons that can help us, like the way we have helped others.

Lesson #1

"If you don't learn to laugh at troubles, you won't have anything to laugh at when you grow old." - Edward W. Howe

Some of the elderly may be suffering from illnesses but yet they take things in their stride and even poke fun at themselves. Mdm Ong is an example of such a person. She laughs at the fact that her amount of medicine is large enough to fill up one entire plastic bag, she laughs at the fact that when she watches tv, all she sees are drama serials portraying patients in hospital, people who are ill like herself. She laughs at herself and her troubles, something we can all learn from. When things go wrong, we often worry too much and yet worrying doesnt change a thing. We should laugh at our mistakes, learn from them and move on. No more unneccessary worrying and certainly no harm with extra laughter!!

Lesson #2

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." - Leo Buscaglia

Should there be one day when we feel like volunteeing is taking up time that could be otherwise well spent, remember that sacrificing a few hours of our weekends to make someone's day is worth time spent anywhere else. Every small gesture we make has the potential to make someone's day and ultimately, friendships and relationships formed are those that really matter and those that will stand the test of time.

At the end of the day, seeing the happiness on the elderly's faces is the best gift we can ever ask for in return.

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone." - Dr. Loretta Scott


Kia Boon

TOUCHed!

25th August, 2007, 10:00am
Mass Rapid Transit Station
Kallang, Singapore

!!!Time For Touch!!!

At Kallang we met
Before we set
off to the bus stop
For Twenty-Six
A group of People
A myriad of faces
A union of hearts
As we set off for Touch
Hold on! One last man...
Khoon Hong!
Running and waving
He reaches, steps up.
The door closes.
Adventure begins!

My first experience at Touch, and it was certainly a MOST memorable and meaningful one!

After reaching the TOUCH Senior Activity Centre, we were given a short tour of the centre and its facilities. Most of the facilities there were donated by people, and knowing this really brings to us a certain assurance that here in Singapore there are really many who care. We also learnt about some of the difficulties the elderly face in their lives, caused by physical disabilities, language barriers, and fast pace technological advancements that have left many unable to participate readily with the environment.

We were split into three groups of Mandarin/English, Cantonese and Hokkien speakers. As part of the Hokkien group, we visited Mdm Lim first. We found her collecting breakfast at the void deck of the next flat. While waiting for her, we got to know some of the other elderlies who are there. They sure look happy!

This time, the weather was fine. We followed Mdm Lim up to her flat. There was a very homely feel to her place. We sat down on the floor, talk about many topics such as religion and food. She mentioned that she has heart problems, which causes pain that comes and goes, lasting sometimes up to an hour. Not only is it very uncomfortable, at the same time also causes her to feel very weak, and drowsy. But every time, she hangs on, knowing that if she goes to sleep, there is a chance that she might never wake up again. Such is the spirit of life in a physically frail lady! By the way, Mdm Lim loves coffee! But too much coffee is bad for the heart too, so Derui told her not to consume too much. There were a few moments when no one could think of any topics to share, but luckily those are few and far between. Mdm Lim also mentions that she has to take so many pills that sometimes she really, really simply do not want to take them. Food to Mdm Lim has also gotten a little monotonous,either bread, bee hoon, noodles or rice. She yearns for nicer food I guess, maybe we can find some other suitable food the next time we visit her? When Mdm Lim speaks, I felt carried back in time, to years when she was younger, stronger, a young adult or teenager as we are. Guess it's in the old ages that we look back and realize that how wonderful life had been? We also cracked some jokes, such as one of the freshie "who stays in the zoo". Had a hard time trying to guess what's "zoo" in Hokkien! However Mdm Lim was very patient and tried to guess what we are talking about.

The visit ended quite soon. It was about time too I guess, for Mdm Lim to have a rest and her lunch. Amidst our collective goodbyes, she was smiling ever so happily.

Next!

Mdm Tan's a cheerful old lady who's all smiles! Her smile radiates into the entire room I guess! She was really hospitable too. She kept mentioning about not having drinks for us or chairs for us to sit on though we are definitely more than happy to sit on the floor!! Then she would adjust the fan so that everyone's got a fair share of air. Though she may be old, she is still very alert and young at heart. She even guessed our ages correctly, taking into account details such as 2 yrs of army for guys and all that. Overall we had a very fun session, telling jokes and trying to get some of the seniors to sing songs! Amily told her famous riddle about the cross-eyed patient who went to the doctor. What did the doctor say? (Guess!) Jian Cong also told some joke which I lost him somewhere in the middle. Sorries! It was "Way Too Chim". Mdm Tan says she loved to sing songs long ago, but she finds it harder to sing or talk for long periods of time now. Never mind! Next time before we visit her again, we shall prepare a session of music and dance, shall we?

The session ended all too soon, and we went back to the gathering spot outside the centre for a quick debrief. We shared some of the things we have learnt, some of the suggestions which we might have. We then went off to the nearby coffee shop to have lunch. The fried kway teow there was nice! Do go try it if any of you join us ok?

The visit brought us a whole new world of understanding about the lives that the elderly lead, the problems they face, the many things that they have gone through. And even then I would say that what we see is only be a tiny glimpse, a snapshot through a window into the lives of these people. Through communicating with them, we learn of many stories, of a time long ago, a different age, when the world was different. That they were once, like us, young before. Conversely, how would our lives be as we grow up? Would we be here many long years down the road, to share the stories of life with the young?

The TOUCH Seniors program brings helping hands, and most importantly, listening ears to the elderly. It gives the elderly a short, but enjoyable 2 hrs of company each Saturday, moments of joy to know that though some of them might not be mobile enough to travel easily round Singapore, there are many people who still care for them. That they are not forgotten. That they are loved by many, many people. Through the many activities that the centre organizes, the elderly have still rich lives to lead ahead.


Khoon Yi

1st Orientation Visit on the 18th of August'07

Today is our first orientation visit and we welcomed 15 new freshies. =)

Very Glad to see all the new faces!! Welcome to TOUCH, and hope all of you will enjoy the visits and find meaning in these visits.

After gathering at Kallang MRT station, we then set off for the TOUCH centre. Upon reaching our destination, all the volunteers were then split into three groups according to the dialect that they speak.

Group One was the Hokkien speaking group led by Jessie and they visited Mdm Lim and Mdm Tan.
Group Two was the Canto Speaking group led by Denise and Yong Sheng, who visited Kam Por and Mdm Lim.
Group Three was the Mandarin Speaking group led by Hui Ting and they visited Mdm Ong, Mr Chiu and Mdm Lim as well.

I was with group two, the canto speaking group and in my group were 4 freshies and 4 seniors incuding myself. I shall let photos do the talking of what we did...

Adrian helping to mop the floor at Kam Por's place. It was his first attempt, and Kam Por actually praised him for doing a good job!!

Btw's Adrian is an exchange Student from Canada, but he knows how to speak Canto as he was previously from Hong Kong.

Vincent is also an exchange student from Hong Kong. His Canto is li hai de lor!! haha....

Group two chatting with Kam Por.

Taking Turns to help masssage Kam Por's Feet, and You can see her happy face!! See how widely she is smilling =D

From Left to Right

Last row behind: Yong Sheng, ZhenQin

Middle Row: Kam Por, Vincent, Adrian, EnQi, Denise, PinChuan

Front: JASmine (Me!! =p)

After visiting Kam Por, We then went over to visit Mdm Lim.

Mdm Lim was really happy to see us, however the previous group who visited her already did everything she needed help with, so we just hanged around and chatted with her.

We were chatting very happily and in the blink if an eye, it was time to leave. We had no choice but to leave Mdm Lim's place for the debrief. After the very short debrief, we then invited all the freshies to join us for lunch.

After lunch, Denise came down with a cheesecake made by her!! It's really nice, and those who left early missed it!! TOO BAD.... =p But really, it's very nice... Denise, must show me the receipy k!!

Our next visit is on the 25th of Aug!! Looking forward to the next visit and to seeing all our volunteers (new and old)!!

18th August TOUCH!

Touch was so meaningful!

Before going to the old folks home, we had a briefing and introduction because it was the outreach session. All the freshmen interested in Touch could check it out. It wasn't easy remembering all those names, but besides that, I had alot of "fear of the unknown"! I can't speak hokkien, but because all my friends went for the hokkien group, I tagged along too. It'll be good to expose myself more to the dialect, anyway, I thought.

So we splitted into three groups. One group for Mandarin speaking folks, one for Cantonese, and the last Hokkien. For the Hokkien group, we were due to visit Mdm Lim first, and then Mdm Tan. An association was distributing food at the void deck of the opposite block, so we went over there to introduce ourselves to Mdm Lim. She has a back problem which causes her pain whenever she stands up. Some of us went over to queue up for her. She's an old lady with big spectacles and she laughs like little ripples! Very adorable. Jiancong asked if she remembers him, and she said she remembers him by his voice, and "ripples" again.

After recieving the food, we made our way up to her flat. It was raining heavily then, so we had to walk under the shelter. But from the shelter path, the only way for Mdm Lim to get back to her flat was by walking up a flight of stairs and than take the lift up to her flat. To us, it may seem easy. For an old lady with back pains, she had to hobble up. You'd feel a pinch in your heart when you see her walking up the stairs, one step by one step. It makes you feel like giving her a piggy back up the stairs!

When we reached her flat, she slowly reached for her keys and we noticed a cross at the top of her door. We asked her if she was a Christian, and she smiled widely(no eyes seen) and answered with a big YES. Mdm Lim was very hospitable. She wanted to serve us, make us comfortable despite her inconvenience in movement. While we sorted her medicine, she shared how much trouble she had in just buying food for herself. She shared how difficult life was, and how God was her only source of strength. At this time, it was best to divert topic! So the seniors who faithfully visit her fortnightly helped us participate by asking each of us to ask Mdm Lim a question or talk to her about something. I tried to tell her a joke, about a bird flying from one point to the other. Please do keep in mind, that I have very poor command in Hokkien. Mdm Lim obviously was more amused by the attempt than the joke itself. But she was nice. When asked if the joke was funny, she said it was okay, and "rippled" again. She was patient, and didn't mind poor attempts of us communicating with her. At the end of the visit, she said, "God bless you all," and some of us shaked her hands, or hugged her. It's really heartwarming when she hugs you back and laughs lightly. You know that she's happy when she has company. It matters alot to her.

Mdm Tan! She's adorable too! She looks very healthy but she has cataracts. But it's not noticeable because she looked so optimistic! She greeted us with a big "Hey you're here!". It sure makes you feel good. Her room mate wasn't in, but we heard from the seniors that her roommate doesnt like visitors. Probably inconvenient to have strangers around. Mdm Tan was so warm and friendly! Her flat is super neat and clean, and she brought out a fan for us so that we wouldnt be too warm. She also brought out her photo albums with her sons and daughters, or her nephews and nieces, wedding photos. She also had one of her during a Touch activity! She wore glasses with fake eyes pasted on the glasses! So cute! I told her she looked nice in that and she proudly told me she won 1st in that event! She told us stories during the war while she had to take care of her young sisters, and till date, her life. She's a very happy person, optimistic, and waay cool. Her perspectives are so modern, I'd think she's much younger than 70! I tried the joke again, and this time, she was funnier! She started saying, she was wondering why the bird was flying outside her window to and fro! We explained it was a joke, and only after hearing that it's supposed to be a joke, she laughed. I guess it wasn't that funny. So we could all try again the next time.

After the whole visit, I really had a new perspective on old people. Not all are old and cranky. They have high level of humour too! Being old may be tiring, with all the old ailments. Company brings alot of joy to them, to know that they are cared for and loved by people, even though they aren't related to them. Well, to sum it all up, old people rock.


Amily Low

Intro~~

Visit, chat, share & touched...

We visit the elderly who live alone in 2 blocks of one-room flats. Currently, we have 9 elderly who are participating in this programme. We chat with them and help them to do simple house chores. We also provide painting services for the elderly where volunteers will come together and give our elderly homes a fresh new look! We also introduce simple interactive games to our elderly. Through the activities, we share special moments together and make our Saturday worthwhile.

Besides, we also have special activities during special occasions such as Chinese New Year where we spent the time together to make lanterns to decorate elderly homes. Not good at arts? Don't worry, the most valuable thing required in this programme is your passion. Our elderly look forward to each visit and often, they expect little more than a listening ear.

What's in store...

We're organizing an outing for the senior citizens of TOUCH Senior Activity Centre this May- June period. It will be a great opportunity for us to mingle around with the elderly other than our regular 9 elderly. We also aim to make each visit a meaningful experience for our volunteers by implementing service learning. Workshops will also be held throughout the year. Do check it out!

Quotes from volunteers

"At TOUCH, we're constantly surprised by the spontaneity of the elderly, from the 'robust' Mr Chiu who helped us paint his house to the animated Mdm Lim who enetertained us with her very own True Singapore Ghost Stories! -Denise Seow-

"After being in Touch Seniors for the past 1 year plus, I have learnt not just how there are people less fortunate than me, but also, most importantly, how they cope with it with a smile on their face, and warmth in their hearts. Love spreads from us to them, but hope, the hope of life, spreads from them to us" -Yong Chuan-

Come Join Us!

Our visits are on alternate Saturday from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm. The meeting point is the TOUCH Seniors Activity Centre (TSAC) in Block 61 Geylang Bahru. The nearest MRT station is Kallang MRT Station.

See you there!