xmas celebration 261209

Hello!

This is Sock Mui, a newbie.. I was arrowed by someone (whom I don’t know) to blog about my experience at the X’mas celebration today.

Heex. Overall, it was fun playing and talking to the elderlies there.. Haha, although some of the times we are one chicken and one duck communicating!

The day started as we gathered in the Activity Centre. Being a first-dayer and a CSC-dayer crasher I do not know anything. Well, so I just followed orders and went to fetch the elderlies down. However, it turns out that the elderly was not in. So we went down again to the centre. Haha, back at the centre it then seems that most people that went up to fetch had came down ‘empty-handed’ just like us.

Anyway, in the end, we newbies decide to sit in the room to wait instead. After some times, elderlies started to emerge and the celebration started as we sit in a circle for some games.

The first game was bingo, followed by wrapping present, then passing newspaper and lastly the dressing up. Since I was blur blur on what I should do, I decide to just ‘play along’. Haha, and it seems that the elderlies mostly know about the game. It was my first time doing volunteery work with the elderlies and it was rather meaningful . The elderlies were all (most of them) very cheerful and were smiling most of the time as we played the game. As I had never played the games before, I personally feel that the games were good as they were fun and pretty interactive between the volunteers and the elderlies.

The elderly that I sit closest to was Kam Por. She was very cheerful and was always smiling. It is really a contrast of the stereotypic image of what we would usually thought of elderlies living alone.. Anyway, it was really funny now that I recalled how I communicated with her – she is a Cantonese and I’m a Hokkien – we don’t understand each other! Haha, luckily, Wen Hao, ironically, a Hokkien that only speak (broken) Cantonese was between us. Most of the games’ rules were explained by him.

By the end of the games, we cut up the log cake to share among the elderlies. While eating I talked to an auntie (the one that always bicker with Kam Por). The party ended after that.

Overall, I felt that I had spent a great day talking to elderlies. Ha.. I hope the elderlies enjoyed themselves as I enjoyed the day! =)

P.S. It would be better if there are briefing for the newbie volunteers beforehand.. Still, many thumbs-up for the planning.. ^^

26/12/2009 X'mas Celebration

On saturday we attended an x’mas celebration at THE Seniors. It was my first time there so I didn’t really know what to expect. However, when you see party hats and a very handsome Santa Claus, you know its going to be simply awesome.

Not long after we reached, the elderly started to arrive. I sat with Kam Por, a spritely lady who was more than three times my age and yet much livelier than me. After a round of introductions, the games began, the first of which was Bingo. I started to explain to Kam Por how the game worked, but she assured me that she was very familiar with it, having played it a lot of times and even won a sack of rice previously. Of course, she added, nothing beats winning 4D. Both rounds went by and twice Kam Por was only short of one letter to win. However, she was still having fun and cheering loudly for the winners.

Next was a wrapping game where Mr Tan and Zur represented our group. Kam Por was not involved so we just sat and watched as she gave a running commentary on the finer details of gift wrapping, having also done it before at the CC.

The next game was a pass the parcel game which also didn’t require much explanation. I guess as you get older and gain more experience, nothing is new to you anymore. However, old games can still be fun, especially with gifts and forfeits. Kam Por took centre stage when Jian Hao did a dance with her as a forfeit. There was a strange sudden silence as jealously radiated from all the girls in the room, both young and old. I had to run outside on pretext of going to the toilet to escape the repressing aura. Personally, if I ever lived to be 88 and got to dance with a 20 year old girl, I would probably die happy.

Still on the same game, there was more joy in store for Kam Por as she later also won a gift. It was shaped cylindrically like a can. Its abalone, she declared. Her nearby friend chided her for being silly, but she replied that of course you have to say that your gift is great, even if it is possibly not. Her reply kind of stunned me, and my impression of her leveled up even more.

The final game was a dress up game. Kam Por gamely volunteered, and we dressed her up as one of Santa’s helpers. Because she radiates awesomeness plus our team of volunteers were really pro, our group won hands down even though the other teams had better materials.

In all, I could see that the elderly had tremendous fun and thank the organizers and everyone involved for making it happen.


Contributed by Chua Wenhao

Snippets!

Here are some of the photos from the xmas celebration! - the rest are already uploaded onto the facebook group and picassa..Just click on the links at the side! - And do help to tag the photos in the facebook group! Thanks! -



Haha..Looks like the gentlemen here dont know that they have the smallest cards on their forehead! LOL!














Game of Indian poker at Mdm Ho's house!















Wrap the present!

Look at the feast!


Our beautiful programmers!

The best smiles of the day!!

a saturday well spent- 5th Dec

Hi all!

We had an unofficial visit yesterday. Shall post what happened. Although there were only 6 of us, i still think it was fun! =D

1. Chen Hua, Pei jie and Shi tien were in a group, Rong Sheng, Ken and I in another. Then we each took 2-3 houses each. So for my group, we visited Mr Tan 61, followed by Mr Tan 62 and then Mdm Tan. =D all the tans. =D Then for the other group, they visited Mdm Lim Chuay and Mdm Ho, and Mr Chiu, which our group joined later.

2. Before we split up, we met Mdm Tan outside TSAC, and she went down to 'kiang kiang'.
Okay, so we went different ways and my group visited Mr Tan, his place looks pretty much okay, not much cleaning is needed, so it was manageable for the three of us.
I noticed that his feet seems to be not too good, not sure because of the weather which causes his skin to tear easily or what though. We did suggest to him to apply more moisturising cream, but i seriously dont think that it wil help much. maybe it takes more than external medication for the skin to heal.

3. Next we head to Mdm Tan place but no one was around. So we went to visit Mr Tan. Mr Tan was alone at home watching the repeated telecast of Jin Ma Qiang, his wife went to work. So we sat down and chat with him. First we talk about the Jin Ma Qiang awards show etc, then we move on to Mr Tan's health condition. He showed us the letter from NUH. TTSH told him that his heart seems to have expanded (before he can take an op, he has to ensure everything was okay and that includes his heart), but NUH said nth was wrong with his heart (as confirmed by the letter too) Mr Tan will be going for another medical check up this monday to check if everything is okay.

4. Then we went back to Mdm Tan's place. Yuan lai she went to have lunch with her daughter. We helped to wipe the doors and windows. Before doing that , we took down her laundry from the bamboo holder. Then following which, we sat down and help her with her HDB letters and others. GOOD NEWS! Mdm Tan is able to continue staying at her flat for another two more years! yays! she received the letter of renewal of rent lease and now the ownership is transferred to her name now! yipppy! we were very blur.
a. First we saw $65 on the receipt, but we do not know why. Debates occured that it may be application or renewal fee plus 1 month's rent (stated on another letter that it is $26 per month). then we guess maybe it was rent paid off for the past few months before the renewal starts on 31st jan 2010. lol. then..........
yuan lai...... there were prints : 012010-032010 (omg faint, the 3 of us 'eyes paste stamps', we missed that out. =D
b. The second funny incident. She gave us the tv license bill and we read it. We find it funny why do she have to pay since she doesnt have tv at home. And it was stated, if overdue payment, the fee is almost double/more than double. Then i noted! that the name of addressee and address was diff! went to d.check the unit no. Yah, wrong unit no, wrong blk, wrong person! then we quickly clarify that it was the wrong letter, not meant for her. and that how she gotten hold of the letter. Another yuan lai again... ISH HER SON!! OMG! YUAN LAI mdm tan got 2 sons staying the next blk. Then she asked us to check if the payment is made, cause she entrusted someone to pay for her and she wants to d.check. So we told her that it aint possible to check since it is only a bill asking for payment. omg! once again we are wrong. She said by right there should be indication, then I thought of my usual phone bills, where they will tear away the bottom and the com will print the ref code and details. So yah! once again! yuan lai there is blue wordings printed. hahas! eyes paste stamp part 2.
these are so funny! ahash! then later we gtg, so we helped her to hang her clothes back. Ken did that, and Mdm tan rejected, saying no need to hang back, and he said nevermind, i can do it etc. And Rong Sheng commented that he can one, very good at doing this etc. So Mdm Tan heard it and say, good ah, this kind of boy is what girls should fine etcetc.. lol. marketing him. Hahas, I think Mdm Tan very fun, everytime we are there, we wont be worried that there aint topics to talk about. (:

5. Then we head to Mdm Chow Moi's place and check if she is around. But we knocked the door and nth happen, then we saw those flyers (3 flyers) at her doorstep, and we wonder if she went on a trip or ... you know.. bad news kind=s. We tried knockign many times but didnt work, so we thought of going down to check if the windows are open or shut etc. So we went to meet the other group at Mr Chiu's place and we tried the cd that Rong Sheng burnt for Mr chiu. But couldnt be used for normal cd player due to wrong format used. Then we played some songs and Mr chiu sang some, and we had the usual debates about some volunteers having generational gap. like how come some volunteers listen to such old songs, but the others dont when we are almost the same age. this kind of debate always forever funny. Cause we tend to deny we are old or that the songs we listened to are very old. =D

6. Left Mr Chiu for him to have his lunch and listen to his huang jin nian hua 4. And we try our luck at Mdm Chow Moi's place. This tiem she opened the door! omg! ahhas! she was at home all along youknow.... and she was..... PEOPLE WATCHING! LOL! i didnt know seniors also like people-watching, thought it only applies to youngsters lol. And she was standing by the window. And before we left, we discussed and decided to walk the area where she can see us. And when we walked out, she waved to us frantically from above. LOL! Mdm Chow Moi is super cheerful, hearty, funny and cute! lol! her laughter is contagious! =D

7. this ended our unofficial visit. (: And we went to the usual lao di fang for lunch. Shi tien had to leave early. It was already 1.50pm when we left and took a lift down, and Shi Tien had tuition at 2.30and he havent had lunch!! omg! but thank you for staying till the end of the visit. ((:
Then we sat down for lunch, nan de can have all of us sitting in one round table. just nice. And we chatted, about Peijie's temp jobs, and Chen Hua's career path etc. So funny. and also a good time for bonding and interaction among the volunteers. =)

I really did enjoy myself yesterday's morning. And I went home with a happy mind and attitude, and was able to go home, enjoy tv and nua (finally, since usually i had to rush to tuition)! i watched a movie/film on Vasantham Central somemore! Very nice show! woots! (: some indie film/movie are really very nice!! really! their story plot and their dancing and their casts are really good. (= hee hee. okay i shall end off my long post.

A saturday well spent ! (: TAKE CARE EVERYONE! AND ENJOY YR HOLIDAYS! SEE U ALL AT T.H.E. SENIORS!!!!!

cheers,
margaret~

visit - 7th Nov

HI EVERYONE! (:

Just do a sweet and simple one. Will do a long one when I get lots of feel and alot of ideas to share. =D

1. Yes, I miss the start of the session cause I was still in the middle of the expressway. Trying to get out of the jam. Yes, I do need a morning call or something. I am always late. Lai chuang is bad. Late friday nights are bad too. =X But I will try my very best to get rid of the bad bad habit. =(

2. So I went over straight to Mr Tan's (Blk 61) place. Thinking of doing some household, but the enthu volunteers done the job! =D So Rong Sheng and I sat there talking to Mr Tan.

Yes, I can see that volunteers are making use of what was taught in the workshop, and here goes. RS took a big TTSH's bag of medicine and started to go through them. So we check with Mr Tan what the medicine were. For the medicine that can be eaten on a regular basis, which includes the calcium supplements and tablets to increase the red blood cells. and we describe in a cute manner. layman terms.. This is 'good for blood', and this is 'good for the bones'. . So we encourage him to take the medicine regularly and got him to tell us whether he know when and what to take. (:

Later the rest join us and Mr Tan share with us some historical knowledge on WW2.

3. Next we went to Mdm Tan's place. However, we got emergency calls from Zhenxiu (ZX, Huiting and Yew Chin, 3 girls have to clean up Mdm Chow Moi's place) so RS and I went over since we did not get to do any cleaning just now, now is our turn. ((:

4. reach there. help to sweep the floor. Throughout the time there, I think darn funny. I think Huiting is like 'quarreling' with Mdm Chow Moi.

HT: 'No you rfloor very dirty. See so many ants'

Mdm CM: 'No larrr, not dirty abit only. No ants, abit only.'

HT: 'Norrr you see! So dirty!' (pointing to the pile of dust and rubbish I swept =D)

Mdm CM: 'No larr no!' (Denying the pile of rubbish and dust I swept up to her feet) =D

So funny. Huiting is gg to scream anytime. =D So cute to see them communicating that way. CAUSE BECAUSE OF THE TALK ETC, I SEE MDM CHOW MOI LAUGHING AND SMILING ((:

When huiting was trying to make use of what she learnt in class, and check the fridge for leftover food and check her medication, whether Mdm Chow Moi knows what to eat etc. and she keep repeating too. =D repeating! so here then RS is complaining.. =D

RS: 'Wah, you kapoh!'

HT: 'Mdm Chow Moi, scold him, help me scold him, he scold me'

After some time... Mdm Chow Moi finally get what both of them were saying...

Mdm CM: 'Hey, how can you scold her kapoh, no one like that say people kapoh one larrr...'

LAUGH LAUGH LAUGH! MDM CHOW MOI IS SOOOO CUTE WHEN SHE LAUGH! heee!

I can see that it is a simple conversation, but she is totally enjoying it! And that is what I love to see! ((:

5. Followed by debriefing session and lunch at the hawker centre, the usual thing to do but a good time to catch up with each other and know each other! ((: This is what I feel. So we must mixed around and get to chat with each other during lunch. hee.

Last but not least,

Sorry that I was late! I will try to kick away the bad habit. =X

Thank you for applying what you guys learn in the workshop! (:

Thank you Pei jie and Rong sheng for looking for the lyrics and songs for Mr Chiu.

Thank you everyone! jiayou for exams! Mug hard and we shall see each other after exams! and we shall have outings for the volunteers! yays!

Many thanks,

Margaret~

ps: I shall blog the next time I thought of more things to share with all.

Last Visit of the Semester!

Hello all! It’s me!

This shall be my 2nd time blogging! =D

I realized the 1st time I blogged was around this time too! Therefore, I’ve scheduled my post to be exactly the same date as last year! Maybe I should be an annual blogger. Wahaha…

Seriously, I was so lost in almost everything I was doing today! Maybe I’m always so blur… =X

After my super confused attempt of splitting the volunteers into 3 groups & sending them off to visit the respective elderly, my group went over to knock on Kam Por’s door. We were surprised that she said there was no need for us to visit her because our facilitators of the visit, Yew Chin & Jia Ming, had asked her before that & she said okay. Anyway she said her son was coming to visit her, so she didn’t need us to help her clean her house.

So we went to visit Mdm Lim Chuay instead. As usual, she was very cheerful! She actually remembered me after seeing me in my TOUCH shirt. At first, she didn’t want us to help her with any cleaning and only want us to chat with her. However, we told her that we would only be visiting again 1 month later, which is in December due to our exams, she let us help her clean her windows and chairs for her.

During our cleaning, Mdm Lim Chuay keep insisting us to grab a can drink for working so hard. At one point of time, she even wanted to open the can drink for us! She’s so nice!

After the cleaning, we talked to her for awhile. Before we left, I told her not to miss us, and she laughed! Haha…

After that, we went to visit Mdm Chow Moi. Okay, I was complaining throughout the whole visit. Oops! But that was because my group only had 4 girls – Huiting, Yew Chin, Jia Ming and me! And Jia Ming had to leave halfway while we were visiting Mdm Chow Moi. The guys insisted it was me who arranged all the guys to be in the other 2 groups. I did, because I thought Mr Tan’s house always need much cleaning, and there was some changes in between. But I didn’t expect those who came later all went to join the other 2 groups except our group! Haha…

And there was this “bomb” which I didn’t expect! Usually Mdm Chow Moi didn’t want us to clean her house and insists that it is enough that we sit down & chat with her. But during this visit, when Huiting asked her, surprisingly she was willing to give in & let us clean her windows! It was a cumulative effect of not letting us clean her house you know! When we cleaned her windows, it was like springcleaning! Mdm Chow Moi was still insisting that they were not dirty, but they were, EXTREMELY! When I took off her piece of cloth that she used it to block the sunlight going through the window, it was super dusty! It was really SUPER DUSTY, and she still insisted it was not! But she let us wash it in the end.

After Jia Ming had to leave, we had to call for reinforcement. Margaret & Rong Sheng came to help us. Mdm Chow Moi still insisted her house was not dirty, but there was dirt when Margaret swept the floor. In the end, Margaret mopped the floor for her as well. Most of us were done more or less & sat down to chat with Mdm Chow Moi, while Margaret was still mopping the floor. Rong Sheng was very evil, because he kept calling Margaret, “Maria.” Haha…

It was very hilarious to listen to Huiting talk to Mdm Chow Moi. As Mdm Chow Moi is hard of hearing, we have to talk very loudly to her. Huiting was very naggy & the way she talked to Mdm Chow Moi was almost like arguing with her! So it was really very funny listening to both of them! At times, Mdm Chow Moi was just laughing at Huiting. Haha… We had a great time laughing. But it is good because Huiting is applying what she had learnt from the workshop. Haha…

After the visit, we had our usual debrief. We had an introduction of our committee! I seriously think they are more enthusiastic than me & have been doing a great job in their own roles even though they are new! Thanks for everything! =D

Anyway, I’m really very sorry about the miscommunication and missed out visiting the Chinese-speaking Mr Tan! =( I really feel bad about it. Thanks for those who went up to apologize to him while the other few of us went to visit Mr Chiu to pass him the lyrics that Peijie had compiled for him.

I think I’ll miss T.H.E. Seniors very much! I won’t be able to pay a visit until 26/12/2009 as I’ll be having a course on the next official visit on 12/12/2009. And my last exam paper will fall on 05/12/2009 if we’re going to have an unofficial visit. So sad can! That’s like 1 ½ months for me later! T.T

Lastly, I would like to wish everyone good luck for their upcoming exams! =P Jiayou Jiayou!

Zhenxiu =P

MAF behind the scene

hello guys. my turn to blog. well. seems like everyone loves to blog about the event. OKAY. i'll do smth different....BEHIND THE SCENE!


okay. as you can see. the 2 hot babes there are the programmers of the day!





We met for the first time. and spent the night
together.... planning the event. *shy*




After much thinking... we finally came up with a proper plan.



So we started the day with the most popular game 'BINGO!'.. we tried to be a little creative by changing the name to 'TOUCH'... and we never expect to translate touch into chinese. so... dont blame huiting for translating it into 'QUI AI' .

(it should be 'CHU AI' by the way)


The celebration continued with our ball ball forfeit or reward game and pictionary (well. pictionary wasnt quite successful)...






NEVERTHELESS. our participants (ah gong ah mah) are still very happy! =D



I dont really know how to blog. so yea. not much info i can write. SORRY!

oh yea. guys. pls provide feedback for the event. so we can improve on future activities. thks!





..................
Wynne! =)
A+ artwork.

MId Autumn Pics!

Here are some of the photos that were taken on 24/10/09

(looks like Mdm Ho is enjoying the massage given by her 'godson' Chen Hua!)












(Rong Sheng helping Mr Tan in the game of Bingo)



















(Mdm Tan 喜怒哀乐 - 喜)















(Mdm Tan 喜怒哀乐 - 怒 - why do she seem like she is still smiling?)










Special Thanks to the programmers Hui Ting and Wynne and most importantly those who have participated in it! - rest of the pictures will soon be subsequently uploaded to the picture album..do check it out!



-ken-

24/10/2009 Mid Autumn Celebration!

Hi everyone!
First of all, a Happy Belated Mid-Autumn Festival! (since this is the theme for today's celebration!)

Anyway, we arrived at the center at around 10.30 am only to find most of the elderly not there yet cos they were queuing for free 'baos' (Dotz..Haha..). Then when the elders came in, we started with the game bingo. We later on heard that this game was actually one of their favorites and can have over 90 elders playing at one time! In the end, most of the elders managed to complete the 5 lines needed almost all of them received the small gifts that were prepared for them. (special thanks to the volunteer, HT, from 'Qiu2 Ai4' community service for preparing the bingo cards and Magarat for the moon cakes!)

After that, we also played a game that involves passing around a ball made of layers of newspaper with music. Then when the music stops, the person with the ball needs to either do a performance or enjoy a gift. Some of the elders were quite shy but others like Mr Chew and another elder( Sorry, i forgot her name!) were quite spontaneous when asked to do the little forfeits. Mr Tan who was sitting beside me also 'kana' once, but luckily it was a prize instead of a performance! You can see that some of the elders were more active but some were not. I think sometimes more attention needs to be given to those who are less expressive and tend to be more quiet to make sure that they too are able to enjoy the activities. For Mr Tan's example, he is unable to see clearly. So for the Bingo game, I had to help him locate the numbers and tell him the basic rules cos he does not understand the instructions. I also feel quite bad cos in the last game (the Win, Lose or Draw game), he also could not participate actively due to his poor eyesight :( We then ended the games at around 12.30 cos some of the elders need to go off to another outing (Sometimes, I have to admit, their Saturdays are even more fun-filled then mine!!)

After the celebration, we also had a 'course' on volunteering work conducted by .........( I'm really bad with names..sorry!!!). The information given were really practical and though it may sound obvious on hindsight, those are really some of the mistakes we make when we interact with our elders. I think these constant reminders are useful for our later interaction with the elders. We also got to learn how to use the wheelchair and how to get up and down ramps. Though there were a little bumps here and there but generally all of us did quite well considering its our first time!

All in all, I think today was really a fun day where there was alot of laughing and joking around, both with our elders and among ourselves. It definitely was one of the most meaningful Mid-Autumn Celebration I had for a long time!(since last time mid-autumn festival to me means burning lanterns and candles to create really big fires at the playground..haha)
Lastly, to end, I would like to wish Cheng-hua and Shi Tien a Happy Birthday!!
See ya guys soon!
Rong

Oct 17 Visit!!!

pai seh, almost forgot to write the blog!

anyway, what did we do on that day ah?...Let me recall

hmm, those who were in my group are bo jie, ks, ken, darren, huiting, wind?...did i miss anyone?

the first elderly whom we visited was Mr Tan PS (or you can call him Sergeant Tan)

We did the usual trail- and window-cleaning for him!

He is looking well and healthy, and its amazing and rare to hear him speak Hokkien!

We also joked a bit with him, telling him that ken is from india, wind from thailand, and huiting from hongkong... but we felt bad in the end, and told him the truth that we are all locals (except bojie)

Then we made our way to Mdm Ho's place! Ziping & his girl, and Amelia were there already!

Mdm Ho treated us to some really delious home-fried prawn crackers....wah....mouth-watering liaoz...

we shared the whole "canister" of crackers...and finished it up clean (...the finisher was bo jie...~applause~)...

oh no, I forgot what conversations we had over there...

I think we helped Amelia ask Mdm Ho some of her uni assignment qns... so that module sure will get 'A' lor..

And then...mdm Ho wants to cook for us again...this time probably before Xmas! yoo-hoo!

ok, that's all.

sleepy liao

goodnite everyone

~~~~hua ge

A Pleasant Visit

On 12 Sept 2009, we (one of the Hokkien grps) visited 2 elderly. They are Beautiful Granny (sorry i'm not too sure of her name, will find out upon the next next visit :D) and Mdm Tan.

Firstly, we went to Beautiful Granny's house. We helped to do some housechores for her. After all the cleaning, we sat down and had a chat with her. At the same time, she also took out a few photo albums and we all started happily looking at the photos and listening to Beautiful Granny reminiscing about the past. However, when we saw a photo of her son and asked about him, Beautiful Granny felt sad and troubled. She grumbled that her son does not visit her at all. After that, we tried to change the topic and asked where does she usually go and what activity does she usually like to do. After a short sharing session with Beautiful Granny, we realised that she is not as happy as she appeared to be. She confessed that she was just trying to put on a smile for us. She has been feeling depressed, moody and looks troubled. We also found out that Beautiful Granny does not like to go out but staying alone at home also makes her feels moody. There were many times when she just felt totally at loss. I hope that maybe through an outing organise by CSC, we will be able to bring Beautiful Granny out for a walk. Let her be able to enjoy the warmth and happy atmosphere created by us! Hopefully, through an or a few outings, she would gradually change her negative perception and starts to go out more often and participate actively in activities organise by the community centre. :D

Then, we went on to Mdm Tan's house. I have met Mdm Tan during the first visit so was happy to be able to meet her again. Just like the first visit, Mdm Tan is always so friendly, cheerful and she's really cute! :D She was really eager to share her stories and things she had encountered for the past few weeks. Of course, we enjoyed listening to her stories and had a great laugh at some of the interesting issues that she had shared with us! Ever since the first visit, she has been troubling with her housing issue. She is not able to understand the letter sent by HDB. Furthermore, she has difficulty seeing clearly, thus, unable to travel far alone. But we have take note of the problem she's facing and report to the person-in-charge. Hopefully, this issue can be settled as soon as possible. We also realised that Mdm Tan has a very happening life, she has many invitations to different events and celebrations. She looks forward to each and every event. However, as she's unable to see clearly, she's not clear of the date, venue and time. Thus, we read out the details to her and she has a better idea of the events. Although Mdm Tan is unable see clearly, she still live to the fullest of her life and never shuts herself away from the society or any help render to her. This is a positive attitude which I admired of her.

Overall, we really had a pleasant time with Beautiful Granny and Mdm Tan. We hope that through the subsequent visits, we will be able to get to know more elderly and try our best to help them in whatever problems they might be facing. :)



Boon Peng :)

Virgin Entry

This is my second visit with Touch Seniors.

I guess being in the Canto group really makes me feel appreciative that I am a Cantonese and I’m glad it helps me a lot during the visit. The day started with the few of us traveling to Block 62, 11th floor to Madam Choi Moi’s home where it was actually my second visit there. I always remember Madam Choi Moi as a humble lady who has a lot of laughter on her face, she giggle like a child every now and then. But sometimes, when you actually take notice of her, you would begin to feel the vulnerability she held towards her hearing which she felt that she is deaf but interestingly, most of the time she could respond to our question. She really has a booming voice and sometimes I wonder what’s the secret behind that voice.

The second visit was at Madam Tham Po (Ok, I’m not so sure how to spell her name) who lives on Block 61, 6th floor. The moment we stepped into her flat, we were overwhelmed by the sticky floor which we knew needed some serious mopping (Woo hoo! My first experience with house-cleaning). She talks a lot about her leg problem which created much inconvenience with her movement. She gives me the feeling that she wanted to go to many places but she just couldn’t. She told us that she fell down in her home recently, and in the process she banged her hand against one of the wall, leading to a serious blue-black on one of the finger. I’m not exactly sure how rubbing her finger with saliva (which she claimed is therapeutic) could help much, but I’m rather concerned about it. Hopefully we can make a trip down the next visit to see how she is doing so far.

Some of us have grandparents, but many times I believed we are all so caught up with life and work we barely take the time to truly know each other. I always feel the need to never take things for granted, at the end of the day we should take some time to reflect what is really precious to us, and put some sincere effort to saying “Thank you” or “How are you doing?” Life is simply not just only about ourselves and how we feel.

I will always remember the smile behind the frail faces of Madamn Choi Moi and Madamn Tham Po which are filled with so much words unspoken.

James

The 2nd visit :)

HI!
so 12 Sept 09 was my second visit and i had fun :D

First, we went to (English)Mr Tan's house. As usual, we waited outside for him to change his shirt and open the door for us. Haha! The funny thing is his shirt was like torn in the middle. I was so tempted to ask him why.. coz i was thinking maybe he didnt have money to buy new clothes or something like that.But in the end, i asked him. yeah. So he said he purposely tore it coz the weather is hot so that he would feel cooler. HAHAHA! so funnY! but so cute!!! only he would think of that! He could have just taken off his shirt right! Haha! so maybe ill get some cool singlets for him to wear so that he wouldnt need to tear up his wardrobe. :D

Next, we went to (i think) Mr Chew's house. Oh it was my first time there. But nonetheless, had fun :D He's a great singer and he gets very engrossed in his singing! So he sang for us and we clapped for him. hhaaha. Hes a very bubbly man and he was happy too! Oh but his house was hot coz the fan broke down. But its okay! we enjoyed his company and he kind of felt sad when we said we need to leave. :(

Lastly, we went to (Chinese) Mr Tan's house. Oh this time, his wife was there! So cute! And i really think they look alike! okay back to Mr Tan's house. Realised that he had this urine bag attached to him. But he was still as happy! :) Yeah. so sat and talked. Then Mrs Tan and Mrs Tan said they didnt have Channel U in their TV. So Han Shao helped him tune Channel U into their TV. Yeah. And they were really happy and grateful! Oh now they can watch Suria too! :D

Overall it was great! Cant wait for the next visit! See you all soon! :D
Vanessa :)

My first time (bogging)

Hi, never thought I will end up bogging but it end up I have to give my first time (bogging) to TOUCH visit. Haha, forgive me if it sound weird

Since this is not my first time visiting so it is ok for me now but seriously, until now I still dun seem to remember all the names of the people around there. Ok, let me start by saying the feeling when I first visited. I have never taken a interest in community work b4 so at that time, this was just another boring event to me recommend by my friends but after the whole thing is finish, I was feeling great but sleepy (not used to sleep early so sleep at 4 the night b4).

Let me continue with the first elderly we visited, when we go there, she warmly invited us into the house and we started to do the chores shortly after that. I was assign to clean the window and seriously, it is the second time I clean a window (not in NS because I always act busy so window is out of my job scope, wahaha) so I would tend to take a longer time compare to those with experience. by the time, I am done with the window, I saw they were fixing back the fan so I just try to offer my help also but the end, the fan dun "behave" so instead of 1 whole fan, we return it in 2 separate parts (1 is the fan itself, another is the blade arm). We even ask other people for help but I not really sure what goes on after that because by that time, I am in the next house le.

Next, when we reach there, the finally location where food will be provided but first, some chores need to be done. She is a fun-loving lady and even joke with us. I even got 2 nicknames, fat guy (in hokkien) and Mr. goat (because my surname is yang, in Chinese, it refer to goat) but I am ok with the nickname because since it is able to bring laughter to the elderly so why not just laugh it out and dun take it too hard. Oh talking about that, I think I should continue to the food le, there are chicken wings and fried noodles, they were good and healthy (chicken without the skin) and I even eat 2 chicken wings. At first, I try to eat the chicken wing with fork and spoon but end up, it is just me thinking too much and finally, I just eat the chicken wing the way I eat at home (by hand).

Overall, I really enjoy my times there, kaisheng aka KS. =)

初体验。。

损友: wah seh...y suddenly you wanna go join csc?
Me: 我人好有爱心不可以吗?
损友: 屁la..少来。。亏心事做太多right?
Me: ya lor..must earn some good karma ma..cause 认识了你之后，是我的不幸lor.

Well...Okie lar..quite lame but then..its something along that line lar..haha..when my friends and i was talking/chitchat (start of sem quite 'zhuo bo') like..what are you doing this sem etc, taking what modules....so 聊着聊着就聊till this topic lor.. (anyway by now you should see that i m really not blogging in 'Standard English' so bear with it lar hor..will definitely come across chinese la hokkien singlish etc one...)

So like wanted to try out how volunteering work is like..so joined csc. Actually was expecting like some 'tough' work maybe in a sense like help to do chores or really help them cause they might be physically too weak to do certain stuff. So when i got there, was quite surprised that the center was closed. (Then what we supposed to do?) In the end, i realised its more to a house to house visit rather than center based that kind lar...So okie lar..but in the end, there wasnt really much of a physical chore for us to do lar...so just talk to the elderly...Quite relax actually...haha or maybe cause new ma..so dont wanna scare you away on first orientation...Haha..Just kidding...

就 canto站左边，hokkien站右边，english chinese站中间...like tat divide liao...Well i can listen to hokkien but lousy in conversing so 就with my friend 站中间 lor...

Went up to Mr Tan's house..Well he is an english speaking so really 'test' my english also sia...so as the group of us chatted with him, 就满funny 的 lor。。cause he's real old lar..n cant reali hear us well..then we asked him like which places he visited before...he said, "Thailand". After which we switched topic already like 'where to you go and cut ur hair'..he replied, "orh...barber from thailand". We were like 'huh?' so kind of 牛头不对马嘴like that...but a guy for his age..and can talk to us for one hour..wah..realli must 佩服him..

Then we went to the second Mr Tan's house.. again not much of chore help up..just talk to him...then listen to his problems like medical fees and learnt more about him.. what he did when he was young etc...was really enjoyable...

So after the session and also during the session quite a lot of tots went thru my mind..Like its beeen really long since i chatted with an elderly for an hour lar...since my grandma passed away...its like..memories of mine... like sat down listen to her stories in hokkien when i was a child so..yup..就想起阿ma...Then erm...at some point of time there's like moments of silence lar..like dont koe what to ask them le..so maybe the atmosphere kind of awkward at those point of time lar...i guess..maybe we can visit more elders lar..like 45min in one household...instead of an hour for one..which i feel abit long lar..cause...not much to chat with them..maybe cause its the first time also...

So..yup...looking forward to the next session!

-ken-

First TOUCH Visit(:

hellloooo to whoever who's reading out there(: i'm huiting and this is my first time blogging here!hope that i wont bore you guys haha!



after arriving at geylang bahru block 61 and making our first round of introductions, we were dispatched to our respective homes!i felt rather excited cuz i can finally put my cantonese to good use (or so i supposed hahaha).first up,we visited mdm chua(: BUT horrors!she speaks hokkien instead of canto!for those who know me well they shoould know that my hokkien is really really bad.like i only know how to say one to ten in hokkein haha.mdm chua warmly invited us to her house and we sat down and chatted with her as there wasnt any much chores to do.she was being really nice and cute as throughout the whole session of interaction,she kept asking us whether we want any drinks haha.like asking us for 4 or 5 times?probably as it was my first home visit,or that my hokkien is really terrible,i was pretty quiet throughout the whole session and only talked to her for like one or two sentences HAHA.the rest of the talking was mostly done by the two seniors attached and jolene had to multi task as a translator as well haha.overall it was a really good experience to be able to know more about mdm chua(:



next up was mdm chow mui!as most of you alrdy know,mdm chow mui is this really vibrant and loud and cute lady!:D haha so as usual, there wasn't any chores for us to do and hence we sat down and chit chatted haha.at first,mdm chow mui spoke hokkien and hence as usual the 2 seniors were doing the talking.but after we spoke to her in canto,she still replied in hokkien even though she said shes a canto haha!only when she started to reply in canto then i began to talk more and chatted quite a bit with her.got to know that she was previously a samsui woman,doesnt really enjoy going down to the centre and interact with the elderly over there as she wants to avoid any possible disputes or arguments,has a daughter who gives her allowance and 2 grandchildren and she'll go and buy e groceries herself.and we were told to guess her age and she said that she was 85.but after looking at her ic then we realized and told her shes actually 88 yrs old!haha.mdm chow mui is really nice to talk to and i told her that i'll see her again!hope that e next time round we can help her more with the household chores!



e last home visit was to this uncle's house.i cant rmbr/dont know his name as we crashed this group and basically just listened to their conversation haha.it was a pretty sad moment when the uncle told us about his son who died of appendicitis at e age of 3,when they sent him to a tcm doctor and subsequently to a hospital but there were no specialist doctors there to save him.and he was also talking about the high medical fees in which he couldnt afford.this has really taught me that we are really blessed and fortunate and hence should really treasure it and be filial to our parents haha.


Last of all, I shall end it off with a picture since I'm quite sure that those who even took e time to read this would be bored to tears hahaha.I wanted to join TOUCH last yr but couldnt make it for e orientation visit and subsequently forgot about it haha.this time round,i'll definitely come back for more!:D


-huiting(:

TOUCH Visit - 08 Aug 09

Yay! 1st Blog post so here goes:

10:30a.m. on 8 Aug this year, armed with unwanted clothes and a dialect-spewing mouth, I arrived at Geylang Bahru, ready to help the elderlies in whatever way I can. Although there were only 2 freshies on that day and it was our 1st time doing TOUCH, we did not feel left out as all the people there were nice and friendly :D. After a brief briefing, all of us went up to the 1st home to visit, only to be chased out as there were too many people in the room haha. We then split into 2 groups to visit different units as the turnout rate was way too good.

1st unit: Mdm Chua
Mdm Chua is a very happy-go-lucky person who had just lost her husband a month ago. I was expecting her to be depressed and emotional but she seemed to be quite strong mentally and i really have to salute her for that. When we arrived in front of the door, Mdm Chua shocked us with the fact that a group of students came yesterday and helped to tidy up the entire house. Oh man no use for my unwanted clothes T_T. Pin Chuan then asked her whether we can come in and have a little chat. She agreed and our talkathon commences.

Luckily for me Mdm Chua speaks Hokkien, which is my dialect, and I was able to talk to her in "half bucket of water" hokkien. She was complaining about all the stuffs that she bought and how much space they are taking up. She also went on to talk about her past and how life is much better now in Geylang Bahru as there were always people and volunteers showering her with care and concern. Words like this make me feel that we are doing something for a good cause and it has a huge impact on the lives of the elderlies.

Throughout the entire conversation, Mdm Chua was constantly asking us if we need any drink or coffee. She then offered to treat us to coffee at the kopitiam downstairs - "I treat, you all pay, haha". Actually I really don't mind going for the coffee as I didn't have much for breakfast but looking at Zhen Xiu's stern face, I realised that it was wrong to do so :P. Mdm Chua also gave us some packets of cold ice lemon tea and white chrysanthemum tea which none of us touch at all. In the end, Pin Chuan told Mdm Chua that we are going to visit the next unit at on the fourth storey. Conincidentally, Mdm Chua and Mdm Cheong already knew each other as they were always playing board games together in the TCS centre so Mdm Chua followed us to the next unit.

2nd unit: Mdm Cheong
Unlike Mdm Chua, Mdm Cheong is more of a quiet and introverted person. She lost her husband 7 years ago and I heard that she was hospitalised due to depression at that time. Time heals all wounds and Mdm Cheong seemed to have gotten over her husband's death. Together with Mdm Chua, we went into Mdm Cheong's house and again no cleaning T_T. I will really like to know which cleaning company the group of students are from.

Mdm Cheong speaks Cantonese and this time round I cant really understand what she was saying. I can only grasp bits and parts out of the mixture of dialects used in her conversation with Mdm Chua. Occasionally she will try to explain what she was saying in Mandarin to us and we would laugh together with them. I still remember Mdm Chua whispering to me that she thought her house was messy but Mdm Cheong's house was even more untidy! Haha they still can't beat me if they compare my house with theirs.

Mdm Cheong was cooking her lunch when we visited her and the smell of spring onions on the steamed fish filled the entire room. I really pity Shi Tien who was sitting beside the fish and he told me the smell was overwhelming over there. She also showed us some of the pretty artworks that she have created and how to write her name in Chinese. She then proceed to write her phone number under her written name and she exchanged numbers with Mdm Chua. Oh so sweet! :) But Mdm Chua was saying that it was quite unnecessary to do so because they see each other everyday haha!

Time really flies when we were having fun. It was already 1 o'clock and we had to leave already. We took a quick photo together and bade farewell to both ladies. All the volunteers then met together downstairs for the debrief where Pin Chuan announced that Chen Hua and him are stepping down and the upcoming chairman and vice chairman. Although we only interacted with the elderlies and never really helped them in their daily chores, it was a fun and fufilling experience for me :D.

From

Mdm Chua on the left and Mdm Cheong on the right

-Jerome

Dear T.H.E. Seniors Volunteers...

YOU ARE WANTED!!!

We require manpower & womanpower to paint TWO homes (a 1-room flat & a 3-room flat). As both units are quite old and very gloomy-looking, the seniors would really appreciate a fresh coat of paint that will certainly brighten up the whole house and also brighten up their moods. It is quite a challenging task (especially for the 3-room flat) but sure to bring great satisfaction and joy upon completion. Really appreciate if you can help us out in this during your June hols.

Anyone keen to take up this painting challenge, please contact Pinchuan, Jolene or myself (6297-5818 or email sac@touch.org.sg). Thank you soooooooo much, in advance!

Huey Ming

Centre staff

Changi Airport Outing =)))

Saturdays are perhaps the best days to laze in bed, but a group of volunteers decided to forgo that temptation to participate in a meaningful event - T.H.E. Seniors Changi Airport Outing!


What could be so special about bringing some elderly on a trip to Changi Airport, you might wonder. Well, for some of the elders, it could very possibly be their first time going for an outing due to reasons such as fear or personal circumstances. Hence for them, it would be akin to discovering a whole new world far beyond the one they are currently in.

Our volunteers; prepped and ready to go!

And so, the day began with the volunteers gathering at Tanah Merah MRT station for a briefing with OPC. We then proceeded to the road to await the arrival of the elders.





It was by no exaggeration that their cheerfulness matched the bright sunshine that day – they were waving and smiling at us through the bus’ window and it was a really pleasant sight to witness their eagerness, which certainly rubbed off onto all the volunteers.




The itinerary consisted of a train ride to the airport, followed by a visit to a sketching station. Next up was lunch and a one hour free and easy tour of the airport. Our last station was the T3’s viewing gallery, where everyone took in the sights of the majestic planes taking flight.

I could seriously go on and on describing each part of the outing, but that would seriously bore you, so I’ll let the pictures speak instead =)

On the train to T3...

and arrival!

First stop - sketching station

Showing off their proud creations!

Makan time!

Chilling out at the viewing gallery

Smiles all around!

Cheese! (((=

I was attached to a jovial lady, and truth be told (and embarrassingly), I cannot remember her name as I have really terrible memory. However, there was one aspect of her that really struck me – her zest for life.

We spoke in depth about life and I took home an important lesson – to never be defeated by circumstances. Not that it’s something that many of us are unfamiliar with, but throughout the course of life, we often lose sight of such stuff and timely reminders are definitely welcome.


I also got the opportunity to speak to several other elderly folks and found out that they really enjoyed the outing, with many of them looking forward to the future outings. Oh, I think the elderly folks are really cool; I felt quite drained at the end, but most of them were still pretty energetic.

Some of the elderly were more energetic than us after the event...

Overall, it was an enjoyable and fulfilling experience; seeing how a simple act of bringing them on an outing can generate so much joy in their hearts. I am totally looking forward to future outings too and I hope that you would join us too!

yanzhu =))

Touch Visit - 21 Feb 09

Hi All,

It's been long since I last volunteer with Touch... Really miss all the wonderful memories that I had with CSC, when I was still studying! Hah.

Last week, I had been assigned by Jolene (current chairperson) to blog on the experiences I had in my last visit to Touch. Apologies for the delay in the posting, as I am very tied up with work. :p

So, here's the updates.

11.00am: Was late for Touch, coz was helping a lady whose card was stuck in ATM. But anyway, first elderly I visited was Mdm Ho. She was really amazing, as she can speak and understand many languages and dialects.

11.10am: By the time I reached the flat, Chen Hua, Margaret and Lin Xun were already doing house-cleaning. So I am tasked the simplest yet most meangingful job, i.e. to chat with Mdm Ho. Ha. Learnt a lot from Mdm Ho. From the consveration, she seems to be a happy and optimistic lady. She talked about many issues: her family, her driving licence which she is so proud of, her CPF letters on GST Credits which I helped her to read, and of coz the volunteers whom she treated as her grandsons and granddaughters...

11.30am: Mdm Ho taught me how to wear a tie which I needed for my presentation on that day. Really surprised that a lady of her age know how to tie, something that "young" people like me don't even know. Heh. As the Chinese saying goes, "Jia you yi lao, ru you yi bao"... Been taught a valuable lesson that day... :)

12.00pm: After bidding Mdm Ho goodbye, we left for Mdm Lim Chuey's house. Mdm Lim was very happy to see us. We heard from her that she was very depressed and kept thinking about negative stuff. Very "gei shim" that her house was dirty and untidy, thus we volunteered to help her clean the place. Just like in the past, Chen Hua and I were tasked to clean the windows. Margaret was cleaning the fan and Lin Xun was sweeping / mopping floor.

12.45pm: Flat was clean and neat. Mdm Lim was happy and grateful to us, kept thanking us profusely. We asked her not to think of sad things and try to stay positive and happy. If possible, to interact with other elderly and go for a short walk. However, she indicated that she feels ostracised by some elderly and is afraid to travel long distances, as she don't know the way well. We offerred to bring her around, whenever she needs some company. She finally smiled...

1.15pm: We left Mdm Lim's house. When we reached the void deck, the rest had already gathered. Jolene did a de-brief and dismissed the group.

That's all for last week's updates. For more details on the elderly, do come for visit next sat. See ya there! :)

Cheers,
Zip

Lunar 'Niu' Year Celebration 2009

Hello everyone, this is my first time blogging in the CSC touch blog so do give me some feedbacks and comments. 

It is the yearly but greatly anticipated event, the Lunar New Year Celebration. This is my first time involving in such a celebration with so many senior citizens. Before the event got started, few of them were early and sat down chatting with each other.

The senior citizens wait patiently for the celebration to get started. Jiancong started off the celebration by playing his harmonica. Great effort and it sounded really nice. The elderly enjoyed it.

Up next, games and lots of food! 

"Blindfolded & Guess the food"

Lin Xun and Jia Hui feeding the elderly

prize giving

last group playing the game

After the games, the traditional "lo hei" is next to come as an appetizer to raise 'good luck' for the new year.

Mdm Chua singing while the volunteers preparing the"lo hei"

The elderly tossed the shredded ingredients into the air with chopsticks while saying auspicious wishes out loud to wish for a prosperous and wonderful new year ahead. Kam Poh can be seen actively tossing while at the other end, Wei Jian is a make shift table to hold the "lo hei" container. Thanks for the sacrifice.

Last but not least, distributing the new year goodies to them. Each of us is supposed to bring a tin of new year goodies so these are the ones. Volunteers helped to pass it around for the elderly to taste a great variety of goodies.

A group photo to end the event on a high.

Thanks everyone for their effort and time spent with the elderly.

Cheers.

Weizhong.