Talking over a Meal

Hi, I am posting about my visit to Uncle Lin on 9 Nov, which was a few weeks back, sorry for the late(and short) post :P

When we visited Uncle Lin, he was having his meal before going off for an appointment. We chatted with him most of the time. I remember that even though we ask him to have his meal while we chatted with him, he still concentrates on talking to us which made me feel a bit guilty for interrupting his meal. It felt that he was happy to chat with us.  This made me feel that our visit is really appreciated by the elderly as much of the time they are alone on the apartment.

-Song Han

I broke a mop

Last Saturday, my group (Hui Jia, Eileen and I) visited 2 friends, Mdm Goh and Mdm Tan. We went over some simple house chores and chatted with them for a while before ending each of their respective session. Both elderlies are bubbly and cheery which made my day and this is what I look forward to whenever there is a visit.

The visit to Mdm Tan place was more memorable. Not just because I accidentally destroyed her mop due to overexertion of strength :P ( cheese I am still guilty bout that), but also how much it lifted her mood when we are around her interacting with her. It was the kind of emotions that make our weekly visit mroe worthwhile. It is also very heartwarming to hear that neighbours has been helping out with one another when they need each other the most. Apparently, Mrs Tan was helped by the malay neighbours across her house in times of need. Now that's what I would call the Kampong spirit.

I realised that quality time has been wasted if no communication and interaction was made. This made me more motivated to do more to improve the relationships around me. Looking back, I have lost quality time and friendship because I have not followed up. The experience at Mdm Tan house has reminded me that people are not to be taken for granted and time and effort are needed to keep relationships going, so if friends suddenly receive a text from I, please do not treat me as a weirdo. With this, it is going to be the end of the year. 2013 was a great experience for me in THES and I hope it would be a better one ahead in 2014 J. Happy new year !!!

- Edwin

Missing Much

Hihi everyone (:

Yi'an here and I'm here to blog about my visit to Mdm Ho and Mr Ong which happened many weeks back o.o so pardon me if I'm leaving out many details and thank you if this post benefits you in any way (:

On that fateful Saturday Mr Ong was not home, so I stayed with Mdm Ho through the entire duration of visitation time. Kai Him's group was standing in for me before I arrived and they helped with much of the chores till they left for their own duties (thankyouuu hehe). I proceeded on to mop for Mdm Ho and it was actually my first time helping her with her chores, despite my presence for the past one year (?). You wouldn't expect an elderly to remember, but Mdm Ho did, and I guess it really shows how much attention she pays to each and every one of our volunteers coming in and out of her house every time. I chatted with her about random stuff, her kids, life in geylang bahru with my group mate which happens to be Criss and only Criss hahaha.

We've not been back for long, but I guess at the end of the day we were glad to have made the decision to revisit our elderly here. Seeing lots and lots of new faces around and I guess it made me miss the old faces for a bit. So.....heh hope our lovely existing crew keeps up their good work and wishing everyone a HAPPY 2014 to come ^^

Yi'an

A Blogpost about a Blog

I have a weakness for quotes, short stories, reflections. in this blog, i have found some beautiful ones. this place used to be my favourite website every two weeks, when i eagerly await new posts about our awesome friends, from our awesome friends.  i havent been diligently reading blogposts for about half a year already, so i decided to do so earlier on. 

boy was i not the least disappointed. thank you all for sharing your views and thoughts and i hope that more will continue to write here, read here. just like to share some of my favourites from you guys in this half a year.

Love, Kai Him, the graduated one.

But on retrospect, while we joked with her and made her laugh, I realize I had also really enjoyed myself that morning. I don't know if it was the knife and needles she keeps wrap in old calender papers, or her cute electronic lantern she hangs by the cupboard, but I know I left feeling especially light-hearted that day.  

– Jasmine, on Mdm Cheong

He also seems to find pleasure in life’s small gift. The expression of satisfactory when he drank his simple cup of coffee was priceless. It strikes me hard about how this society has become, a society that is always in a rush and does not reminisce. Mr Tay taught me to slow down the pace of life, at least for the holidays and live in every moment, what I have forgotten and relearnt from the precious gems of the society- the elderlies. 

– Edwin, on Mr Tay

On the whole, we managed to cheer her up quite a bit, though the process of saying goodbye was a little heart-achey. 

– Sofina, on Mdm Tan

Hearing him share about some of the things he talked about had this "calming effect" within me and although I didn't really talk to him much as I was a newcomer, I really enjoyed listening to him and I thought I could just sit there for hours just to listen to some of the things that he had to talked about. 

– Gary, on Mr Lin

Every Saturday spent with the elderly is a constant reminder of how incredibly gratifying it can be, that a single individual’s dedication at a discrete point in time can have such a simple, direct impact on someone. And I am more than glad to be that vessel.

– Victoria 

Every elderly I have visited so far provides us with new perspectives and often show concern towards volunteers, even for new volunteers like us. 

– Jiamin

It was very heartening when she tried to involve the new people in the group. She also made very specific references to many people from the CSC bunch, and how they were doing. I can tell that the CSC community has made a real difference in her life, and continue to be a part of her life and social circle. Another interesting thing was her ability to remember details despite her being old, and being able to recall who did what. The CSC people have also treated her like their own "mentor"(for lack of a better word) and have also somehow kept her in the loop of the things happening in their lives. 

- Yuanjie, on Mdm Ho

Visiting the elderly that day really made me remember my grandparents a lot. They used to tell me their childhood stories just like Mdm. Cheung and Mdm. Wong did. I come from a Cantonese-speaking family, so it really made me felt at home speaking to Mdm. Cheung and Mdm Wong in Cantonese. 

The end of the visit made me reflect a lot on how simple gestures like a greeting could brighten up someone's day; at the same time make oneself feel appreciated by how he/she has made a difference to someone's life, no matter how small. I hope Mdm. Tan had as much fun as we did. I believe the inspiration we got from her - seeing how contented and cheerful she is even at this ripen age - was more than what we could've asked for. 

– Joelle, on Mdm Tan

We wondered why he wanted such a cup of coffee every week; he said that it simply made him feel well. We might need something expensive or nice to satisfy our demands, but a cup of hot coffee gave warmth to Mr Tay. Simple makes happiness too, however, most of us do not always realize and appreciate that. 

- Lee Chin, Ming Dei, on Mr Tay

My Initial Expectation

Hi Everyone!!

Today is my first visit for THES. My initial expectation for today is that I have to help up with the cleaning of the beneficiaries' house. I always have this impression that the beneficiaries' houses are messy and filled with scraps materials. Therefore, I was prepared to do some serious housework. I am also aware that I may encounter difficulties communicating with the elderly as I am only familiar with English and Chinese languages (though I try hard to speak a few words in Hokkien).

My group visited Mr and Mrs Tan first. Contrary to my expectation, the house was well maintained and the couple spokes mandarin. They are very friendly and we did not encounter any difficulties throughout the visit. We helped to mop the floor by following instructions from Mrs Tan. After that, we helped to remove outdated decorations, which are inaccessible to them. We then chat with the couple. Mr Tan displayed good knowledge of the past events in Singapore and gave us a 'history lesson' on Singapore's histories. It was a good refresher on the stuff we learnt in school.

Our second stop was Mdm Wong's house. There were no housework that was needed to be done so we spent the whole visit keeping her company, chatting with her. She could only speaks Cantonese and I could not understand her conversation with my group members. I made attempts to laugh (without knowing the context) at appropriate time, taking cue from my group members' laughter to show that I am listening. The elderly also offered us water chestnut to eat. We played cards with her also. Even though I could barely comprehend the conversation my group had with her, I could feel that she enjoyed herself today. This is our goal.

These visits are largely beneficial for the elderly to know that there are people that care for them. Our helps are also imperative to ensure their well beings when helping them with stuff that would be otherwise be a challenge for them.

-Wee Chong

Good Mood Today (GMT +8)

Today my group (Kiah Yeen, Shuang Shuang and I) visited Mr Tay. He was very cheerful and positive today which was a really good thing. He was also in the mood to talk as he chatted a lot with us today. He taught us some simple Japanese words and even some Khek (Hakka) when i told him my dialect was actually Khek. He also explained that somehow, drinking butter with coffee helps him lay off smoking; something that intrigued me. He had been smoking for 70 years and only quit smoking 3 years ago because cigarettes were too expensive and buttercino was a much cheaper alternative. So glad that he kicked the habit though! Apparently, he found out about this method himself? He also told us many stories of the past which were very interesting to listen, especially when he injected lots of sound effects and hand gestures. 

Mr Tay also kept thanking us countless of times during the whole visit. Something seemingly insignificant and easy to us, such as reading the letterbox mails and bringing him down for coffee can actually mean so much to him and he is so grateful for all the volunteers' help. Just giving him our 2 hours can mean the world to him. It was great to see him in such a good mood and all of us kept cracking up as he chatted with us. Initially, it was quite difficult to talk to him as we were not fluent in hokkien and we also had to talk loudly for him to be able to hear. However, seeing him in such good spirits made everything worthwhile. Really do hope he continues to stay this happy(:

Joleen

Sight in Visually Impaired World

Over the weekend, I visited Mr Tay for the first time. This is the first time I interact with a visually impaired elderly. Therefore, I did not speak out a lot and let the more experienced volunteers do the interaction. While doing the usual activities, I was amaze by how Mr Tay can recount his past experience in such vivid manner that he seems to live right in the moment of his story. He also seems to find pleasure in life’s small gift. The expression of satisfactory when he drank his simple cup of coffee was priceless. It strikes me hard about how this society has become, a society that is always in a rush and does not reminisce. Mr Tay taught me to slow down the pace of life, at least for the holidays and live in every moment, what I have forgotten and relearnt from the precious gems of the society- the elderlies.

- Edwin

My First Post of the Semester! :D

Hi everyone !:D ( hehe shall start with my opening phrase everytime )^^

This is actually my first post for this Semester! :D Suddenly got a strong surge of feelings. I guess I really learnt a lot along the way throughout this semester as I visit the elderly weekly together with other volunteers!:) I began to notice the changes in their mood and feel that I’m growing alongside them, as I spend time interacting with them each week. ^^ Even though it is the same place,­­­­­­ with the same elderly, there seems to be new lessons learnt from each visit.

My group mates for this week are Eileen ( my Life Science mate!:D) and Hazel ( my A-class bodyguard !:P) hahas. We went to Mr Lin’s house.  I saw Mr Lin early in the morning before the visit and I guess he was in great spirits as there was food being sent in bulk to the apartments in this vicinity. ^^ Perhaps to the elderly, having basic needs such as food can really make their day !:) Maybe we can learn to be contented and happy with the basic things which we have and also cherish them !^^

 

We went on to clean Mr Lin’s windows (by Hazel and Eileen who were taller ^^) and mopped the floor. A clean living environment is healthier for the elderly and I’m glad that we contribute to the cleanliness of the elderly’ house every week. After cleaning the house, one of the things which Mr Lin shared is that TV can let us know more about other places in the world which we can’t go or can’t afford to go to. Even though most of the elderly may not know how to utilise the Internet, it’s great that we still have ---the TV!^^,  to let them get in touch with, or at least know more about the rest of the world. :D

Next, we moved on to Mr Chua’s house!:) However, no one answered the door. Mr Chua is our new beneficiary and I really looked forward to visit him and have fun interacting with him! ^^ We’ve not had a chance to visit him since the exam period and I hope that he’ll be at home for the next visit!:) Eileen was sharp to notice that Mr Chua’s bamboo pole holder has no caps on and suggested providing caps lest it became a breeding site for mosquitos. ^^ Sometimes we just have to pay attention to small details around us and maybe we can do little things which makes other people’s lives happier and better! :)

Having some time left, we went to find Mr Tay!:D It really feels great to see him yesterday as Mr Tay’s has become less depressed as compared to the time when I first joined T.H.E.Seniors!:D:D Seeing the change in him really made me happier. ^^ This shows that we can be happier and more optimistic if we are willing to, and bring joy to the people around us at the same time!:D Although there may be times when we may be depressed, it’ll be over soon as long as we’re willing to look on the bright side, like Mr Tay. :D Maybe this is how we can grow together with the elderly, as we experience each and every visit with them and learn something new. ^^

I hope that more elderly will be happier with volunteer’s accompaniment and may our simple acts bring them joy each week !:D :D

-Kah Suan J

Neighbours

Today, we visited Mdm K. for 14th Dec official visit. She got discharged from the hospital not long ago, so we are really glad that she is ok and that she is still chatty.

Mdm K. also shared her concern regarding arranging her own transportation to get to SGH for her appointments. She wasn't sure of the alternative transportantions that she could take from where she stay other than cabbing (she felt that it's quite hard to get a cab from this area). We offered information on how she could get to SGH via bus or train, however she still appeared a bit perplexed. Hopefully, Mdm K. can get some help and get to the hospital safely. (:

Tina

Being a Group Leader for the first time!

It's been a long time since I went to touch center last time. I believe It's encouraging to see some of the familiar faces in between the busy school schedules. We visited Mdm Tan and Mdm Cheong this week. I was assigned to the group leader at the first time. Erm, it's time to do some real work after a few times of free-rider, haha.

We decided to visit Mdm Tan @ blk 62 first because Mdm Cheong said she is only free to see us after 11. It took me a while to find her departments as I'm quite unfamiliar with the surrounding. She speaks Hokkien. Unfortunetely I don't understand and therefore i decide to do the house work. We entertained her by singing some of the chinese songs. Interestingly, she started to talk about me after knowing I come from China. She asked me where I live and whether my parents live with me and a couple of other questions. I was quite surprised that she actually concerned about me though it was my first time visiting her. She also told us that she got 7 siblings and she was the second elderest. She had to work at 15 to support the family. I feel sad for her that she had to comprise her study to raise the family.

Then we went to visit Mdm Cheong. We were a bit late and She was about to have her lunch. She told us she needed to go to church after our visit so we got to rush a bit. The first impression of her department was the arrangement of the furnitures. There were 3 chairs aligned in front of her bed and 2 more neatly rested at the sides of the table. I was surprised that she was particular about the ways to do the housework though I had heard about her from other volunteer before. We mopped the windows, floors and chairs. She also treated us a soft drink and that was really appreciated after a day of work.

Other than the usual visiting, this time we were asked to help inform the elderly about the emergency button and collect their birth date. It was fun to note that many of them cannot rememer their birthday so just noted as 1st Jan.

There were less ppl this time as it is close to exam period. So we had to go on a group of 2 or 3 which I think more manpower needed. The arragement of making the new comers as the group leader was great. I was given a piece of paper with all the elderly's info on it. Personally for me, words in black and while help me remember their particulars like name and address. And it was also a wonderful experience to get a feeling of how time management and task management as a group leader given the limited manpower.

Lu Jiajie

A Trip Back Home

My previous entries dated 14/07 and 08/06. It has been 4 months since I've blogged here.

It has also been 4 months since I last read the blog; before I typed my draft I took some time to read the latest entries by mostly new volunteers for some inspiration. They were about how they fell in love with Geylang Bahru, about how they fell in love with volunteering, and about how they fell in love with our lovely elderly. Definitely worth anyone's time reading them. Brings back so much memories when I first visited T.H.E.S. It's been 3 years.

Fortunately, it wasn't 4 months since I visited. If it were any better, I went for the unofficial visit on 19/10. It turned out quite... defining I guess. Somehow fate brought me back that particular week. It was during the time where I could take a break from everything else. I haven't been coming back regularly, finding all sorts of excuses not to. Feeling tired is probably an excuse, or probably I'm just being hard on myself again.

It turned out to be the very last time I knocked on his door.

Fast forward to yesterday. I was tasked to conduct facilitation to check if the elderly were available for visit. Prior to heading to Mdm Cheng's home, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to communicate with her in Cantonese. With a bit of coincidence, I didn't have to go up to her unit as I bumped into herself and her friend at the lift landing at the void deck. Wasn't too difficult as I had expected, I spoke to them and asked for their availability. And with my half-past-six Hokkien, I went up to check on Mdm Chow whom I really 鸡同鸭讲-ed for a while before accomplishing my mission, and Mdm Tan, who greeted me with her sweet smile as always. Bumped into Mdm Cheong outside TSAC and she commented that I haven't been visiting for a while. I didn't know how much I missed these elderly.

It was just weird, skipping the 6th floor altogether. 

The visit began proper, and my group consisting of Yong Jian, Jocelyn and myself visited Mr Tay. When we reached the doorstep, Mdm Cheong was there and she gave him a bottle of liangteh. It has been a while since she gave him that. She also seemed to be pacifying Mr Tay, so we knew that he was not in his best of moods again.

Mdm Cheong left and Mr Tay requested us to call his sister. There was the dialing tone but shortly after every dial up, the connection was cut. We told him that there was no answer, and the result was the same when he took over the receiver. What's worse is that, we had to lie about not bringing our handphones because we should not be calling using our personal numbers. This did not do any good to his mood, thus we wasted no time in bringing him to the coffeeshop for his buttercino. He complained about his poor relationship with his neighbour along the way.

Throughout, Mr Tay's mood was as gloomy as the weather. He would ruminate about his lack of eyesight, and the ailments that accompanies his old age. About the long waits for his weekly coffee and the companionship of volunteers. He alternated from saying wa jin gan kor, to kamxia lilang.

We would try to engage him in different topics to cheer him up and distract him from his sadness. We massaged him and told him about our daily lives, that our exams are coming real soon. We also conveyed a message from Chun Hai and Xueting, who are in China for their exchange. Mr Tay really missed them (and their massaging prowess) and his mood was significantly improved thereafter, smiling more often. As we sent him home, he did not kick a fuss, and thanked us non-stop in appreciation.

940 shared this in her long message and I share the same sentiments: we are very used to our vision and thus take it for granted too often. It hinders our ability to be sensitive towards elderly like Mr Tay. Although he would not be able to know if we had acknowledged what he said, sometimes all we need to do is to simply listen. 讲难听 it seems that he is always whining about stuff, he just wants to see our response if he is important to us. Hence we have to assure him that he IS important to us, through actions like bringing him down for his coffee, holding his hand, massaging him and patting him on the back.

I have to admit that when it comes to visiting Mr Tay, it is not easy to keep up with his volatile mood swings, and I mentioned before that it can get frustrating at times. I am thankful for timely reminders from my fellow volunteers that we are constantly making impact on our elderly's lives and that our companionship keeps them going. The volunteering journey is not always a smooth-sailing one but this is what that makes it more fulfilling.

Feels great to be back home. It will be a while till the next visit. All the best to everyone for your exams! :)

-Jeremy 阿乐

The Colorful Past X The Truth

This is my first time visiting Mr Tay. As usual, we brought him down to the coffee shop to have his coffee with butter! We then talked to him about random stuff like why he like to have butter coffee, what happened during WWII, and his kampong life. Oh and he knows martial arts last time! Then when we brought him home, he asked us to call his sister. We knew that his sister wouldn't answer but we didn't want him to be disappointed, so we pretended that she answered and told her Mr Tay reached home already. Mr Tay kinda wanted to rush to the phone to talk to her but we told him that she hanged up already. He got abit upset and pissed with us for not letting him talk to her. So...yeah.. next time when any elderly ask us to call someone on their behalf, just answer truthfully :( Oh and Mr Tay needs newspapers for bathing and stuff..so just bring some during the visits yeah.

I could feel the happiness and joy from these elderly during the visits. For Mr Tay, he really looks forward to every Saturday's visit because that is the only day of the week that he can leave his house and go down for a cup of coffee. And for that, he is really thankful to the volunteers. For these elderly, a simple act can actually bring a lot of happiness and comfort to them. And a lot of times, we just take for granted of those simple acts shown by people around us. Besides caring for these elderly, we should also learn from them to be grateful and cherish everything around us.

YieYin

The Warmth

For this official visit, my group and I have the privileged to visit both cheery and smiley ladies, mdm chow moi and mdm tan. Despite having old age related disability, these ladies have exhibited the most positive characters a volunteer can ask for.  Both of them have hearing difficulties, and my group need to shout at the top of our lungs to have ourselves heard. It was an unforgettable experience as it subtly exhibits the difficulties that the elderlies face. Yet, despite this their beautiful smile sand sometimes funny jokes can make our day brighter.

The visit made me come to realise the loneliness that the most elderlies felt. In this society where work and academic take precedent, families are often neglected, and cast aside. During the visit, it made me realise how in this society, elderlies has been taken for granted and forgotten. Putting myself in their shoe, I would also long for the warmth and belonging that a family or the society could give. This made me understand the fiery passion that some of our volunteers demonstrate to make this elderlies feel wanted. Hence I think at the end of the day, credits must go to all the volunteers, all the unsung heroes that not only empowered the elderlies and also to my own personal developments. Great job guys.

-Edwin

For the official visit on 12^th Oct, my group visited Madam Ho and Mr Lin.

When we first arrived at Madam Ho’s doorstep, we asked if Madam Ho was in and she jokingly replied ‘no’. As it was a first time visit to Madam Ho’s house for all 3 of us, we were stunned for a moment. However, an ex-volunteer was visiting her at that time as well and he welcomed us in. We started off by offering to help her clean up her house. We were not sure what was required, so Madam Ho gave us instructions on how to go about cleaning up such as clearing the dust from the mats and which brooms, mops and pails to use. After that was done, we sat down and chatted with her. I found out she can speak and understand many languages! She told us stories and offered us carrot juice to drink too. It was enjoyable listening to her share but soon it was time to leave. We bid our goodbyes and headed to Mr Lin’s house.

At first we did not know what to expect as we were told that Mr Lin might not be very welcoming. When we arrived, his relative was in his house and Mr Lin told us he was going out. However, his relative told him to stay behind so Mr Lin welcomed us in.  We offered to help him do some housework but he rejected and told us that there would be people coming over to help him too. So we sat down and chatted with him instead. He was rather cheerful that day and gladly talked to us about everything. He told us about his family in Indonesia, his daily activities, his preferences etc. It was eye-opening to hear Mr Lin’s insights on issues happening in the world today and his stories are very interesting too.

Overall, I had a great time visiting both Madam Ho and Mr Lin. They were both very friendly towards us. It was a meaningful experience!

-Michelle

Last week, we visited Madam Cheng and Madam Wong and it was my 2^nd visit to both their houses.

As usual, Madam Cheng’s house was already clean so we mostly talked and watched television shows. I was a little worried at first as I was the only one the group who could not speak nor understand Cantonese, but thankfully, my groupmates translated parts of the conversation and I tried to guess what the rest of the conversation was about. She talked about her life, and also imparted us some useful cooking tips, such as how chicken would be nicer if you reheated the chicken after leaving it in the refrigerator overnight! I feel that it is always interesting to talk to these elderly as they are cheerful and I always learn new things from them.

After which, we visited Madam Wong seemed to be quite cheerful that day. Madam Wong can actually speak many languages, such as Chinese, Malay, Cantonese!  We helped to tape her floor as the wheelchair damages her flooring rather frequently, and talked to her, mostly about languages and food.  Madam Wong seems quite the gourmet as there are always interesting snacks in her house!

I feel that every visit is always meaningful and there’s always something to learn from them, be it life experiences, values etc. I hope to pick up dialects quickly so I can finally hold a proper conversation with them! J

-Jiamin

Sorry for the late post!

This is my first visit! I visited Mr Tan and Mr Ong on 26,Oct. Mr Tan is a very outspoken and friendly man. He was smiling throughout the visit! When we reached Mr Tan's home, we found he was home alone. He was very happy to see us. He was in very good health condition and he told us he swept the floor every two days so he don't need us to do housework for him. I helped him to change the light bulbs and after that we sat on the floor chatting with him. He shared a lot with us about his memory of the period of Japanese occupation and his working experience when he was young. The atmosphere was relaxed.

Next we went to Mr Ong's place. He just recovered from a surgery and he told us the doctor suggested him doing another surgery for his right eye which is unable to be closed. We helped him to check his bill from the clinic as he can only read and speak in Chinese. Mr Ong loves listening to Chinese songs. So we played a few songs through our phones and sang together for him. I didn't sing because I felt so shy haha. Before we leave, we sent a few songs to his handphone and showed him how to play the songs on his phone. I should say Mr Ong's life is quite tough and his mind was not very clear. I'm a little worried.

After this visit I'm more determined that I should keep visiting the elderly regularly as their life is not easy. They need both material help and company.

Every minute I spent with them is so meaningful. Looking forward to my next visit!

Yinghao

I visited Madam Cheng on 12/10/2013. This was my second visit. Once we reach her home, she told us to help her repair her room’s floor. There were some indentations on her floor. We helped to tap the hole by using scotch. After that, the volunteers from SMU also came to visit Madam Cheng. What an unexpected coincidence! Then, we helped to do some household chores together. We mopped the floor and wiped windows as well as cupboards. Others accompany Madam Cheng chit-chatting. Madam Cheng told us that recently she woke up quite early. She also told us to ask her out if we have any outings.

Madam Cheng speaks in Cantonese. I can understand but cannot speak. Madam Cheng told us that recently she woke up quite early. She also told us to ask her out if we have any outings. She has to sit on wheelchair. I realized it was quite troublesome to stay alone and tidy up her house.

After that, due to the absence of another beneficiary who we intended to visit initially, we went to visit Madam Khatijah. SMU students were also inside. We spent time chit-chatting with her together. I just found that she also came from Malaysia which is my hometown.

 After the visit, I realized that the life of an elderly is not easy. Although they are old and go through half of our life cycles, some of them might not gain what they have paid throughout their lives. We can find many rich businessman or those elderly that was overwhelmed with home love. However, due to some specific reasons or incidents that were heard, some of them spend most of their time alone in one-room HDB. They need our companies and ears. From this, I have learnt how to appreciate what I have possessed now and try to utilize my time to do stuffs that are more meaningful for me and those who I care. =)

I visited Mr Tay on 12th Oct and I was actually a little stressed when I knew that we need to speak hokkien >.< because I don't know how to speak hokkien. Fortunately, the other group members could speak hokkien so basically I just listened and asked them to translate for me when needed. I think language barrier is definitely an obstacle for me. I shall learn some hokkien so I could converse with Mr Tay next time :D

Mr Tay was quite happy when he first see us and he immediately prepare himself to go down to the coffeeshop with us. He was grateful that we visited him and he kept on saying thank you. He is very friendly too! We sat down at the coffeeshop and he had his usual coffee with butter. 2 of my groupmates bought him 2 tins of biscuits and newspaper too. I was a little surprised because I didn't know that Mr Tay uses newspaper to clean himself (I learn something new about Mr Tay during this visit :) ) Throughout the time spent at the coffeeshop, we chatted with Mr Tay. But I guess our topics are quite limited due to our language ability. We tried to keep the conversation going and it really makes me happy when we come to a certain topic that made Mr Tay talked a lot. He is very excited about it and he shares many detail about it. I could sensed that he was really proud and happy to share the fond memories because those were the happy days for him. Even though I may not understand everything he said (because I know vvvv little hokkien), i tried to acknowledge by saying "en, en" frequently so he would know that we are still listening to him. I hope that he could continue to be that cheerful! However, there are times that he suddenly talks about how sad and difficult his life is as a blind man. This is the part we get a bit nervous and stressed up to change topic >.< It is a little bit challenging for me because I would need to be cautious of how I initiate a topic. I would need to be careful not to be bring up inappropriate topics.

We also helped Mr Tay to read his letter and cut his finger & toenails for him. He is constantly showing gratitude towards us. He kept on saying thank you thank you, countless times. I felt that this is something that I learnt from him- that is to be thankful of small little things that happen in our lives. Being grateful makes one feel happy or satisfied with life no matter how good or bad it may be.

Before we left Mr Tay's house (after bringing him home), we also helped him call his god-granddaughter (?) and his sister because he would like to talk to them. I could sensed his disappointment plus a little bit anger when they didn't answer the call. I was feeling nervous because I was little afraid that he maybe upset by that. We tried several times, and finally one of them finally return the call!! I was so glad that he managed to talk to one of them (i forgot is it his sister of god-granddaughter) and he is little bit more happy after that :)

There is a little bit tension when we were monitoring Mr Tay's mood as it fluctuates. Sometimes he is happy and sometimes he is very sad. Despite that it was a little stressed due to the language barrier, we had fun trying to speak hokkien haha! The greatest satisfaction is to bring joy to the elderly. Making Mr Tay happy makes me feel happy too. I wished that I could do more for him. I hope Mr Tay could stay more cheerful and less pessimistic sometimes. :D Im looking forward to the next visit! :D

ps: sorry luting! :/ I forgot to help you take your phone at Mr Tay's house before we left for the coffeeshop :/ So sorry! :/

Eileen (:

Sorry for the really really late post! This is for the official visit on the 5^thOctober. This is my second time doing visit with T.H.E Seniors and my group visited Mdm Chow Moi and Mdm Cheng.

We went to visit Mdm Chow Moi first and was greeted by her really cute “teeth-less’’ smile. She was very happy when we gave her the mooncake and hung the lantern in her house. Since Mdm Chow Moi could only speak hokkien, and we couldn’t translate the ‘’deng mi’’ into hokkien, we decided to do something else. We played hokkien songs and danced around with her. She had a lot of fun dancing and being amused by senior chaur ann and hui jia. We  then left for Mdm Cheng’s house at around 11.30 am. Mdm Chow Moi was waving goodbye to us at the door till the lift came. Even when we were downstairs, she still waved non-stop to us from her kitchen window. It is very heartwarming to see a 90-year-old lady, being so cheerful and optimistic, laughing and smiling at every small little things.

We then visited Mdm Cheng who was back from coffee with her friend. Half of the time we were taking photos with her, asking her to pose all the different animal actions. We then sat down and talked to her. She was teaching us how to boil good soup and how Guangdong people must have good soup every day for dinner, just like what we watched in hong kong dramas! She also talked about her husband who has passed away and how a virtuous wife she was :D:D!

The pig pose!

 

Although it is only my second visit, but these visits have so far, left me feeling really satisfied and made my day. I think that these elderly have brought so much more joy to me than what we brought to them. From these elderly, we can really learn how to be optimistic even when in despair, to cherish the small little things that we usually take for granted, and to bring joy to people around us.

-yieyin

 Very happy to have my first experience with T.H.E.seniors on Oct 12th.The visit was quite meaningful and the seniors as well as my group members are all  nice persons.

Our team firstly visited Madam Ho,who's indeed a language master！She can speak Cantonese,Hokkien,Mandarin,English and some other languages,and it's really amazing.We did some cleaning for her upon entering her house and then chatted with her,about her experience and family members,also about us.Madam Ho is a kind lady and easy to get along with.She even treated us to some delicious carrot juice!The only difficulty for me was that She kept switching from language to language,among which I could only understand Mandarin.So I tried quite hard to catch what her meant.Anyway,it was still pleasant chatting.

Then we went upstairs to visit Uncle Ong.In general he was in good health and can go downstairs to take a walk or have meals.He was focused on some TV show when we arrived.He was still exploring his new mobile phone and we tried to help him with that.But it was a pity that we failed to move an annoying icon on the screen.In general he was in good health and can go downstairs to take a walk or have meals.He had cleaned the house before our visit so that there wasn't much we could do.We didn't chat much either as he was absorbed in his phone:D.However,I remembered that he didn't like chicken,haha!

I think as some experienced member said,:"once you get started,you find it hard to stop."I'm looking forward to our next visit!

Zhenzhe

    12th October was my 2nd visit and we visited Mr Tan this time round. We helped him to wipe his windows and we also tried removing the paint stains on his floor. Mr Tan was friendly and interactive, he shared some of his life experiences/historical stories with us. After a while, his wife returned home, and we learnt from her that she likes to exercise and participate in such events. It's really remarkable that she is still leading an active lifestyle in sports at her age. Mrs Tan also mentioned that she would like to go on a sentosa outing as she hasn't been there before.  All in all, it was yet another meaningful visit. (:

Tina

The 12 Oct official visit was my third visit. My group members for the day was Kah Suan, Hazel, Teng Swee and Jun Da. We were told that we had a special mission for the day, which was to clean Uncle Chiu's toilet. Before we went to help Uncle Chiu we visted Mr Tan first. Mr Tan is staying with his wife but Mrs Tan was not home because she went to visit her friends, so we had a chat with Mr Tan about how he met his wife, the places he went before etc.

After visiting Mr Tan, we went down to Uncle Chiu's house. As we were a little pressed for time, we got started with the cleaning of his house and his toilet. It was tiring but a very fulfiling mission for us because a better environment will be good for his health. After all the clean up we had a short singing session with Uncle Chiu. We played the music through our smart phones and i can tell that Uncle Chiu was very happy listening to the music and have people sing along with him. It was a fulfiling day and even though we didnt spend too much time interacting with the elderly, we do feel good about having made a person's life better. One random act of kindness will make your day and that's what make us look forward to the next visit.

Vernon

My Third Visit

The 12 Oct Official Visit was my third visit to help out the elderly. My beneficiary today was Mdm Khatijah. It was my first time meeting her and I must say that she is a very friendly and outspoken lady. She shared many stories with us passionately and most of the time we were just sitting there listening passively without feeling the need to proactively engage her in conversation.

Before we went to her house, we went to buy ice kacang for her as that was her request during the last visit. Unfortunately, we forgot to request to remove the milk and corn from the dessert, resulting in her not being able to eat it. Hopefully next time we'll get it right so that she can get to enjoy the food she loves! =]

All in all, I feel that it was time well spent with Mdm Khatijah because I believe she loves to be surrounded by people to talk to given the fact that she has a very bubbly personality. I also got to spend more time knowing my fellow peers. Here's to forging many more fond memories in the future. Cheers!

Andy

It was my second visit on 28th September the previous Saturday.

Madam Cheong is a very spontaneous lady. Initially, I had expected her to be resistant to the idea of playing word riddles with us (one of our 'missions' for the day). But she played along and even taught us Taiji as our penalties. However, she got a little agitated when her neighbour, Uncle Tay was not in his apartment (later we found out that his friend had brought him out without notifying the centre). That spoiled her mood for the games so we started doing housework instead. While mopping the floor and cleaning the windows, she would ask after us, and tell us how she learnt Chinese (from television dramas). She even spelled out her name in English for us.

She really cheered up a lot when some of the seniors came over to visit her. She bantered with them and it was really heartwarming to see how much cheer and laughter we can potentially bring to her. But on retrospect, while we joked with her and made her laugh, I realize I had also really enjoyed myself that morning. I don't know if it was the knife and needles she keeps wrap in old calender papers, or her cute electronic lantern she hangs by the cupboard, but I know I left feeling especially light-hearted that day.

I can't wait to see her and the other elderly again(:

Jasmine

Last Saturday(28 Sep) was my first visit with T.H.E. seniors where my group was assigned to visit Mr Tan and Mr Ong. Before the visit, we were briefed and given some lantern riddles, mooncake and lantern for the elderly.

Mr Tan and his wife were very friendly and it was a joy to talk to them as they were very warm and friendly. While initially Mr Tan didn't wanted to guess the riddles, Mdm Lim encourage him to play and we ended up playing all the four riddles given to us. At the end, Mdm Li was the one who most guessed all of the riddles correctly. Throughout the interaction, both Mr Tan and Mdm Lim chatted with us, including sharing some details of their lives with us. Both of them also watch a lot television shows and Mr Tan even surprised us as he knew who the younger singers from Taiwan like "Zhang Yun Jing" as she appeared on the television during our talk, showing us how up to date he was.

Next, we went to visit Mr Ong who had just received a new handphone, which he ask us to help him with. Even we had a bit of problem with an older model phone which we were not used to, after fiddling with the phone for a while, we manage to figure out how to use the functions that Mr Ong wanted to learn such as taking pictures and listening to music. We practiced the steps with him as he learned how to use the phone. It required a bit of patience as we had to repeat quite a few times for him to remember the steps, but it was glad to see that he remember how to use it at the end. As we spend most of our time guiding him how to use the functions of the handphone that we did not play the riddles with him.

For my first visit, I felt that I was pretty lucky to be assigned to Mr Tan and his wife and Mr Ong. As they knew Chinese, I didn't have any trouble communicating with them. They were friendly towards us and I enjoy talking to them. All in all, my first visit was a fun and pleasant one.

- Song Han

It was my first time visiting the elderly with T.H.E. Seniors on 28 Sep and it was an awesome experience. Together with Joleen, Kiah Yeen and Shuang Shuang, we paid Mdm Tan a visit and did lots of things with and for her.

I didnt quite know what to expect, but Shuang Shuang, Joleen and Kiah Yeen seemed really well organised and knew exactly what to do. While Shuang Shuang asked Mdm Tan what she needed us to do for her, Joleen and Kiah Yeen started checking the expiry dates of Mdm Tan's food and also checked what kind of medication she was taking.

It was nice that Mdm Tan is the only elderly we had to visit, as we could spend quality time with her. She seemed a little out of sorts initially, so Shuang Shuang started our HTHT by asking her how she is feeling and she told us that she misses her son who is in the hospital due to kidney problems. The motherly concern that she shows for her son really touched me and really inspired me to do the same for my children next time.

Then, we changed the topic and chatted with her about random things, before we 猜灯谜 and ate 月饼. For our forfeits, we sang and Mdm Tan sang with us too :D She got really high and sang a Teochew song to us all by herself!

Mdm Tan cutting the mooncake ^^

Our 'family' photo

On the whole, we managed to cheer her up quite a bit, though the process of saying goodbye was a little heart-achey. Looking forward to the next visit (:

Sofina Ng Chu Quan

My apologies for the late post.

 I had my first visit with THEs last Saturday, on the 28th of September. It was one that I really looked forward to, and I must say, I was really pleased with the way things turned out :D

  My group visited Mr Lin, who luckily for us, was at home when we went up to his flat. We did a bit of tidying up by sweeping and mopping the floor, and afterwards, we sat down and did some catching up with him. It was my first time seeing him and so i couldn't tell, but apparently Mr Lin seemed to be in a really good mood that day as he was more chatty compared to the previous times my group mates visited him. He shared with us how there was this Caucasian who was really helpful by providing him with new furniture for his home, such as a new cupboard and wardrobe. And from the tone of his voice, you could tell that Mr Lin was really appreciative of the aid that the Caucasian provided. We also talked about some of his favourite television programmes. For example, he talked about how he didn't like to watch 黄金年华 and local chinese drama because he found them to be boring and not useful in helping him learn new things. As such, he preferred watching the news, documentaries and korean drama! Hearing him share about some of the things he talked about had this "calming effect" within me and although I didn't really talk to him much as I was a newcomer, I really enjoyed listening to him and I thought I could just sit there for hours just to listen to some of the things that he had to talked about. Alas, time is never on your side when you are enjoying yourself, and my group had to leave to visit another elderly- Mdm Ho.

  When my group arrived at Mdm Ho's place, another group was also there, and they had already helped her with her housework, so all we had to do was to sit down and accompany her. What struck me about Mdm Ho was her personality and her 精神. She seemed really energetic and there was this very "firm" feeling about her voice that was able command our attention like a very strict teacher (not in a bad way though). One interesting thing she talked about was how she was already a great- great- "grandmother" and how she would offer her great- great- "grandchildren" yakult during CNY by getting them to queue up 1 by 1 all the way till the corridor outside of her house. The feeling that i got from Mdm Ho was that she seems to be way younger that she really is, which can only be a good thing. 

Overall, I have to say that my first experience with THEs went way better than expected. I had this sense of fulfillment after the visits, and I really enjoyed myself just by listening to some of the things that the elderly had to share. If only schoolwork wasn't so time consuming, I would definitely make it a point to go down and visit the elderly every week :D

Gary

Last Saturday my group first visited Mdm Wong who welcomed us with a jovial disposition. When we presented her with the lantern and mooncake we brought to celebrate the mid autumn festival, she took out another lantern that was given to her earlier and proudly explained to us how to use it. 

We spent time solving lantern riddles with her and had to translate them into Cantonese as she is unable to understand Chinese, the language in which they were originally written in. It was hilarious as we tried to translate it as accurately as possible with our mediocre Cantonese. Mdm Wong was a great sport and put in a lot of effort in deciphering the riddles.

She is also a resourceful person and showed us a bamboo frame she made herself for steaming food out of bamboo poles used to hang clothes; she had to use a knife to chop the bamboo into smaller pieces.

Mdm Wong posing with her mooncake

Homemade steamer bamboo frame

After that, we moved on to visit Mr Wong. However, he complained about a bad backache and was unable to sustain a conversation. Thus we decided to leave early so that he could rest.  As we had some extra time, we also visited Mdm Cheong and spent time conversing with her over mooncakes.

Every Saturday spent with the elderly is a constant reminder of how incredibly gratifying it can be, that a single individual’s dedication at a discrete point in time can have such a simple, direct impact on someone. And I am more than glad to be that vessel.

-Victoria

Last Saturday, my group went to visit Mdm Khatijah. It was the first time I visited her ever since she was discharged from the hospital so I really looked forward to seeing her again. When we were at her house, she told us that she was feeling abit unwell and that her knee was still in pain. She told us that the doctor initially didn’t want her to be discharged from the hospital but she wanted to rest at home instead and so the doctor agreed. I guess it’s a good thing because she told us before that her stay in the hospital is very boring.

We chatted quite a lot and she told us that she will be leaving for batam the next day to see her son and her grandchildren. I can tell that she really looked forward to it and I also felt very happy for her too.  It was a really enjoyable visit that day as I finally got to see Mdm Khatijah again after so long and I hope the condition of her knee will get better soon J

-Pin Jin (Year 5.25 de :P)

Story behind the feeling

Hi, sorry for the late post for my experience of my first ever voluntary activity in university. It was a fruitful and fresh experience for me as a new comer, although I am already a year 3 student.@@
I went to the gathering place with great expectation. After a short briefing and group allocation, we started our visit to Mr. Tan house. Unfortunately, he was not around, so we went to Mdm Ho house directly. Mdm Ho was resting when we arrived at her house, but she still gave a warm welcome to us. As she spoke Hokkien more frequent the whole time, I tried my best to understand what she was speaking as I am pretty weak in Hokkien. However, when she spoke Chinese to me after she knew I was struggling in speaking Hokkien, I felt pleased and comfortable in communicating with her, especially she also spoke Malay which made me feel like I am home.
Firstly, we help her with a quick sort out, sweeping, changing bed sheet etc. Next, we started to introduce ourselves to her and made our first contact. She shared many of her experiences and some interesting stories of her. Also, she liked to joke with us around, making us felt the warmth and the confidence in interacting with her. In our conversation, she showed positive thoughts and her story of life, which was gorgeous and meaningful. Thus, we have a great afternoon in sharing our thoughts.
Throughout the whole interaction with Mdm Ho, I could feel the loneliness she had had long time. She lived alone after her husband passed away, but hopefully her relatives still have contact with her. Even she was cheerful and energized, she did not reflect her true feeling in front of us. Concern and caring were the only things she wanted.  I can feel the satisfactory of her even we just had a short interaction with her. Therefore, I swear to myself, I would never abandon my parents no matter how old they have become, as I cannot endure the way she bear her feeling and loneliness all the time.
It was an enjoyable weekend that make my day and I am looking forward for the next visit in future.

MingHui

Last Saturday, we visited Uncle Tay. Uncle Tay is blind and requires assistance in leaving his house. As the issues regarding Uncle Tay's sister were not settled yet, he was not in a good mood as the volunteers were unable to help him due to issues concerning the privacy of his sister. In addition, his lunch was not delivered punctually and he would only leave his apartment to head downstairs for his weekly cup of coffee at the coffeeshop only after his meal was delivered. After his meal was finally delivered one hour late, we were able to acompany him downstairs for his coffee.

Although I am unable to converse in hokkien, which Uncle Tay is most comfortable conversing in, I could still feel Uncle Tay's warmth and gratitude towards us for keeping him company. When it was finally time for us to leave, Uncle Tay thanked us and asked us to visit him soon. It was very touching to see how Uncle Tay genuinely appreciated our company despite not being to see us or properly converse with me due to the language barrier. In the short span of two hours we were there, we were able to bring Uncle Tay comfort and I am very thankful to have been there to personally experience how my little effort could bring happiness to someone else's life.

-Melissa Lo

Last Saturday, we visited Madam Khatijah. Although she was still recovering from her knee surgery, she cleaned her house before we visited her. Our attached senior, Xuan Kai, brought her photos taken previously when volunteers visited her in the hospital. She was extremely appreciative of their efforts as she repeatedly praised their dedication and their performances put up when she was still in hospital.  

She recounted interesting stories of her pet monkey, which she bought in Rochor decades ago. She was cheerful and talkative and there was never a moment of silence with her.

We also visited invited her neighbour, 99year-old Madam Chin. Madam Chin was frail and could barely walk even with the help of her personal helper. The 2 elderly were extremely close, as Madam Khatijah tolerated the searing pain in her knee as she walked to Madam Chin’s house to visit her, not complaining about the pain even once. Before we left, Madam Khatijah hugged us and gave us a peck on our cheeks even though this was the first time she had seen most of us.

It was my 3rd visit and I think each visit is rewarding as there's always a something to learn from the elderly. Every elderly I have visited so far provides us with new perspectives and often show concern towards volunteers, even for new volunteers like us. Madam Khatijah in particular reminded Xuan Kai repeatedly to print the photos we took during this visit so she could frame them up. I think this shows how much they love T.H.E.S and the impact T.H.E.S. has in their lives :)

- Jiamin

Hi everyone! Last Saturday was my first visit to T.H.E seniors and I was grouped with Carmen, Stephanie and senior Geraldine.

First up, we visited Madam Wong! :) Madam Wong is already 86 years old this year and through our conversion, we found out that her legs will hurt when she walks for long distances and thus, she doesn’t join her friends when it comes to activities which involve a lot of walking. Despite her condition, Madam Wong’s house was very clean when we stepped in as she is actually very independent and still cleaned and mopped the floor herself when we could have done that for her. This made me feel quite guilty as I myself seldom clean my messy room as compared to her. I was also touched as although she may be old, she does not want to rely on others if she is able to do the things herself and that she genuinely just wants to chat with us students. Madam Wong also shared with us her interesting life story such as how she hide from the Japanese soldiers during the Japanese occupation days and that she is a very picky eater and only likes to eat a particular brand of biscuits haha!

Next, we visited Madam Tan. Madam Tan is actually a very cheerful and funny person. Throughout our conversation, there was quite a lot of laughter as she shared with us funny stories such as how her chickens would wander off and then come back pregnant as her families used to keep chickens back in the kampong days.  She is also very cute as she would tell her that her fake teeth look very straight and fake and how golden tooth was very common back in her days.

Overall, it was a fun and memorable experience chatting with the elderly and I have indeed learnt quite a lot of things from them. However, I felt that I could have talked more as I wasn’t very influent in my Cantonese after not speaking in this dialect for quite a long time. Certainly looking forward to the next visit! :)   

Miao Li

A saturday well spent

Better late than never!

I joined the orientation visit on 31/8 and it was a good time.

Our "client" was Mdm Ho and she was a jolly old woman. We first cleaned her house(which didn't require much cleaning to begin with) and then sat down to talk to her.Even though we were the ones who were supposed to be there to talk to her, it seemed that she was the main person calling the shots in the conversation, which really helped to ease a lot of awkward tension.

It was very heartening when she tried to involve the new people in the group. She also made very specific references to many people from the CSC bunch, and how they were doing. I can tell that the CSC community has made a real difference in her life, and continue to be a part of her life and social circle. Another interesting thing was her ability to remember details despite her being old, and being able to recall who did what. The CSC people have also treated her like their own "mentor"(for lack of a better word) and have also somehow kept her in the loop of the things happening in their lives. The benefit of accompanying these people really do go both ways.

I was glad to be part of the orientation visit and to have had such an experience!

Yuanjie

A Well-Spent Day

Yestersday, it was my first time visiting Mr Ong and Mdm Cheng.

My group first went to Mr Ong’s house and offered to do housework for him but he rejected as his house was rather clean and tidy so instead we sat down to watch TV together and chatted with him at the same time. He shared with us his outing experience at the zoo and also recommended us the food, “Han Nan Curry Rice” he had eaten before at the nearby hawker centre, which I tried it for lunch and I think it is quite nice and cheap. Generally, Mr Ong was in pretty good health but he looked relatively tired as he couldn’t sleep well at night and kept waking up for several times during his sleep. He also told us that he his left arm was a bit painful and he couldn’t see clearly with his right eye and discomfort in his right eye as his eye get dry easily so he need to apply eye-drops frequently. I felt sad upon hearing this and I really hope that Mr Ong’s eye will get better the next time I see him.

After that, we went on to visit Mdm Cheng who was wheelchair bound. Upon arrival at her house, she was very welcoming and thrilled to see us. She was also in a good spirits and eagerly told us some of her outings she had been to in the past such as her Sentosa trip and her experience on the Singapore Flyer. She said that she enjoyed going to such outings and look forward to her next trip probably to Garden by the Bay next week.  Mdm Cheng also taught us some Cantonese words and in return we taught her English and me and the other volunteers had fun learning Cantonese. We had a pleasant time talking and interacting with Mdm Cheng as she was very friendly and easy to communicate with.

It was great that I spent my morning with Mr Ong and Mdm Cheng. Our short visit meant a lot to the elderly and it made them happy that people came to talk with them. This was indeed a meaningful and well-spent day as I not only get to meet new friends but also the opportunities to interact with different elderly and I look forward to seeing them in future visits.

Lay Hong

A Memorable Experience！

Hello everybody! This was my first visit with the T.H.E Seniors. We visited Mdm. Cheung and Mdm. Wong during this visit

.

We first visited Mdm. Cheung. When she saw us, she happily opened the door and welcomed us into her house. We first helped her to clean her house. We divided ourselves into groups to help her clean the windows, the floor, the washroom and the fans. After cleaning for a while, we all started to chat comfortably. She even insisted that she helped with the housework. Seeing her walking around to help us, I find that she is really healthy at 81 years old. After we were done with the housework, we all sat together and Mdm. Cheung started to tell us a lot of interesting stories. We got to listen to many of the events that occurred when she was a young lady. She is very friendly and chatty. She even showed us many pictures that she took in the past. Throughout the whole visit, she had always been smiling, making me think that she must be a very positive and bubbly person.

The next stop, we visited Mdm. Wong. She also welcomed us with a bright smile. When we went into her house, I find that her house was so clean. Everything was put properly at its own place. At that moment, I felt really guilty that I have a really messy room. Haha. We then sat down and chatted with her. She started opening up to us and told a lot of interesting stuff as well. She told us that she is a very picky eater and that she does not like lontong. She also told us about her knee pain. Throughout our visit in her house, she was in a good mood. I could see that she tried to make us feel at home. 

Visiting the elderly that day really made me remember my grandparents a lot. They used to tell me their childhood stories just like Mdm. Cheung and Mdm. Wong did. I come from a Cantonese-speaking family, so it really made me felt at home speaking to Mdm. Cheung and Mdm Wong in Cantonese. It was a memorable experience visiting the elderly this time. I hope that I can do it more often in the future!

Making a Difference

Hello!

Today was my first visit to T.H.E. Seniors and I'm representing my group, Ai Jia, Andy, Teng Swee and myself to write our reflections here! So we had the honour to be led by senior Chaur Ann (HAHA) to visit Mdm. Tan. She welcomed us warmly when we greeted her, then we offered to help her do some household chores despite her considerably clean house because we expected some hard-to-reach areas. The guys swept and mopped the floor and cleaned the windows and doors while Ai Jia and I had the luxury to just sit and chat with Mdm. Tan haha! We got to know she wakes up between 5 - 6 am everyday and goes downstairs to exercise for 1 hour (very healthy 82-year-old!), she had many jobs when she was young but stopped working at 21 when she got married (good life!), she had 7 siblings (1 brother 6 sisters) and she was very fortunate that her father didn't give any of the girls away like most parents in the past did so everyone lived together for very long and how there was a trend in the past to have 2 gold teeth planted in place of the originals so a lot of youngsters at that time actually did that plus it wasn't expensive at all! But then she got old and had to change her whole set of teeth to fake ones which looked really fake because they were super white and uniform hahaha!

Throughout the 2 hours of chatting with her, we got to know her jovial personality which was extremely influential because it made us feel at ease around her. According to Chaur Ann, we later found out after the visit that Mdm. Tan was quite pessimistic when they initially visited her, blaming herself for being old and useless, which really came as a surprise because there was no trace of that attitude in her today which's great! Although we had awkward pauses in between our conversations because we weren't very proficient in hokkien, I think we managed quite well as we could understand the bulk of what she was trying to tell us and vice versa too. What I personally enjoyed most was the way she laughed because it was a really shy, high-pitched chuckle almost at the end of every sentence which's super cute! Below are the photos we took together with her, including senior Jeraldine's group who came a while after.

The end of the visit made me reflect a lot on how simple gestures like a greeting could brighten up someone's day; at the same time make oneself feel appreciated by how he/she has made a difference to someone's life, no matter how small. I hope Mdm. Tan had as much fun as we did. I believe the inspiration we got from her - seeing how contented and cheerful she is even at this ripen age - was more than what we could've asked for. I really enjoyed every part of the visit today and I look forward to future visits to the other elderly; I'm certain everyone in the group feels the same!

Cheers,
Joelle

My first visits

Last Saturday was my first time joining voluntary activities in T.H.E, which I believe, was without doubt very enjoyable and exciting especially for new comers like myself. As it was the orientation day for freshmen, we had a huge turn up that morning occupying the entire lobby in front of the Touch Senior Center. After a short briefing and group allocation, we gathered in each of our own group, broke the ice before our beloved group leader Kah Suan provided us with the information of the seniors we were about to visit.
The first couple we serve was Mr. and Mrs. Tan. When we first arrived, Mrs. Tan was out, so we decided to let the guys clean the windows while the girls sit around and talk to Mr. Tan. However, Kah Suan wished to give more chance for the first-times to communicate, therefore she took over my job and asked me to join the "forum". Though such, she still couldn't help to talking, and in fact, she was always the one who could bring up interesting topics. I should learn from her. Mrs. Tan came home when we were enjoying talking with Mr. Tan. He even taught us how to breed centipedes using duck feather and plastic bags. Mr. And Mrs Tan seemed to be very happy and positive that day. Unfortunately, they have to leave at 12, so we had to end the session early.
The next place we pay our visit to was Mr. Ong's. Mr. Ong was a taxi driver he had a stroke before. Amazingly, Mr. Ong was very technologically savvy. He loved listening to radios through his phone and he enjoys old musics sang by popular stars in the last two decades. Kah Suan used her phone to send some of the old musics to Mr. Ong's and he was very glad. In addition, we also fixed the radio function of his headphone so that he won't had felt alone after we left.
I must say that I loved this activity, not only for the visiting part, but also because I have befriended many new peers in and out of my group. As happy and joyful as I was, I am now very much looking forward to tomorrow's visit.

Yushu