A meaningful day! :)

25^th Jan was my first official visit with T.H.E. Seniors. I have always wanted to participate in T.H.E. Seniors and I'm really glad to be finally participating! I thought that I will be the only newcomer there that day but I'm surprised that there were many other newcomers as well. After mingling around with the rest of the volunteers, we were split into our respective groups. Before the visit started, however, we were taught how to make the “Ru Yi Jie” for the elderly as a small gift for Chinese New Year! It was quite difficult to make but the end product was worth it!

My group consisted of Sheng Xian, Joleen and Ulin and we were assigned to visit Mr L. When we reached there, another group of SMU students were already there and apparently they had cleaned his house before we arrived. His house was clean and tidy as a result and I definitely must praise them for their hard work! We gave Mr L the “Ru Yi Jie” that our group have made for him and I can see that he's happy to receive it. I was glad too as I realised that small and hand-made items can actually mean a lot to the elderly. It's the thought that counts after all!

We sat down to chat with Mr L. His Mandarin was fluent and thus, there was no need for us to speak in dialect to him. He was in a good mood that day and kept the conversation going. He shared many things with us and told us about his life experiences! In addition, he was rather appreciative of the numerous visits from volunteers and organisations to his house. It was an interesting experience fo chat with him and learning more about him. I'm especially glad that our visits are able to bring happiness to him and the other elderly!

This was a meaningful and memorable experience for me and I definitely want to return for more visits in the future. I feel that these visits not only bring happiness to the elderly but also bring happiness to our lives as well! Wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year! :)

Pei Wei :)

Unforgettable experience

Today is my first visit of csc THESENIORS. My group was assigned to visit Mr Tan and Mr Ong. We basically did some casual chatting with Mr and Mrs Tan. They are indeed a lovely couple. It’s very heartwarming to see such a lovely old couple. To them, the greatest joy comes from family love. And we have learnt a very important lesson. They made us realized that nothing is more important than our family because no matter what happens, family members will always be there for you. They will be the one who will walk with you through the thick and thin, and the love they have for you is definitely eternal. Thus, from now on, I will learn to treasure my family more than before.

Next, we visited Mr Ong. Our visit to Mr ong’s house is quite a memorable one. Mr Ong lives independently and hence there are a lot of things that he couldn’t handle. He couldn’t understand the words written in the letter, the prescriptions of his medicine and his also technological gadgets. Thus, for the first 30 mins, we actually helped him with all these stuff. After that, we had some time to chat with him. He is actually quite humorous. Mr Ong is quite optimistic because given that above all the things he has faced, he is still able to joke around with us. It is actually quite pleasant to see him laughing together with us. We believe that what he actually wants is a companion, just as simple as that. Such a simple thing is always taken granted by us. Hence, after today’s volunteering experience, we realized the simplest happiness is getting loved by people around us. We learn things about life that we never knew. We also learn how friendly the people you serve can be and it motivates you to be even more selfless.

xiaohui

Visiting Mr T.

Last Saturday, my group visited Mr T.C.C. :D At the beginning, he is very quiet and moody. We didn’t talk much while we brought him down to the coffeeshop for his usual coffee+butter. I guess that we didn’t know how to start the conversation that day because he is a little depressed. We quietly sat beside him and looked at him. He took a sip of coffee a heave a great a sigh…. and repeat it several times… His sadness in his sigh has diffused over to me and I feel so sad too :/ When some of the volunteers walked past the coffeeshop and came to say hello to Mr T. , his mood was lifted up immediately when he heard their distinctive voices. I could sense that he always look forward to some of the volunteers to visit him too. (: I feel that what elderly need sometimes is just a companion. Someone familiar to talk to, to concern about them just warms their heart and a simple greeting could brighten their day. ( applies to us also (: ) After awhile, Kai Him came and gave him a red packet. Mr T. initially felt very bad at first because he had nothing in return for him, but in the end still accepted the red packet haha. He was super appreciative of the red packet (:

Anyway, we somehow find something to talk and kept the conversation going so that he wouldn’t be so pessimistic again. One topic linked to the other and we came to the topic of travelling. Mr T. shared his experience of travelling to Malaysia via train! I was very engrossed in his narrative because he was so absorbed into his memory and his description was very vivd! His tone, gestures and movements that he used were so cute! Hahaha. Especially when he “jumps” up and down on his seat to mimic how it was like to be sitting on the train (ging gong ging gong haha), move his hands to show us how big the station clock was and raise his arms while he describes the steam coming out from the train. He was very very excited and happy, which really makes me happy too. I can’t help but keep smiling and laughing. Hehe. I really enjoyed it very much (:

We helped him bought 2 tins of biscuits and brought him home after that. Again, he courteously offered us drinks and asked us to sit down, but we didn't stay very long. I think next time we could stay a bit longer at his house and chat a bit more (: I was glad that we cheered him up somehow at the end of our visit (: He also thank us repetitively too. His attitude reminds me to be appreciative and grateful of the little things that happen in our lives. Not only that we would feel more optimistic about life, but it also serves as a reminder to spread the happiness to the people around us, making their day/life better too. 

~Eileen (:

pretty ladies pretty nails

Members: Hui Jia/ Camy/ Tian Ming/ Kai Him

Visit part I: Mr. W.

During facil he tasked us to do run some errands for him and we did. although he did not allow us to go into his house, i could tell that it was much better than prev times! i think only camy can do it haha. only she so persistent and thick-skinned (in a v good way in this case ;) 

Visit part II: Mdm C.Y.L.

Been a few weeks since i visited her so i specially request to be grouped here, with hui jia, cos.... It is NAIL PAINTING FOR CNY !! hui jia promised her last week to help her paint her nails for the new year so there we went!

when we arrived some other SMU/IRAS volunteers were already there and when they learnt that hui jia brought her gear to paint popo's nails they were all v excited/amused. hahhaa. in the end camy and another lady helped with the nails! at first there were two colours on one hand but she preferred the lighter pink colour so they did all 10 fingers in the awesome shade of blush for her and she was very happy with it!

Having some hidden desire to be girly sometimes, i joined popo, camy and hui jia in painting nails hahahhaa and gladly posed for some pictures (: mdm C's friend came by and we had a good chat as well (:

Wishing all popo/ah gong/uncle/auntie/xiao di/xiao mei a happy CNY!!

Kai Him.

First official visit :D

So, 25 Jan marks my first official visit to the TOUCH Seniors Activity Centre. I was a bit nervous at first since I was a new comer and I barely know anyone in this RVP lol. After mingling around with some of the volunteers, we then gathered in our own groups.

My group consists of Amanda, Victoria and Geraldine and we were assigned to visit Mdm C.S.K and Mdm W. Both of them speak Canto and hey, I suddenly felt that all those HK dramas I have watched finally came into good use HAHA.

We visited Mdm C. first and helped her with some household chores like sweeping, mopping and cleaning of the windows. Since she just had an op, it was better for her to rest and leave these chores to us. As we helped her with the cleaning, Victoria and Geraldine interacted with Mdm C. and I could see the strong bond they have forged. It really touched me and at the same time, made me wanna know more about Mdm C (:
Am looking forward to my next visit to her place!

Next, we visited Mdm W. but did not do any household chores. She was one of our oldest beneficiaries (if I am not wrong!) and I was really impressed that she managed to keep her house so clean. Since we have no chores to do, we chatted with her and showed her how to make the "Ruyi Knot". Oh and we all learnt a new card game from Mdm W. and she called it "Fun Sup Dim", meaning "flipping ten points" haha. Initially, she was just playing it (like a pro!) but didnt explain to us the rules of the game so we were all really baffled but eventually managed to figure out on our own *claps*
PS: For more info about how to play "Fun Sup Dim", visit: http://www.education.com/activity/article/ten-twenty-thirty/

This was indeed a meaningful Saturday for me and I really can't wait to know more about each and every one of our beneficiaries!

Cheers,
Wei Ting

Sincerity, the best gift for elderly.

Today is my first time joining the official visit of csc THE Seniors. Thanks Jian Ye for introducing this activity to me. I have learnt a lot from all volunteers and the elderly. 

Our group had five person, Xin Hong, Edwin, Jia Yan and Jian Ye. We were assigned to visit two elderly, Mr C and Madam T. Before visiting, our programmer, Lu Ting taught us to make a "Ru Yi" tie and gave the elderly as a CNY small gift. Actually, the elderly were happy when receiving this small and warm present from us.  A small action can make a big difference. 

Adapted from http://life.ycwb.com/2013-01/15/content_4246745.htm

First, we went to visit Mr C. Observation from his room condition, he is a hardworking and clean person. He didn't accept our offer of cleaning his room and just wanted to chit chat to us. He shared with us his past experience and he is friendly. We also taught him to do the RuYi tie. When we done, he looked at the RuYi tie patiently and tried to learn. Really happy to know that he is interested on learning new thing despite of his age. Time flies and we had to move on to visit second elderly. We greeted Mr C with Happy Chinese New Year in Chinese and a warm handshake. We can feel his happiness both on his face and temperature of handshake.

Second, we visited Mdm T. When we reached, Kah suan and Lu Ting were inside her room already. From their conversation, i can know that she is a cheerful and nice person. After knowing about her vision problem, i was touched. With her permission, we started to clean her room, mop the floor, table, refrigerator and etc. In the meantime, we continued talking to her and tried to understand her daily life. She can do a lots of thing by herself, such as cooking. I really appreciate that we have a good and clear vision. Her friends are also very nice and willing to help and guide her. Before going off, she also told us about her artwork of coloring horse which are posted in ground floor and she is happy to welcome us next time. 

We enjoyed talking to the elderly with Hokkien. Now i realised the importance of dialect and will try to brush up my dialect more often. I believe it is the sincerity from all volunteers which makes this visit a meaningful activity and the happy elderly  . 

Lastly, thanks the committee of THE Seniors and all volunteers. I enjoyed this visiting very much and hope everyone enjoy themselves as well.  You guys are doing very good job, keep on!


By Chia Ching

Snippets of 26 December 2013:

01 Major outing organizing committee

02 Volunteers

03 Generous sponsors

04 East Coast Park

05 Station games

06 Elderly reliving their heydays

07 Good weather that held up till the end of the event

08 Smiles to fortify the new year with 

09 Sincere people having a natural affinity for others that makes conversations effortless

10 Discovering that connection with each and every one of them

-vict

This blogpost is super duper outdated, but well, better late than never! =P

We were assigned to visit Mr W.C.T. and Mdm C.S.K. for the week. The group decided to visit Mr W.C.T. first. It was the first time visiting Mr W.C.T. for me. Unfortunately, he complained about not feeling well and was constantly tired. Hence, we couldn't really engage him in a conversation. All we did was a little bit of talking by the door.

Next, we went to visit Mdm C.S.K. It was my first time visiting Mdm C.S.K. and I was a little bit nervous because I have heard stories about her from other volunteers. Upon arrival, I was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of her apartment. We help her do some household chores, like mopping the floor, and cleaning the windows and chairs under her strict supervision. While doing the household chores, I learnt through the "hard" way that she was very particular about the procedures when it comes to these chores. I know that she doesn't really mean it when she tells people off while doing the chores. It is just that she is more comfortable when the chores are done her way. She offered us drinks and chatted with us upon the completion of the household chores.

-Junda

This post is extremely extremely outdated and I haven’t written a post in ages after successfully introducing new volunteers to our awesome blog :p so here goes…

Visited Mdm C. M. with Kaihim and Shuangshuang. Firstly, let pictures do the talking….

 The favourite prop in her house, after seeing model Yongsheng in it months ago.

 We were amazed by the incredible softness of her feet! 人老脚不老！You all can go try and be amazed too! 

And then it was my first time visiting Mdm C. Y. L. and because of my droplet of water of Canto it was really hard to contribute to the conversation other than asking her if she has eaten, and asking Mr Hongkong to translate the rest of what I wanted to say.

BUT two weeks later I returned with an increase (albeit small) in water volume in Canto thanks to several episodes of Chong Shang Yun Xiao (Triumph in the Skies), and it was much (abit) easier to communicate! So those who want to learn Canto, don’t be daunted (although you have every reason to), go and consult your friends, or more easily, watch some nice dramas! :D

Took the liberty of visiting Uncle O. K. S. by myself too, and it touched me so much that he still remembered things we’ve said from months before.

And who could forget lunchtimes with Uncle L.!

Things which bring us back for a good long time. =)


LI JIA 

Joy is courage

Yinmin, Charan, and myself visited Madam K. last Saturday’s. The first thing I noticed was that Mdm K. was lying on her bed instead of sitting up on her sofa, unlike when I last visited her in 2013. She looked more tired and unwell than before. Even so, her house was spotlessly clean as usual and she became more cheerful and animated while talking to us.

She related some of her recent activities, such as going out to eat with her friends and her son’s visit. She still loves eating food like hor fun and chocolate cake, and will travel around Singapore just to have her favourite food even though she can’t eat much nowadays. I’ve always admired this energy and outgoingness of Mdm Khatijah’s, her determination to go out and “enjoy life” with friends and family despite her serious illnesses.

She also shared some of the difficulties of everyday life in the house, looking at the tears welling up in Mdm K.’s eyes as she talked about her deceased eldest son, reminded me how blessed I am to be able to live with people who love me and go out of their way to make me feel comfortable at home. Family is such a precious gift, not to be taken for granted.

Finally, Madam K. also told us stories of her time in hospital, and how she would purposely stay out late with some of her hospital buddies because she was afraid of the painful injections, although they would get scolded by the nurses later and still be given the injections. Once, they even sat at a 24-hr prata shop for an entire day until she missed her operation! These tales, told and received with so much laughter, evoke for me the bittersweetness of life. It showed me the elderly’s courage in being able laugh and build friendships even in times of pain and suffering, and how sickness can bring strangers together in mutual camaraderie. It also made me more aware of the preciousness of life, of health and youth, and how I ought to use it to serve and bring joy to these lovable elderly and others before all too quickly the day comes when our own bodies start to fail too.

Before we left, Mdm K. hugged us and told us to come again soon, as she always does. As we start school this week and plunge into our usual busyness, they are waiting and always looking forward to our next visit!

Jie Min

First Time Visit of THESeniors

This is my first time visit with THES. Two friends and I visited Mdm T. A. K., an old but pretty lady. When we reached her house, Kai Him's group already there because their allocated elderlies weren't at home. They  did the basic house chores, including sweeping and mopping the floor. After that, we sit in-front of Mdm T. and chat with her. She is a bit depressed but feel happy for our visit.

I found out Mdm T. is a courageous woman. Though she partially blind, she lives her life on her own and fought off loneliness that struck once we leave.

We chat a wide range of topics with Mdm T.. From her youth till her grandchildren; From Malaysia tourist spots to my friends boyfriend. She is willing to share and listen. She is so patient with my broken Hokkien. She is so kind to respond to our every little jokes.

Indeed, everyone grows, and one day will become old. What could we do when we are old? With our skinny and powerless limbs, with our blurry and aging eyes, with our weak of hearing ears. We hope someone could come around, to talk to us, to express the simplest concern--like how are you today? have u eaten your lunch; to hold our hands and said they will always be around when we need them. 

This remind us of filial piety. To love our parents/elderlies when they are still around, to serve them with their needs, to listen to them when they are down. 

Every elderly has his or her own stories. If we listen to them, not only we can prevent silly mistakes that they did, they can also feel appreciated and loved. I learned to talk to the elderlies. Its more than plain communication.

You Liang

my friends, my loves

Joleen, Kiah Yeen and I first went to visit Mdm T as our allocated elderlies werent at home/busy. The special part is that i havent visited mdm T in like maybe a year? cos im canto-speaking and i cant really communicate with her. but the thing is i missed her quite a bit and last saturday, i had just requested KS to put my in the group that visit her when possible. although i wasnt allocated due to lack of manpower, i still ended up there anw! :P

when we reached, we did some v basic chores like sweeping and mopping. i was very impressed when she mentioned that she did not clean the floor as she knew we would drop by. cos, the floor is very clean! haha i dont vacuum my floor for 2 days i start to feel the dirt etc alr. so it was quite unbelievable. later on another group came and so we sat down around her to talk for a bit. 

although i couldnt contribute much, i really liked her. i rmbr the first visit i had in september 2012, i visited her too! she is such a cute character awwww. the way she smiles, the chuckle, the little shyness. the way she speaks somehow has a calming effect on me, slowing down everything and i feel, safe. just glad to be in the room at that moment, knowing that she really wants the best for us all. i did notice that her energy level is not as high as previously. btw, im working on my hokkien so slowly but surely i'd do better next time (: thanks all for bearing with my questions about the dialect hehe (:

next up was mdm W. her arrowheads were growing well! okay not that well, but quite fast already i guess. i saw the start when it was just a "fruit" submerged in water, to now when the shoots are all well developed. mdm W says that these two years her arrowheads had not grown too prettily :/

last week another group came to celebrate her bday and so i asked her about it, she also talked abt how her 4 gen family of 14 people went to a restaurant near bras besah for her bday dinner last sunday! so haps right haha. it must have been a joyous occasion (: she talked about food a lot, as usual, and that she is happy just that it is her son's treat. she just eat whatever is served and take whatever angbao is given to her hahha. i'm especially touched when i see the spark the true cheeky smile in her eyes when she talks about it. for then i know it is heartfelt, it is very real, very honest. my heart just melts when i see that in our lovely elderlies eyes.

so maybe some of us are more shy, some of us talk very loudly as though we have no fear, but maybe we all have our insecurities and differences. but just as with other friends, i encourage you to look into their eyes when you talk. i think eyes dont lie. and when there is a connection, you may come to realise that we arent that different after all. for that moment, we share a brief period as one entity when we know that we are just there for one other. we matter to one another.

perhaps this is the connection that keeps people going, that draws some people back to where we meet every saturday (:

also, KS mentioned that she wanted me to share with everyone why i come back after graduation, and clement said during debrief that he thinks i could enjoy my weekend rather than be here. Actually, im no saint at all. im human like everyone else, and the reason im here is exactly that - to enjoy myself. i really like this place because i have friends here, both young and old. the young ones who are really inspiring in their very own way, and great company to have. the old ones, who have grown to be nth other than just my friends. we have really interesting characters, but at the end of the day we come here to serve a common purpose, to maximise the number of smiley faces there is in kallang. that simple, that beautiful. 

where else can i find the classic example i raise, that is i find it very interesting to see youngsters near 20 years of age gathering around in a void deck and talking about a few old people, how their lives are. where else can i see a few young chaps talking to uncle and auntie about which news broadcaster is prettier? 

and since the nagging had already gone on for so long, lemme just post a random point to think about. when you come on saturdays, dont think they are beneficiaries, dont think you are a volunteer. just treat it as your friends, and you have come by to talk cock sing song catch up about life. that is exactly how i feel and that is exactly the perspective i wish you could explore on your own. i believe you would like that feeling.

full time engineer,

Kai Him.

So sorry for the late post .As a new comer of T.H.E Seniors ,I feel privileged to go for my first official visit on 9 Nov.

At noon, we visited Mdm C.Y.L. ,who had just finished watching television. Mdm C. was quite happy with our presence and talked a lot when being asked about her daily life. As she was able to speak Mandarin, we didn’t have much difficulty in communication. She told us that she enjoyed drinking a cup of hot white coffee as part of her breakfast every day and usually have some cookies at around 9 p.m so that she wouldn’t feel hungry at midnight. We felt sorry when hearing that she couldn’t watch much TV due to her deterioration in eyesight and hearing, which was her main diversion. She even shared some interesting old memories of her husband with us.  Her sense of humor and her unique personal glamour as an old lady impressed me a lot.

We had intended to change the bedsheet for her, but she kindly refused because she thought it wasn’t dirty enough. So finally we helped her to change the silver paper covering the gas pipe and swept the floor in the kitchen.

When we were about to leave, we heard the neighbour’s dog running back and forth in the corridor. Mdm C. moved herself to the door in the wheelchair and played with the dog happily for a while. This scene touched me greatly as I saw her strong optimism and passion towards life as well as the youthful vigour which we don’t see that much in many seniors.

The first experience with T.H.E Seniors was definitely a cherished memory because I seldom took part in community service activities before. For me , T.H.E Seniors is like an extended family which brings me a sense of belonging. I believe during the following visits, I will further my understanding in how to love and to be loved by others and gain a more positive attitude towards life.:)

Siqi

As I think about what to write for my belated blog post, I thought about the conversation I had with Chaur Ann on our way home yesterday. I was telling Chaur Ann about me considering joining Guitar Club to learn how to play the guitar this sem. Then he asked me whether I'm going to come for visits less often as I have other commitments. This question sets me thinking. To be honest, the reason why I joined CSC in the first place is because my friends are here. And I thought since the cca allows me to meet up regularly with my friends and I get to do good deeds at the same time, why not?

And after a few months in T.H.E.S, I realise I really enjoy being in this cca. Not only because my friends are here, not entirely due to the sense of satisfaction that I get from helping the elderly, it's also largely due to the company in this cca. This is one of the few cca where I feel like the agenda is simple. We are all here for a simple purpose and that is to help the elderly, and I really love this about T.H.E.S.

A week ago it was the T.H.E.S major outing and seeing so many volunteers come down to support the event is just great. We may not know one another, but there's always this sense of happiness I feel when I'm there the whole time because I know the people here are all here for the elderly and not for themselves. And this is beautiful because this mentality is hard to come by, especially in university where I've seen too many people who simply don't give a shit about anything else other than themselves or things that benefits them.

The world is simple, it's the people that complicates it. Imagine T.H.E.S is a mini world on its own, I'm damn glad to be part of this world because people come with a selfless and simple mindset which makes T.H.E.S a really awesome cca to be in and the people I met in this cca made me a better person.

People come and go, and maybe one day we will stop coming down on saturday mornings because we are busy with our own lives. But what I wanna say is it doesnt matter who commits more, who come for visits more often, how long you will stay in this cca, the fact that one makes the effort to come down on the Saturday morning to visit the elderly, even if it's only for once, that simple act itself is magnificent because it shows that deep inside you, a part of your heart still has that selflessness that care about others and that is a really important part of you that you need to keep.

And right now I'm just really glad to be part of this amazing world, where there's always something that amaze me, for example, just yesterday I was amazed by how Kah Suan can remember all the habits that one of the elderly has for the cleaning of her house, how Shuang Shuang can remember the birthday of the elderly and how she often bring heavy stacks of newspaper along for one of the elderly, how Pin Jin, Tina and Andy cleaned almost every part of Mr.O.'s house, the number of volunteers that turned up yesterday even though they all know it is spring cleaning day and it's not going to be an easy day. I'm sure there's a lot more amazing things that happened yesterday but I just wasn't there to witness it. As I think about these moments now I made a little promise to myself that I want to be here every saturday as long as I can to witness more of these amazing things made possible by the amazing people in T.H.E.S.

- Vernon

T.H.E.S 心情大动员 (Another post that was being drafted 0.5 year ago)

10 June 2013 at 21.49 hrs an urgent call message appeared on the T.H.E.S volunteers' Facebook Wall. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it for the first two days. When I first saw the pictures posted by the fellow volunteers, it really reminds me of the show 《心晴大动员》 by mediacorp 4 years ago.

Some of the photos before the operation. 

I was so excited (and worried) to go on the third day. I am not sure if I can bear the foul smell or maybe even vomit on the first sight. These scene just continuously replay in my mind especially after watching all the gruesome house cleaning variety shows like the one below!!

Advertisement for detergent maybe?

Finally see some light!

Have a simple meal with all who have fight with bugs for the whole day!