Mini Yuan Xiao Celebration!

It was my very first time participating in such celebration and I'm glad to say that it was a really meaningful (and fun!) Saturday spent with the elderly. Although cny period has passed, the decorations of the room as well as the cny songs helped to hype up the atmosphere a lot. So, kudos to the yuan xiao comm! *clap clap*

Throughout the celebration, laughter could be heard and I knew that all the elderly were enjoying themselves (: What heartened me the most was when the elderly were singing the oldies song. Some hummed along with the tune while some sang heartily (with lots of hand gestures lol). The most touching and sweet moment was that Mr. T sang a love song (月亮代表我的心) to his wife. He rejected initially but when all volunteers started singing along with him, he was totally immersed in it.

It was indeed a Saturday well spent with all the volunteers and elderly! As much as we love to accompany the elderly, we should always spend more time with our family (because home is where the heart is) and make an effort to connect with them (:

Love,
Wei Ting

元宵 (Yuan Xiao) Mini Celebration

It was the first time joining an event organised by CSC particularly by T.H.E.Seniors and I must say that I am really impressed by the effort put in. From setting up the tables, to preparing food and carrying out the activities, I could tell that a lot of hard work had been put in behind-the-scenes. But seeing how happy the elderly were, I believe all the effort was all worth it.

Through the event, I learned that there is no such thing as generation gap when it comes to communicating with the elderly. All that matters is whether you will put in the effort to make the first step and speak to them. Though I found it awkward at first communicating to some elderly, things seemed to ease in after some time when we got more comfortable with each other.

Another thing that I gained from this experience is that every little thing that we do will have a great impact on the lives of these elderly. Just by talking to them and empathize with their situation will make them feel that there are people actually caring and looking out for them. Even a simple gesture like giving up the seats for the elderly in the public would make them feel respected and appreciated.

At the end of the day, I think the most important thing is that we should apply what we have learned through these interactions with the elderly to our family. It doesn't really serve the purpose of community service if we only care for the elderly outside and not our closed ones. I definitely will spend more time with my family and interact with them to foster a stronger bond.

Jia Wee

Family, our first and forever lover.

"We must love one another, or die." quoted from one of my favourite movies called "Tuesday with Morrie". I felt this quote is very meaningful and we should really appreciate everything we have in our life, either small or big.

A cute little horse made by the Seniors committe

Today 22 Feb, is my first time joining this csc mini celebration event. I felt it is very fun and heartening. The room was decorated with many beautiful red balloons which are floating on the ceiling, the foods were very nice and the programmes were extremely creative! Thanks all the committees and volunteers for making this event a very successful one.

After joining csc the seniors, i realized that i need to spend more time with my family as now i am studying in Singapore and can only go back home once a month. Not matter how long the journey is, i am sure to go back home and accompany my family. Two weeks ago, i went back home and my mother told me that my grandmother fell down and was hospitalized. During the visit, i talked to her for a few hours and enjoyed the time we spent together that afternoon. Besides that, she is getting old finding it harder to move about. I assisted her to go to toilet with wheel chair. I was touched as i cannot really imagine the time i become old and need to rely on somebody for moving or even some basic movement such as going to toilet.

Having a healthy body is a kind of happiness which everyone want it but didn't treasure and take care of it.

I was also amazed by my grandmother as she has been travelling to more than ten countries which i never been there before such as Australia, China, Korea, Thailand and etc. She was so happy when showing her photos to me.

Hey all volunteers, please keep all the positive energy and experiences in heart and bring them out to more people, especially our family :)



By Chia Ching

8th of February visit

It was my first time going on visitations with T.H.E.S. on the 8th of February. I had a vague idea of what may happen, but I wasn't entirely sure as to what I would be doing or how the seniors would react to a first-timer. The introductions went by in a breeze, and I was paired up with the enthusiastic Kahsuan and Zexi (a fellow sister in the same church).

We were to visit mr. T, and I was informed prior to going his house that he was visually impaired. I was quite interested regarding how the interactions and activities would precipitate in light of his physical condition. Thankfully, he was acquainted well with Kahsuan, and the Chinese New Year season had him in a festive and hospitable mood as well. Though it was my first time meeting him, he showered us with much Chinese New Year goodies and welcomed us to settle comfortably in his home.

Afterwards, we took him downstairs to enjoy his weekly coffee at the nearby coffeeshop, along with singing some CNY songs to him whilst chatting with him. It was also a valuable lesson for me as I was further educated on the essentials of interacting with people of advanced age and/or physical impairment. These included providing physical touch to assure them of your presence, as well as maintaining close physical proximity with them to establish rapport. Furthemore, Mr. T's inability to see also required greater attentiveness and consideration when bringing him round the neighbourhood.

Through this first time of visiting mr. T, it did prompt me to consider what the elderly truly require. Is it simply companionship, or helping them out with household chores, or are there other things they require considering their entry into their twilight years? This is a question that is still unresolved, but I'm sure as I continue to serve these seniors and learn from other members of the team, I would inch closer to a conclusion.

Weifeng

8th of February Visit

It was my second official visit with T.H.E.S on the 8th of February and it was still a meaningful and enjoyable experience! My group consisted of Geraldyn and Clement. We visited Mr L and we were glad to see that he's in a good mood that day.

Mr L was eating when we came in so we first helped him to do some housework like sweeping, mopping the floor and wiping the windows .We were glad to see that his house was already relatively clean before we started cleaning so we just helped him to tidy it up a little! After cleaning, we sat down to chat with him.

We talked about many topics like the events he attended during Chinese New Year and dialects. It was really amazing to know that Mr L was fluent in many dialects and languages such as Bahasa. He even taught us quite a few words and phrases in Bahasa!

I was reminded once again of the vast knowledge and experiences that the elderly can impart to us, the younger generation. I'm so glad that I'm a volunteer with T.H.E.S and can continue to learn many more things from them! Looking forward to the Yuan Xiao Mini Celebration for the next official visit!

Pei Wei :)

CNY Day Nine Visit

First of all I wanna wish everyone a happy horsey new year! This is our first official visit since the start of CNY. My group consisted of Kok Seng, Luting, Hazel and myself. We visited Mdm C.S.K and Mr T.S.H and his wife.

I was very excited to see the elderly and wish them happy new year. Because this is my first year in THES, I was very curious to know how the elderly spend their time during CNY. It was touching to know that some of the elderly actually went to bai nian at each other's house. I was also glad to hear that even though many of us may have been busy during the cny period, there were still other good Samaritans out there that made it a point to visit the elderly and keep them company. I wish to thank all those people who went the extra mile to ensure that these elderly would not feel neglected during the cny period!

Andy Koh

A Change & A piece of Advice

Hi everyone-- Happy Horse Year!
 

My group consisted of me, Xueting, Yunhui and Tingting, we visited Madam T today. Before we went up, Kah Suah reminded us that Madam T seemed to be in a low spirit. Indeed, when we saw her we could sense that she wasn’t particularly happy. However, she played a good host; treating us new year goodies and giving us drinks. She also put on her smiles for us although we knew she’s bothered with family matters. It has been some time since my last visit to Madam T’s, and I felt that she has changed a little—for the good, that is. 

When I first visited Madam T, she wasn’t as ‘chatty’ as today and usually we would run out of things to say. Today was different. She would take initiative to talk a bit more and even share stories about her family with us. I remembered family topics were always a sensitive issue hence we didn’t dare to probe too much. It was a pleasant surprise to me that she would now feel comfortable to share with us her troubles. Besides this, Madam T also took the initiative to know us, she would go one by one to ask about our backgrounds and so on. I remembered that she wasn’t as interactive before.      

Perhaps it was because we have 2 fluent Hokkien speakers (Xueting and Yunhui) in our group to chat with her; perhaps it was because our frequent visits touched her, so she opened up to us; no matter what, this was really a good sign. It means that we (THES volunteers) have built a rapport with her.      

On an ending note, in our conversation, the topic mainly revolved around health and family. As a person who had gone through so much, these are some words of wisdom from Madam T: Nothing is more important than health! Take good care of your body and never take good health for granted. I’m certain that many of us are well aware of this, but I think we tend to let the words pass through our ears, simply because we are young and in good shape. But if we do not cultivate good living habits (e.g. eat healthily, exercise regularly, have a good sleeping pattern etc.), reality will hit us—we will not be young forever— and we would bear the consequences in the future if not now.  

Therefore, here’s wishing all a healthy lifestyle!

Chunhai :]  
  
8 Feb 2014