First visit with T.H.E.Seniors

I have always felt that for Singaporeans, visiting the elderly is just a short term event. Perhaps it is all those forced CIP hours that we had to clock in or the short performances that we were often given to do in old folks home. The elderly didn't seem to need us much or perhaps we (or maybe only I) thought that they could do well on their own and be self-sufficient. My first visit to visit the elderly in the East has thus taught me this humbling lesson : all of us need and deserve more love than we notice.

I was grouped with Hui Jia, Lu Ting, Chaur Ann and Ying Jun. We were tasked to visit Mdm H. When I first entered her house, I noticed that it was dark and had a slightly putrid smell. She was lying down on her bed waiting for us as the lock of her house was unlock. I saw how the volunteers politely greeted her and asked her if they could enter. They respected her and did their best to cheer her up right from the beginning. In her house, we did simple chores for her under her guidance. I was thankful then that there were people helping her with these chores because they may be simple for us but for her, they are demanding chores and I could see that she would not have been able to do them on her own. The volunteers did the job with familiarity and I could see that it was not their first time doing it. However, they did not complain. As it was my first time visiting, we took Mdm H's old photo albums and she gladly shared about her past. Through her sharing, I could see that she is proud of her past and sharing it allows her to relive those moments. I was glad that I was a listening ear for her and I was able to hear those amazing stories that only she could tell from her own experience. Gradually, we continued to talk more with Mdm H and we could see that she started to become more cheerful and even joked with some of us. 

Hallway through our visit, Mdm H had a call and it was Mdm. C who lived directly below her. She called because no one had visited her. Chen An and I then went to her house after confirming that we could go. 

Mdm. C is an independent lady who does her best managing herself. She cleans her home thoroughly and exercises everyday for 45 minutes! That's more exercise than many people I know. When we got to visit her, we quickly found out why she called Mdm H urgently to find out if anyone was going to her place. She had an appointment later in the afternoon and needed time to prepare. Through my interaction with her, I could see that she makes an effort to utilize her time well and is happy with her current status in life. Seeing her happy makes me happy too. 

Overall, this visit has opened my eyes. Despite the fact that many of the elderly can manage their houses on their own (which grants them self-sufficient) proving that they do not require much assistance, they still yearn for a visit from people like T.H.E.Seniors. We all need someone to care for us, to love us. This is my biggest takeaway. Living in our fast paced, modern society we can become disillusioned, thinking that once we own our own house and car, we are self-sufficient and can live the perfect life. We often miss/neglect the fact that we are creatures who are made to love and without it, we cannot be called humans. 

Everything is changing but some things never will.

Hello everyone.

Been long time since I posted.
Guess I'm back after losing an Oh-ya-beh-ya-som. XD

It's been hectic and I haven't had time to go for visits for a while.
But since SLP has come to an end, I made my way down to the familiar Geylang Bahru.

Every step was like a trip down memory lane, the fat pigeons, the coffee shop, the lazy cat, the SAC, the elderly sitting downstairs, and even the smell of the air.

Arrived slightly late and made my way to Mdm C.Y.L's place with my equally late group mates Xuan Kai and Yi'an.
And yay she was back from her usual morning makan and received us warmly.
We assisted with the usual, sweeping and window cleaning. She told us not to mop as there were ppl coming down to do it on Monday.

Then comes the best part of every visit, the interaction. We talked about many things, from reminiscing over the old photos in the album to pet preferences.
She told us some stories of the people in the photos, like how she always had to take care of the fish while her husband was only responsible for looking at them and being happy about it. Haha.
 Fishes' life span quite random. She also shared how she dislikes cats and dogs as pets due to the trouble and hassles. Fish is apparently much more convenient.
 We also ended up talking about nail polish again somehow haha.

Made the card while chatting and writing reflections. Stay cheerful and healthy Mdm C.Y.L.!!!
Seemed like an apt time to be back for a visit. A reminder of this place as the beginning of my volunteering journey in Uni.
I guess everything can change in this world, but what remains are the memories, the warmth and the smiles.
It's great to see new volunteers come in as every year passes. Wah really old liao o.o
A big thanks to all volunteers for always taking time to walk the road less travelled by and contribute to this common cause that we love.


Criss

Saturday mornings with smiling elderlies

For the past 1.5 years, for all the other days of the week, I have looked forward to Saturday mornings.
Today, after being overseas for 3 saturdays, I'm finally back! It always feels good to be back.

I was grouped with 3 other young and energetic xiaomeis: wei ting, chanel and yu chen. We visited Mdm W! She realised that she had never shown me her photo collection before, so she brought it out and we flipped through the photos. There were some photos she took in the studio many manyyyy years ago, but they look so new and well kept, even though she simply just put them in envelopes! Then i saw some of the more recent ones, and to my extreme ecstasy i found myself screaming and turning into fanboy mode. Look at these photos!!!



 


Mdm C and Mdm W!! too cute, way too cute! it is like i witnessed a very special kind of friendship right before my eyes, like time travelling in a way. I have only known them recently, and in this short period i learnt that they knew each other for a long time. they go to events etc tgt, and although they look like they dont have much to say to each other, it was such a sweet feeling i had seeing them in the photos. esp the first one, awwwwww...

Some more, as follows:

Who is your favourite Singapore girl? ;)
And Mr L, making a guest appearance!!




I think all of us found popo to be very cute and happy! actually, I was there when she joined touch for the first few times. i went to her house to bring her down to touch for our dumpling festival event, and i could tell she didnt really like crowds, didnt really like to play games and were so amused at our fake dumplings. and for the past few months i've visited her much more often and understood her pattern. it takes a bit of skill to make her open up and talk to you, but once she does, she cant stop (: just like many of us who seem quiet and aloof from the outside, but talk non stop and go all crazy in front of close friends.

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Then, we went to Mr & Mrs T's place. Auntie was so funny, she pointed at me and laughed non stop when she saw me. hahha! i have no idea why she was so amused but im obviously happy to see her smiling and laughing (:

It was a Saturday morning full of smiles for our group, as we had a good time chatting with uncle and auntie as well, talking about everything from taiwan politics to hayley woo on tv hahahhaa. 

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After the visit I went to see Mdm H, I had missed her quite a bit after not being sent to her house for recent months and also after 3 weeks away. I'm glad to see her doing better than i had feared, but she has certainly aged a lot over these 2 years :(( but her love for us students all is for all to see. 

Was also very touched when Mdm CSK and mdm CYL asked about my trip overseas, when i havent told them really (: it is so sweet of them really, Mdm CSK even said she prayed for me every morning when she heard abt it :')

Anw, dont get me wrong, I really have no other intention for sharing the above, than to let you know how happy, how blessed, how touched i feel. With time, you will start to feel the same and I hope that this very real, very warm, very sincere feelings i feel here, will draw you back week in week out. 

Saturday mornings with smiling elderlies, how awesome is that!

we are waiting and hoping to have you with us for a long long time (:

Kai Him.

The eyes are the windows to your soul

It was my second time visiting Mr W., but the first time I've seen his face proper. And the one thing that struck me most about him was his eyes; he had beguiling eyes. In spite of his seemingly aloof exterior, he is actually a chatty person with a wealth of knowledge from his job as a seaman in his younger days. Through his experiences, I've learnt that we should not take things for granted and always seek the truth, even if it means to be different from the majority.

My group then visited Mdm K. She was feeling slightly under the weather but was still enthusiastic about the little project we did with her on our reflections on our visits.

Every Saturday I learn something new and the few hours spent visiting the elderly is always rewarding.

-Victoria

Members: Victoria, Mei Na

Our group was allocated to visit Mdm W & Mdm C.M. for 8th Mar official visit. When we visited Mdm W, she was watching some cartoon show from Channel 8. We spent most of the time watching show and chatting with her. After that cartoon show, we happened to come across a documentary on tortoises and Mdm W shared with us how she used to have a tortoise as a pet. As  this my first time visting Mdm W, I feel that she is a friendly and interesting elderly.

Next, we proceeded to vist Mdm C.M. As usual, her smile and laughter never fails to brighten up our day. She is always so cheerful and funny. During the visit, we saw her holding a brand new walking stick equipped with audio and light functions. As this is our first time seeing a multi-purpose stick , we were quite amazed. With a stick, she can now walk around the house with ease. This shows that an useful and practical invention like this could bring convenience to the life of the elderly.

Although our time spent with the elderly for evey visit is limited, but I think it really meant a lot to them. Sometimes, all they need is just a listening ear and a companion to talk to.

Xinhong

This post will be a combination of posts cos I haven't been doing my job to blog hahaa! Firstly, this is a summary of my visit to Mdm H's house one month ago, she is one of my favourite elderly because I love how she's not afraid to show what she really thinks about you. You can tell if she likes you or not and I think this is great because relationships between people are made complicated because there's too much grey areas. How great would it be if we can see things in black and white only and leave out the grey areas which is often what makes human relationship complicated. And during the same visit after a few of us helped her to buy tissue and panadol from NTUC, I wanted to return her the change, but she insisted that I keep it haha! How cute is that! Of course I didn't keep it in the end but I just love the way she kept insisting on giving me the change and telling me to not tell the others that she did that.

And this week my group visited Mdm T and Mr O, and I felt really happy after chatting with them and I can tell they really appreciate having us come down to visit and talk to them every saturday. And I got to eat CNY goodies woo hoo! Even though Mdm T doesn't have a very good eyesight but she's still cheerful and optimistic about life and I think that's just great cos she's so strong and I just love how optimistic she is.

Sometimes I just wonder what is their life really like when we are not with them during the rest of the week? What do they do at home? Who and what comes up in their mind when they feel lonely? But I guess it's quite impossible to get the answers for my questions. I don't know who will be there for them when they feel lonely but I do hope our presence on Saturdays do make a difference for their life. Life is filled with little struggles all the time and we all need someone to be there for us occasionally. So look around you now, who are the ones who had been there for you when you needed them? Have you been there for them when they needed you?

-Vernon

My Sophomore Visit!

On the 8th of March, I made my 2nd official visit with the fellow volunteers. This time, I spent the bulk of my time in the home of Mdm. Ho. Initially, my fellow groupmate cautioned us about her attention to details, but it was not surprising - considering how the order and possessions within her flat must be very important to her.

Nonetheless, I found Mdm. Ho very 'sassy' (that's the first word that comes to my mind)! Through her banter with the fellow groupmates and her straight-forward style of speaking, I come to glimpse how authentic and comfortable she was with the volunteers. It was especially meaningful for me to hear from her perspectives about her past histories and certain stories with her extended families. Most importantly, I got to hear her share about her faith and beliefs, which were truly encouraging to me personally.

In conclusion, I genuinely look forward to seeing Mdm. Ho again - not as someone that is in need or in lack, but someone that I can share my opinions too and who is not afraid to keep things real with me as well.

Weifeng

Am grateful for yet another group of awesome people I've had the opportunity to work with to organize the Yuan Xiao celebration held on 22 Feb 2014. Am also grateful for the volunteers who made the event a successful one.

There were many activities for the elderly, such as lion dance and tang yuan making. Yuan Xiao was already over a week before the event but everyone was so immersed in the celebration it felt like Chinese New Year in Geylang Bahru.

They say everything we see is filtered through our own personal lens and the way we interpret it is a reflection of the ideas and values we hold. But the impact that each and every volunteer made in the lives of these elderly I witnessed was so palpable it needed no filter of any sort. It was a also humbling experience to be able to capture so many smiles and eternalize this moment of happiness as the event photographer. And every week I find myself in constant awe of the magnitude of individual and collective impact on the elderly.

- vict