our neighbourhood celebrity mdm w

It has been quite a long while since i blogged! and also a long while since we had active posting on this blog. For me, i really like this blog because one, it gives me a chance to think, share, reflect when im posting, and two it is pretty awesome most of the time reading how others feel about our visits. Sometimes we can find gems and common consensus and feelings amongst these words of each others'.

It has been 2/3 weeks so i can't really rmbr what we did during the visit, but i'd just share something more general then!

One of my favourite people is Mdm W, because she is not the emo naggy angsty kind of elderly hahaha. i mean yeah, she sure is picky and sometimes biased and strong headed, but she always behaves very cool and all, like a friend really. That week, she showed us the gifts that the SG50 ppl gave her! she was very happy and proud of it as always, as she told us about the various goodies she had gotten! her friend was in that time having a chat with her, so sometimes we just sat and watch them converse. it is always very amusing to see old people chat, especially with mdm w. the way she jokes and scolds ppl/ general ranting is quite funny. 死人头is my fav! lol. so she also told us about the video that she filmed! if you have not seen it yet, please check it out on youtube, the link is on our fb page.

i always cant help but smile when mdm w smiles. laughing at us sometimes, how childish we are, or the ridiculous things we say. sometimes she'd see that we are so cute and also laugh at (/with?) us. I think most of the time the non-canto speakers have a hard time at her place because they dont quite understand, but if you have not visited mdm w often do send in a request! i can be your translator and then maybe you'd start to understand why i enjoy going to her house so much (:


cheers, kai him.

Birthdayyy!!

Hi everyone, I'm here to blog again :) Btw I posted this on the wrong blog on Sunday so it's written from Sunday's point of view!

Yesterday, my group which consisted of Meina, Janice and I, was supposed to visit Mdm W and Mdm C.

However, we realised that there were actually secondary school Girls Brigade students in Mdm W house doing some spring cleaning for her so we decided that we shall just drop by to tell her that we will not visit her for this week and let her spend more time with the students. When we reached her house, we saw her sitting there like a queen and "kiao ka" some more and supervising the young and energetic girls while they do their chores LOL. As Janice was the only one who could speak abit of Canto, she was the one talking to Mdm W. So she informed Mdm W that we will not be visiting her. So Mdm W just kept waving bye to us while smiling happily (like she very 沉醉 in being a queen like that hahaha) Then Janice wanted to tell that we saw her photo at the MRT station there but she like not interested at all HAHAHA WHILE CONTINUING TO WAVE GOODBYE TO US (LIKE TELLING US TO FASTER GO LIKE THAT) HAHAHAHA Damn funny and I don't think anyone of us could forget that scene LOL.

Since we were not visiting Mdm W, we were then assigned to visit Mdm L to celebrate her belated birthday for her, along with the group that was assigned to visit her! So we went to buy a cake and quickly went up to Mdm L's house! When we reached her house, she happily showed us 3 photos that her daughter sent her from overseas as it was her birthday! She seem to be really happy and just nice since she mentioned her birthday, we told her that we had actually bought a cake to celebrate her birthday with her and she was really touched and grateful that we actually remembered her birthday and even bought her a cake to celebrate with her :')

Happiness :') May all your wishes come true!!

Selfieeee~

In the end we had to leave for Mdm C's house already so Meina and I walked across the street while happily discussing about Mdm L's enthusiastic behaviour and also kept looking at the photos and selfies we took and laughing at all the unglams hahaha (Janice left early coz she had something on so we went on to visit Mdm C!)

When we reached Mdm C's house, I happily called out to her before entering her house! Oh my, I miss her so muchhhhh~ When she saw us, she politely asked us if we could help her to change her bedsheet so we gladly did. 

Achievement unlocked sia! She remembers my name! Haha initially she remembered me as the girl who help her tie rubber band on her wheel chair/ the girl who speaks hokkien to her BUT NOW SHE REMEMBERS MY NAME!! Haha 

Coz the other time Janice Weechong and I visited her and helped her to put nail polish and we told her our names~ Janice is Huihui, I am Minmin and Weechong is Dongdong HAHAHA actually coz Weechong's chinese name is Weizong so I said that he is called "Zongzong" but Mdm C cannot pronounce so in the end become "Dongdong" HAHAHA so Mdm Cheng was telling me that she still remember our names so I was quite touched haha 

Then she asked me to help her with the tying of the rubber band thing again... Deja vu sia! Feels like the first time I visited her again coz that was the first thing that I helped her with on my very first time visiting her house!!!

After that Meina took out her photo albums and looked at them and we talked until it was the past the time to leave already :(

I used to get VERY sad as I leave the elderly's house. I enjoy talking to them during the 1 hour/ 2 hours and I believe that they feel the same way too. Every time as I leave the elderly's house, I start to think about what will happen to them during the other days of the week. Do they feel sad? Do they feel lonely? Will they miss us? I remember the very first time that I visited Mdm C, I could feel tears swelling up in my eyes when it was time to leave maybe coz of the stories and things that she told me and I really hoped that I could stay with her longer to keep her company. But then someone told me before that I shouldn't think so much and I shouldn't treat every Saturday's visit as visiting beneficiaries. Instead, I should treat it like visiting my friends instead! Nowadays as I leave the elderly's house, I still feel a teeny weeny bit of sadness as I leave their house. But then one thing I've learnt is to not think so much coz I think I'm now able to see them more as a friend instead of a beneficiary, and I'll just look forward to the next visit and treat it like a meet-up with a good friend~ 

Shall end off the post with some photos of/with Mdm C!

27/12/14 's visit

Weechong helping Mdm C~

Am I cool?? :D

Selfieeee~~

Yesterday's visit!

Selfie w/ the rainbow loom that I gave her :))

Charmaine~~

The Importance of Good Neighbours

Hi everyone, 大家好! I am Cheng Jie and it is my first time blogging here! Yesterday was the second time I participated in THES weekly visit. A note to all the kind-hearted souls out there who do not know me− I hope we will have a chance to work together and get to know each other better in future too!

I have always wanted to join Community Service Club to help those in need since matriculation; and it was through Joel that I first got to know about THES. I expressed my interest for this volunteering programme and eventually started my weekly visits in semester 2.

I was assigned to two elderly, Mr W and Mdm L for last week and this week respectively. Last week, I visited Mr W together with Joel and Chong Junn, and yesterday, I visited Mdm L with Kok Seng and Hui Jia. I am glad that both Mr W and Mdm L’s apartments were clean and in good condition. Unlike my past volunteering experience, I often encounter apartments that were filled with unwanted stuffs and infested with cockroaches and bed bugs. By having clean apartments, it would mean that we can spend less time doing household chores and more time to communicate with the elderly. It was through such communication time that we got to understand more about the elderly’s needs, thoughts and feelings – especially their hunger for companionship and a listening ear. As such, I believe that such communication sessions will help develop the bond between us.

During today’s visit, we helped Mdm L with some simple household chores. Meanwhile, we were also constantly chit chatting with her to ensure that she feels occupied and remained engaged with us. While cleaning, I noticed Mdm L’s uneasiness with her house’s dirtiness, particularly the large amount of lizard droppings on the walls. For this, I did some research and found some inexpensive solutions to get rid of lizards (http://sg.theasianparent.com/safe-ways-to-get-rid-of-lizards-at-home/), which the subsequent groups can try in order to help Mdm L.

We also got to know that Mdm L is actually a fan of MediaCorp artiste Xu Bin! She was very enthusiastic when talking about Xu Bin and repeatedly described him to be very handsome (帅)! She even requested us to print a photo of Xu Bin for her to admire! Surrounding the topic of handsome guys/pretty girls, Mdm L was further engaged by Hui Jia and Kok Seng, who showed her their ideal types for man/woman. We became so much closer than before and even ended with a selfie session. I could feel that she enjoyed the interacting sessions with us, especially since she was laughing out loud throughout. As for me, I definitely had a great time with the elderly and fellow volunteers too!

Lastly, through Mdm L's sharing, I realized the importance of neighbours. There was once Mdm L had a bad fall and her neighbour, sensing something amiss, came to her rescue. With increasing cases of neighbourhood dispute, it made me wonder that in today's society, how many of us would actually spare another thought for our neighbours (eg. Mdm L's neighbour) when necessary? It would surely be a better place to live in if neighbours start to interact with, care for and respect one another in order to foster bonds and rebuild the long-lost kampong spirit.

To end off, I would like to thank both Hui Jia and Kok Seng for the guidance today and Joel for introducing THES to me. I really enjoyed the weekly visits so far and will definitely continue doing so. I will also be looking forward to every Saturday− doing what I enjoy most to bring happiness to the elderly and get to know more awesome friends and elderly around. I gained a lot during the short 2hour’s visit that could never be taught in school. Hopefully, I could find some free time slots from my busy schedules to visit the elderly during other days as a friend after getting to know them better. Or perhaps, anyone of you that are visiting them on your own, don't BO JIO hor! xD

31 01 2015

Ng Cheng Jie