The extremely-hot Touch MAF Celebration

to intro myself, i'm an old bird called chloe. but i can still fly, and i WILL fly back to Touch when i dont have to work on saturdays (which will be rare; whine...)

After a 5-month absence, I made my way towards the same old meeting place, to be greeted by a bunch of new faces, some old birds like me flapping around still, a PA system in the corner which a lot of people were doodling with, bags of goodies, and a ring of plastic chairs. This was no typical Touch gathering, but festivity was in the air as we prepared to bring the elderly down to the void deck and celebrate the mid-autumn festival with them. Soon the Canto Couple came downstairs, so enthusiastic were they. So up we went, to invite (and in the case of Mdm Lim, persuade) the eldery to come downstairs for the celebration.

I guess the elderly felt excited; you could see it in their faces. Something different, something to look forward to, something to talk about after. As they took their seats and bade greetings to each other, one could sense this warm feeling of neighbourliness, and anticipation for the celebration that was about to unfold. Finally the elderly got distributed their Bingo papers and started filling them up. Most of them were encouraged to try to fill it in themselves, and I felt this sense of sadness as I saw them clasping their pens with trembling fingers, painstakingly writing out a numeral in their shaky handwriting. I was with the Canto Couple, and it was very encouraging to see the uncle balance the mooncake box on his lap for a table and write numbers so slowly and carefully. The canto aunty got mixed up and lost count, which generated a lot of laughs. She is very amazing too, for she has not learnt to read and write, yet she tries so hard. Perseverance and patience.


The elderly love to play bingo. With each announcement of the magic number, they search frantically, calling us volunteers to point out to them the numbers. Sometimes jooch's eyes are too small he also cannot see the numbers. When we saw it, we would tell her to look carefully, and not directly show her. I feel that that made her more independent. They really threw themselves into the game. They have such a competitive spirit; peeking at their neighbour's to see how many they have left. Counting and re-counting how many more numbers left to strike off, shouting out the numbers they hope to be called. Really amusing to see them, and their enthusiasm is so catchy that us volunteers got excited too, rooting for them. Uncle Xiqian started shouting out numbers in hope that they would be called, but was slighted by emcee Derui. In the end, everyone got a prize. I laugh at the simplicity of it all, and the joy and pride they got when they completed Bingo, and got their prize – a lantern and a mooncake.

Next they played pass-the-parcel, which went a couple of rounds. There was this amusing aunty who refused to take the box from lixian, only to shove it on to zhenqin. This was mimicked by the Canto Uncle, and it was really very amusing to see him so mischievous, a side which i had not seen before. See, although he has dementia, he can still understand playfulness, humor. Layer after layer of papers came off, finally to reveal a huge box of biscuits which some delighted aunty took home proudly. (that generated a lot of ooohs and ahhhhhs and whoaaaaaas.) And lixian did her dance. And dragged 2 poor others into it. Hahahha. Lixian... you certainly bring smiles wherever you go.. =)

the next segment probably got the elderly the most hyped up of all. The song-singing time. Lixian went on stage to sing the hokkien song ai piah zai eh yar. But guess what, she got drowned out by the chorus of elderly heartedly singing away. And there were actions too!!! I have never seen our elderly so energetic, so lively. It seemed like they were so young again, reliving their youth as they sang (or shouted) to this favourite song. The rest of the songs had them clapping along, or being amazed by the wonderful voice of our superstar Derui. (he can reach high octaves. And go very mellow also. Amazing. *end of praising derui)

Soon, everything drew to a close, and we gather to sing our Sept and Oct babies a birthday song. Took a happy group photo of all of us grinning away, and then we led our elderly back to their homes, admist profuse thankyous and goodbyes. We brought mdm lim upstairs, and chatted to her a bit. she still recognizes me as the pui-eok girl (pharmacist). feel so touched she remembers, and feel so helpless that i cant see her when i would dearly love to.

I dont know when i wont be working on saturdays again to be able to come for Touch, dont know when i can see them all again. Will they still be able, to smile, to engage cognitively with us? As Mdm lim held my hand when we said goodbye, and closed her door, i know that she will be in good hands, in the hands of these juniors who organized such a great show, who truly care for our elderly. Year by year Touch has been improving, and this MAF celebration i daresay is one of the more memorable events. As an old bird, i look with pride at what others have built up over the years, and look with excitement as i see the same passion that fired us, burning in these thoughtful juniors. Well done, for MAF 2007!!!