First TOUCH Visit(:

hellloooo to whoever who's reading out there(: i'm huiting and this is my first time blogging here!hope that i wont bore you guys haha!



after arriving at geylang bahru block 61 and making our first round of introductions, we were dispatched to our respective homes!i felt rather excited cuz i can finally put my cantonese to good use (or so i supposed hahaha).first up,we visited mdm chua(: BUT horrors!she speaks hokkien instead of canto!for those who know me well they shoould know that my hokkien is really really bad.like i only know how to say one to ten in hokkein haha.mdm chua warmly invited us to her house and we sat down and chatted with her as there wasnt any much chores to do.she was being really nice and cute as throughout the whole session of interaction,she kept asking us whether we want any drinks haha.like asking us for 4 or 5 times?probably as it was my first home visit,or that my hokkien is really terrible,i was pretty quiet throughout the whole session and only talked to her for like one or two sentences HAHA.the rest of the talking was mostly done by the two seniors attached and jolene had to multi task as a translator as well haha.overall it was a really good experience to be able to know more about mdm chua(:



next up was mdm chow mui!as most of you alrdy know,mdm chow mui is this really vibrant and loud and cute lady!:D haha so as usual, there wasn't any chores for us to do and hence we sat down and chit chatted haha.at first,mdm chow mui spoke hokkien and hence as usual the 2 seniors were doing the talking.but after we spoke to her in canto,she still replied in hokkien even though she said shes a canto haha!only when she started to reply in canto then i began to talk more and chatted quite a bit with her.got to know that she was previously a samsui woman,doesnt really enjoy going down to the centre and interact with the elderly over there as she wants to avoid any possible disputes or arguments,has a daughter who gives her allowance and 2 grandchildren and she'll go and buy e groceries herself.and we were told to guess her age and she said that she was 85.but after looking at her ic then we realized and told her shes actually 88 yrs old!haha.mdm chow mui is really nice to talk to and i told her that i'll see her again!hope that e next time round we can help her more with the household chores!



e last home visit was to this uncle's house.i cant rmbr/dont know his name as we crashed this group and basically just listened to their conversation haha.it was a pretty sad moment when the uncle told us about his son who died of appendicitis at e age of 3,when they sent him to a tcm doctor and subsequently to a hospital but there were no specialist doctors there to save him.and he was also talking about the high medical fees in which he couldnt afford.this has really taught me that we are really blessed and fortunate and hence should really treasure it and be filial to our parents haha.


Last of all, I shall end it off with a picture since I'm quite sure that those who even took e time to read this would be bored to tears hahaha.I wanted to join TOUCH last yr but couldnt make it for e orientation visit and subsequently forgot about it haha.this time round,i'll definitely come back for more!:D


-huiting(:

TOUCH Visit - 08 Aug 09

Yay! 1st Blog post so here goes:

10:30a.m. on 8 Aug this year, armed with unwanted clothes and a dialect-spewing mouth, I arrived at Geylang Bahru, ready to help the elderlies in whatever way I can. Although there were only 2 freshies on that day and it was our 1st time doing TOUCH, we did not feel left out as all the people there were nice and friendly :D. After a brief briefing, all of us went up to the 1st home to visit, only to be chased out as there were too many people in the room haha. We then split into 2 groups to visit different units as the turnout rate was way too good.

1st unit: Mdm Chua
Mdm Chua is a very happy-go-lucky person who had just lost her husband a month ago. I was expecting her to be depressed and emotional but she seemed to be quite strong mentally and i really have to salute her for that. When we arrived in front of the door, Mdm Chua shocked us with the fact that a group of students came yesterday and helped to tidy up the entire house. Oh man no use for my unwanted clothes T_T. Pin Chuan then asked her whether we can come in and have a little chat. She agreed and our talkathon commences.

Luckily for me Mdm Chua speaks Hokkien, which is my dialect, and I was able to talk to her in "half bucket of water" hokkien. She was complaining about all the stuffs that she bought and how much space they are taking up. She also went on to talk about her past and how life is much better now in Geylang Bahru as there were always people and volunteers showering her with care and concern. Words like this make me feel that we are doing something for a good cause and it has a huge impact on the lives of the elderlies.

Throughout the entire conversation, Mdm Chua was constantly asking us if we need any drink or coffee. She then offered to treat us to coffee at the kopitiam downstairs - "I treat, you all pay, haha". Actually I really don't mind going for the coffee as I didn't have much for breakfast but looking at Zhen Xiu's stern face, I realised that it was wrong to do so :P. Mdm Chua also gave us some packets of cold ice lemon tea and white chrysanthemum tea which none of us touch at all. In the end, Pin Chuan told Mdm Chua that we are going to visit the next unit at on the fourth storey. Conincidentally, Mdm Chua and Mdm Cheong already knew each other as they were always playing board games together in the TCS centre so Mdm Chua followed us to the next unit.

2nd unit: Mdm Cheong
Unlike Mdm Chua, Mdm Cheong is more of a quiet and introverted person. She lost her husband 7 years ago and I heard that she was hospitalised due to depression at that time. Time heals all wounds and Mdm Cheong seemed to have gotten over her husband's death. Together with Mdm Chua, we went into Mdm Cheong's house and again no cleaning T_T. I will really like to know which cleaning company the group of students are from.

Mdm Cheong speaks Cantonese and this time round I cant really understand what she was saying. I can only grasp bits and parts out of the mixture of dialects used in her conversation with Mdm Chua. Occasionally she will try to explain what she was saying in Mandarin to us and we would laugh together with them. I still remember Mdm Chua whispering to me that she thought her house was messy but Mdm Cheong's house was even more untidy! Haha they still can't beat me if they compare my house with theirs.

Mdm Cheong was cooking her lunch when we visited her and the smell of spring onions on the steamed fish filled the entire room. I really pity Shi Tien who was sitting beside the fish and he told me the smell was overwhelming over there. She also showed us some of the pretty artworks that she have created and how to write her name in Chinese. She then proceed to write her phone number under her written name and she exchanged numbers with Mdm Chua. Oh so sweet! :) But Mdm Chua was saying that it was quite unnecessary to do so because they see each other everyday haha!

Time really flies when we were having fun. It was already 1 o'clock and we had to leave already. We took a quick photo together and bade farewell to both ladies. All the volunteers then met together downstairs for the debrief where Pin Chuan announced that Chen Hua and him are stepping down and the upcoming chairman and vice chairman. Although we only interacted with the elderlies and never really helped them in their daily chores, it was a fun and fufilling experience for me :D.

From

Mdm Chua on the left and Mdm Cheong on the right

-Jerome