My First Visit on 30 Jan 2010!

Hello everyone! I'm Hui Min, a new volunteer! Haha. It was my first visit on 30 Jan! Initially thought I'd lose my way, but I managed to alight at the correct bus stop and found the place! I even brought a map along. Hahaha.

The first elderly whom we visited was Mr Chiu. I find that he's really cheerful! We kept asking Mr Chiu whether he needed us to help him do some cleaning up, and he kept refusing. Haha. But finally he gave in, and Peizhen picked up the broom to sweep the floor. Some of us searched for rags, and went to wipe the windows. Oh yes, before that, Mr Chiu took out a few pieces of paper and showed them to us. They were lyrics for some Chinese New Year songs! Mr Chiu said he was asked to perform these songs for the Chinese New Year celebrations, together with some other elderly folks. He asked us to sing along with him too! We clapped along while he sang, but he said that it was rather difficult to sing without the music. Haha. And erm, for me, you can ask me to sing K, but I can't really sing Chinese New Year songs. HAHAHA. My guess is that Mr Chiu loves singing too! Coz Margaret mentioned something about watching huang jin nian hua later. Haha. Then after that we sat down to make lanterns and some other decorations for Chinese New Year, and I attempted to make some too. Hehe. And Mr Chiu seemed rather happy with our creations! Hehe. Then we took a group photo together with Mr Chiu, and then bade him goodbye to make the next visit.

Next, we went to Mr Tan's house. He was sitting on the armchair and watching Channel U! Haha. He told us that his wife has left for work, and so he was watching TV at home. We chatted about the culinary programme that was showing on Channel U, and about some delicacies that can be found in Taiwan. Yummy yummy. Hehe. Then he told us about his prostrate problem (I'm not very sure about the exact ailment, please correct me/clarify if I'm wrong), and how his feet tended to swell because of this ailment (shui zhong). Ahhh.. >< My heart went out to him, coz I know how painful and inconvenient it is to have problems with the feet, coz my mum has painful knees too, and has difficulty walking properly. He showed us his appointment letters with the hospital too. I find Mr Tan rather knowledgeable! Coz he was talking something about Lee Kong Chian. Very interesting to listen to! Hehe. We continued making Chinese New Year decorations too, and oh yes, Mr Tan said that his wife likes the colour red! And so they have been keeping many hongbaos too. Hahaha. Then we helped Mr Tan to put up the decorations too. And then it was time to say goodbye and leave for the next visit.

We went to the other Mr Tan's (English-speaking) house, but found that he was not at home. Then we were thinking that perhaps he could be having his meal at the coffeeshop or something. Along the way, we met a super enthusiastic elderly lady. She told us that she has been waiting for us for very long! Anticipating our arrival. Hahaha. Just as we were about to go downstairs to see if Mr Tan's windows were open or not (Margaret says he usually doesn't open his windows anyway, haha), we spotted Mr Tan opening the door!! Then all of us rushed over. Hahaha. Mr Tan opened the door for us, and Margaret told us to open the windows the first thing we go in. And oh gosh, we found that the floor of his house was rather dirty, and so we took turns to help him sweep and mop the floor. And we helped him to put up the Chinese New Year decorations too. Hehe. Then we tested Mr Tan, to see if he remembers our names! It turns out that he only remembers Margaret's name! HAHAHA. Mr Tan suggested writing down our names on a piece of paper, and we did that too, and went through rounds and rounds of introduction. Then Mr Tan made another suggestion, which is to put name tags on our shirts the next time we come. Hahaha. And we told him that we're going to test him on our names next week! Hahaha. And with that, we bade Mr Tan goodbye too.

This first visit was a rather meaningful one for me. Felt happy that I've done something meaningful, and was of help to Mr Chiu and the two Mr Tans! Hehe. And it dawned on me that we have to treasure our own parents, and be filial to them. Coz I was thinking, these elderly folks are also parents too, and it saddens me that they are living all alone by themselves. For me, I dun really know about their background and stuff, and so I dun dare to mention anything about their children, coz I'm afraid that I'd evoke sadness or anger in them, at the thought of their children. So I didn't dare to ask them about their children. But anyway, the bottom line is, muz treasure and love your parents k! And of coz these elderly folks whom we are visiting too! I think that's the very least that we can do for them. But of coz, we muz do our best to help them too! In our little ways. Hehe.

Hope all of you've had a meaningful visit on 30 Jan too! =)

Cheers,
Hui Min