Today was the first time I came for a Touch Senior's activity, and it was truly an eye-opening and meaningful experience for me.

I went with several others to Mr and Mrs Tan's flat. It was rather clean and well-kept, although when I mentioned this, I was told that there was still some cleaning that could be done. Indeed, the members of our group immediately set out mopping the floor and cleaning the windows, among other things.

Mr Tan's flat has been plagued by bed bugs for some time. Though pest exterminators have come before, there are still occasional bugs around. Mr Tan produced a powder-based insecticide, and asked us to help him apply some to the holes in the wiring casing and celing corners. Ken and I helped him with this, and in the process, I found a dead large bedbug in one of the holes.

The bedbugs have caused the Tans much agony. When the problem was much more severe, they would come from their nests and crawl all over the ground, eventually finding their way to the Tans. For a period, Mr and Mrs Tan had to leave their lights on when they slept, since the bedbugs seemed to be afraid of the light. The Tans have thrown away their mattresses and some wooden furniture, but even now, an occasional bug stills fall from the celing. They now sleep on blankets on the floor.

As the flat was rather clean, we finished our work in a little more than an hour. We spent the rest of the time sitting down with the Tans and watching TV. We also chatted about many things, including work, studies, health and childhood, and the Tans' hospitality certainly made us feel at home. Mr Tan mentioned how applying insecticide to the high wiring casing holes was inconvenient for him, and we promised to help him with this during our future visits.

-Pius