Visit to Mdm Chow Moi! :)

Hi everyone! :D

On 15 September, I went with the seniors (Yi'an, Shawn and Pei Jen) and freshies (Kok Seng, Shurui, Ling Yun, Edward, Kenny and Geraldine) to visit Mdm Chow Moi. It was my first visit to T.H.E. Seniors and I was rather excited, wondering what it would be like to interact with the elderly. As Mdm Chow Moi's house was quite clean, we didn't do housework but interacted with her.

Mdm Chow Moi is a friendly and cheerful old lady. She was all smiles when she opened the door and asked us to sit on the chairs repeatedly. As there were many volunteers, we sat on the floor with Mdm Chow Moi sitting on the chair. It feels like a storytelling session in primary school whereby Mdm Chow Moi is like my teacher who tells me stories. ^^

Our 'storytelling session' with Madam Chow Moi

I was quite surprised when I found out that Mdm Chow Moi is already 92 years old as she looked quite strong and healthy for her age. This could be due to Mdm Chow Moi working in the labour sector in the past. At one point, Mdm Chow Moi mentioned that she was old and not as useful and I felt sad when I heard her say this. I feel that she and the other elderly of her age are the 'gems' of the society as they have worked hard to contribute to the success of Singapore today and they should not be feeling this way. Instead, they should be happy and enjoying their golden years.:)

Mdm Chow Moi also shared with us her daily life. She says she loves to eat rice. Hahas, when I asked her what she ate everyday she told to me smilingly “Eat rice lor!”, straight in my face which is very funny. Mdm Chow Moi will drink coffee or milo in the morning and she will cook when there is no food provided for her. Her lifestyle is quite carefree. She told us that she will sleep when she feels like sleeping and she watches TV and listen to its songs when she remembers.

However, I was thinking if Mdm Chow Moi will feel bored and worry about how to spend her time at times amidst this carefree lifestyle. Mdm Chow Moi seldom goes out by herself nowadays as she tends to feel giddy. Occasionally, she will stand by the window sill and observe the people on the ground floor. Does Mdm Chow Moi feel a tinge of loneliness when she is alone at home? Luckily, there are organisations which organises outings to allow interaction between elderly. The photos which Mdm Chow Moi showed us were about her outings with the other elderly and she looked happy inside.:)

Geraldine interacting with Madam Chow Moi in Cantonese

At the end of the visit, I find Madam Chow Moi a very cute and friendly elderly with her heartwarming smile. Initially, there were some language barrier present between us but it was not much of problem when Geraldine, who can speak Cantonese fluently came to aid in our interaction with Madam Chow Moi. I enjoyed this visit and I hope that I will be able to make good use of every future visit to add colours to the lives of the elderly in my own little ways. ^^

-Kah Suan

Visit with Mdm Ho

This is my second time visiting the elderly with T.H.E Seniors. On this second visit, my group went to visit Mdm Ho. My first impression of Mdm Ho is that she is a sprightly lady with a good sense of humour. The jokes and sarcastic comments that were shared with the senior volunteers and her brightened up the atmosphere.

 

As usual, we went about the normal cleaning duties according to Mdm Ho’s instructions. After that, the group sat down and chatted with her. She shared with us on her injured leg and having to spend more money at the hospital for future checkups and more importantly her lament on increasing prices of everything in Singapore.  Also, we had a mini Cantonese lesson where she taught us the Cantonese equivalents of various types of furniture =)

Visiting the elderly with T.H.E Seniors for the past two visits have been an interesting experience for me. Living with my grandparents, these visits also serve as a reminder to myself to take time out to listen and talk with my grandparents when I am home for all they have are the four walls the whole day.  What also struck me at Mdm Ho’s visits were the dedication that long time volunteers had. Many of them come back to visit her long after graduation to visit these elderly. I applaud these people for their dedication and am looking forward to more activities with T.H.E Seniors!

 Yu Lin (On behalf of Group 7)

First Official Visit! :)

Hi all,

I am going to share my experience for my first T.H.E Senior official visit on 15 Sept 2012. For this orientation visit, we (Group 6) happened to visit Mr Chew at his apartment at Geylang Bahru. The first impression I had for Mr Chew is that he is a very healthy and friendly elderly. His room is rather neat and clean, but we still offer to help him with the house chores such as sweeping and mopping the floor. While some of us are doing the house work, the rest talked to Mr Chew to keep him entertained.

According to the seniors, Mr Chew likes to sit at the table near the door and read his newspaper every morning, with his coffee at the side. From the conversation we get to know him a lot more. He is a rather active elderly as compare to others at his age because he likes to go around to other parts of Singapore. Other than that, he is going for a chalet soon with his friends at Pasir Ris, this shows that he is still socially active. Mr Chew also shared his hobby with us, he is very passionate in singing and often attends the Karaoke session held by the community. However, Mr Chew is rather shy when we encourage him to participate in the singing competition held by Golden age under Channel 8.

Overall, it was very enjoyable talking to Mr Chew as we were able to communicate in Chinese. The highlight of the conversation is probably Mr Chew ‘special’ experience during the ‘Ghost’ month. He seems very calm and peaceful when he was describing his experience, while the rest of us were rather shock by it.

This visit is a slightly different experience for me as compare to my past experience of visiting elderly as we were not expect to do the housework. However, I feel that with this component in the visit, we can do more for the elderly and form a stronger bond with them. In conclusion, I am glad that I joined T.H.E Seniors and I hope to visit more elderly in the near future!

Luting J

(on behalf of Group 6)

T.H.E. Seniors 2nd Orientation Visit

Hi all!

I am a new volunteer at THES, and last Saturday's orientation visit to Mr Tan was my first visit!

My group visited Mr Tan, and we spent an enjoyable time at his house. Speaking in Hokkien, he shared with us his life stories - how he grew up in Singapore, the occupations that he took up when he was younger and how Singapore was like in the early days. One particular story that I remember fondly is how he'd describe the times when he worked as a radio mechanic, and surprised us when he mentioned "Radio Mechanic" in  English! Apart from so, the day of the visit coincided with the last day of the 7th Lunar month, and we watched how Mr Tan and his sister made offerings to their ancestors. 

We weren't required to make clean up his house, but time really does flies just by listening to Mr Tan. Really hope to visit Mr Tan again in the following week! :)

-Shiyan 

Our first visit!:D

Hello!

Last Saturday, I went for my first orientation visit. My group consisted of Yun Li, Clement, and seniors, Sheng Xian, Felicia and Yi An. We were assigned Mr Chew but he didn't want to go home so our group split into 2 and went to 2 different elderly.

Me, Sheng Xian and Clement went to  where we listened to the other volunteers there talk to them.  was telling us how she fell down the other day. I didn't understand what they said as it was in Hokkien so I kept looking at the others to copy their response hahaha.

We then went to Mdm Chong's house where she instructed us to do a few chores for her. I was told to wipe the chairs due to my erm, lack of height hahaha.

 Yun Li cleaning the toilet!

 Clement wiping the windows!

 Sheng Xian wiping the other windows!

After the chores, Mdm Cheong showed us her photo albums as well as the TOUCH publication. She also told us about her past experiences of being a nanny for a Caucasian family. The kid was called Andrew!!

I look forward to getting to know more of the elderly and volunteers!(:

Group shot!(:

yongen

15/9/2012 - Orientation Visit 2

Sup folks,

Met up with everyone at about 1030 or so at Block 62 that morning, lotsa new faces again! Had four new volunteers in our group, namely Woon Yong (he came for the previous visit too), Jasmine, Michelle and Yun Yin (plus seniors Zhenxiu and Chaur Ann). Moped around a bit while waiting for everything to be sorted out. After a while Chaur Ann came back telling us we were gonna visit Madam Chua...... who was sitting right next to us hahaha. 

So anyway she didn't want to go back up to her apartment, saying it would be pretty warm and stuffy and that she preferred being down at the void deck. Well it's a first for me just hanging out at a void deck with a senior citizen! I don't even hang out at void decks. (not that it's a bad thing)

The new volunteers began chatting with Mdm Chua to get to know more about her, and in the course of the conversation learnt about her having worked in the kitchen of a certain Phoenix Hotel for 20 years, making salads and sandwiches (she pronounces it as sandmiju). I didn't understand most of what was being said, but it seemed to me like pretty much a lively conversation, with her relating all her stories and life experiences. Hahaha but in actuality she'd apparently repeated her sandwich and salad making experience over and over for quite a few times.

Zhenxiu: "10th time liao"

Well Mdm Chua has dementia so she can't really remember what she's told us. Regardless, it seemed like she appreciated us listening to her. Later on, we went over to the kopitiam for some drinks. We managed to find out that she only eats at this kopitiam, as she thinks the other coffee shops are too far away (yes even the one we usually lunch at). Sometimes, a lady who stays above the kopitiam will come down and pay for Mdm Chua's food, which she feels paiseh about, but grateful for. Before we left, she told us how she was heartened by the kindness she's received from people all over the neighbourhood - the social workers at TOUCH, neighbours, and volunteers like us.

While this is not the first time I've met Mdm Chua, I learnt more about her in this visit than in the past couple of times I've been to her flat. I'm happy about it, and I'm happy she enjoys our company. And while I'm sure there's much more to learn about the elderly we visit, there's already so much that these visits prompt me to think about. Today's visit, for instance, leaves me thinking if I appreciate what I have enough. Probably not, and it doesn't seem to matter that much at this moment cause we've got so much going on in our lives. Thankfully I've got these visits to give me a breather and some time to think.

wei jiang

Orientation visit 2 (15 Sept 2012): Group 2 (Mdm Tan Ah Kim)

My first blog post was about Mdm Tan and fates has it my second post is about her again! In my group there is me, 4 new volunteers and 2 senior, senior, senior volunteers, namely Darren and Shi Tien. Most of us cannot speak Hokkien, although some of us can understand Hokkien, we had difficulties expressing ourselves.

For those who have been to Mdm Tan’s apartment, you know that her house is CLEAN…! Hence, doing household chores is not an issue. It is after the chores, when we sit down and try to converse with her, that we had the most difficulties. There were many moments of silence and awkwardness. Darren was always pushed to help us translate our questions to Hokkien (poor guy). He had a really good piece of advice for volunteers: if you don’t practice your dialect, you’ll never improve. So, for volunteers who understands and speaks even a little, tiny bit of dialect, please don’t be shy and try to converse with our elderlies. All of you are an asset to T.H.E.Seniors.    

Even though Mdm Tan was not highly educated, we can tell that she is wise. We noticed that her calendar was still at 9 September when actually the date should be 15 September. So we asked her why. She explained that because of her eyesight problem she can’t differentiate colours well. She came up with a method to track the dates by only tearing the calendar pages every Sunday, each time she’ll tear off a whole week, leaving Sunday’s date for her to count what Monday, Tuesday… is. This example demonstrates how adaptable the older generations can be. Life’s journey may be full of obstacles, they don’t give up, rather they find ways to overcome them and move on. It’s a simple philosophy that many of the younger generations don’t understand.

After our visits, we had our briefing session, facilitated by a few guiding points, our “small” Chairperson came up with a “big” question, “Why am I here?” If you think about it, this question is somewhat similar to: “Why do I exist in this world?”  Are you here to earn big bucks, to lead luxurious lives? Or are you here to discover something, create something that will change the world? The latter is difficult for anyone to achieve. Instead, why not focus on the more feasible?

Doing something simple, like what we do at T.H.E.Seniors is much more practical and meaningful. You could spend your whole life chasing “achievements” “glories” but you’ll miss out on the most valuable thing in life --- relationship. Should we sacrifice relationships for the sake of tangible pursuits? Many a times, we would pass by our estates and see elderlies by themselves, sitting alone, staring into blank spaces, we may pity them but that’s all. Many of us would walk away. However, at T.H.E.Seniors we have an opportunity to take action, stop pitying and start helping. Our efforts may be minimal but compared to doing nothing, it seems so much more.     

Chun Hai

First TOUCH with T.H.E SENIOR with Mdm HO

Hi all,

I am sharing on my first experience in T.H.E Senior first official visit on 1 Sep 12.  Before the visit many things are running through our minds before the first visit, like who are we helping? what are we suppose to do? Can we cope with the chores assigned? Uneasiness and lost is the best words to describe.

Getting ready for the day: Waiting for Bus

On our first visit, we was being assign to Mdm Ho. Mdm Ho is a very cheerful and open person despite of her deteriorating body.  We started off with basic household chores like changing bed sheet, mopping the floor and cleaning of toilet. It is a simple chores that we don't do or take for granted with parents or maid doing the jobs for us. Among us some are having their first time touching a mop or lifting a bed, but nonetheless we completed the jobs given.

Changing of bed sheet! Remember to flip to the other side of the bed! =D 

 After sweating and getting the place clean, we had a sharing session with Mdm Ho.  She shared many stories of her past, from her overseas experience to her husband being a tennis player. Though this session I have learnt much that I that I have never got from the classrooms. Many things run through my mind.

 Sharing Time conducted by Mdm Ho!!!

Some thoughts that worth us to ponder about:

1)  Are we caring enough towards to the elderly? Why are they not feeling the warmth?

2) Are we doing it with sincerity? Why are they thinking that we are there for CIP or 'marks'?

3) Are we taking our conducive life for granted? Why ain't we doing chores for our home?

4) Are we going to be as cheerful as Mdm Ho when we age? Or will we feel helpless?

There are many corners that are conceal in the dark corners of society, we should lead out our helping hand whenever we are able to and share the light and warm we have.

To end of my first post, this is my first visit to TOUCH Seniors Activity Centre @ Geylang Bahru but it will never be my last visit!  Looking forward to meet my second SENIOR! GO!! =)

**PS: I am very happy to receive a message that she remember and mention me during the senior visit yesterday.

~Woon Yong =D

Hi all, our group visited Mdm Cheong and for most of us, it's the first time we are doing a house visit. For those volunteering for the first time with T.H.E.Seniors, we didn't know what we should be expecting or what we should be doing. Therefore, we were feeling excited and uneasy at the same time.

However, upon meeting Mdm Cheong, all forms of uneasiness disappeared. Legend has it that she's a really cute lady and it was true! She welcomed us warmly into her house and despite offers to help her with many of her chores, she insisted on completing it herself. We proceed to completing some of the simple tasks like cleaning windows, mopping floor etc. The tasks were completed swiftly due to the elite task force. Despite not doing much for her, she generously offered packets of drinks for us. Some of us didn't want to accept the drinks as it meant that she would have to buy more of it. However, she made sure all of us had a packet of drink in hand. That wasn't enough, she made sure everyone of us was drinking from it.

We sat down to chat with her, she was really bubbly and told us of the series of activities that she had planned out for herself. She took pride in her busy schedule, consistently reminding us of how busy she was. I could tell that she was enjoying our company as she had many topics to talk to us about. We didn't had any 'frozen' atmosphere as Mdm Cheong's cheerful & adorable nature liven up the atmosphere.

From the visit, we realise that the main thing wasn't about the chores nor the topics we were talking about. It's the quality time we were spending with Mdm Cheong. For the small amount of time and effort we put in, we were able to see her smiles, listen to her lively conversations. It was worth it and we were glad we made a small difference.

“"Being good is commendable, but only when it is combined with doing good is it useful."

-Edmund

(On behalf of Pei Jen, Wei Jiang, Amanda, Gillian & Louise)

Hi I’m Cherie and it is my first time volunteering with T.H.E seniors. My group went to visit Mr Tay on 1^st September. I really did not know what to expect but just followed along with my group’s seniors. When Mr Tay opened the door, we were greeted warmly and he invited us into his house. He was really so friendly and kept asking if we had eaten already.

One thing really different about Mr Tay is that he enjoys going down to the coffee shop to drink coffee with butter added in it! I was pleasantly surprised as it was my first time seeing butter being added to coffee. I could not help but smile when I saw Mr Tay took the first sip of his coffee and smiled so happily. It then occurred to me how the simplest things can make a person so happy and satisfied.

We chatted with him and he told us many interesting stories. Although I could not speak nor fully understand Hokkien, I was roughly able to get his stories with the help of group members who understood. He told us what he did during his younger days and how he really enjoyed his freedom. Also, Mr Tay shared with us where he used to work and coincidentally, he was friends with one of my group members’ grandfather. There were moments when he was not all cheery and the group had to encourage him. Later on, another group joined our group to listen to Mr Tay’s stories. When he heard that many people were listening to him, he was elated.

At the end of the visit, he thanked us many times for spending time talking to him. I felt that the entire experience was very meaningful. It showed me how the little that we can do for them could bring such a heart-warming smile to their faces.

-Cherie 

Orientation Visit 1

Hello, my name’s shurui and I’m a new volunteer with T.H.E.S! My group, consisting of Jocelyn, Chaur Ann, Jia Qi, Yingshuen and myself, visited Mdm Tan on 1^st Sept. Upon entering, Mdm Tan greeted us cheerfully yet a tinge of sadness lingered on in the atmosphere, a result of her encounter that morning where she was reminded of her partial loss of sight. She felt she was accused of being greedy as she didn’t realize that her meal had already been passed to her and hence, was waiting for it.

Mdm Tan’s flat was exceptionally clean and not the least bit cluttered with unwanted items as I would have imagined - a common issue with some elderly. However, she complained of her floor being sticky and thus Jia Qi and I helped to sweep and mop the floor. In addition, Chaur Ann and Yingshuen wiped the windows while Jocelyn chatted with Mdm Tan. Upon finishing with the cleaning, we joined in the conversation too. We chatted with her on a range of topics, including keeping a pet as a companion which evoked a huge reaction from her.

At times, I found her quite adorable when she giggled, folded her arms across her chest, leaned back against her chair and maybe, pouted slightly. This genuine childlike laughter warmed my heart and truly made the mere 3hrs at her place memorable. I was also quite fascinated to seeing an elderly being shy (She doesn’t hang her clothes to dry when volunteers are around!!). It showed me that there isn’t much difference between the elderly and us. They, too, have their moments of joy and discouragement.

During the interaction with Mdm Tan, I felt quite handicapped as I wasn’t able to understand and contribute much to the conversation although I could roughly decipher the topics touched on.  But what is this compared to the difficulties that these elderly are faced with? Lastly, as much as we are volunteering to help the elderly with household chores and keeping them company, they are also offering us an invaluable experience of a lifetime. I’ll definitely be going down again the next visit! (:

Whatssup world? I am here today to blog about my orientation visit to T.H.E. Seniors. For the orientation visit, each group of new volunteers were paired up with 2 seniors where we visited the elderly's home. For this visit, we went to Mdm Chua's place. Mdm Chua is an 80plus year old lady who always have a smile on her face. We helped her to clean up her place which includes sweeping, mopping and cleaning the windows. One thing that touches me is that Mdm Chua told us that without the help of volunteers, her house wouldn't be tidy and clean as she is unable to do the chores. This shows that there ought to be people in society which needs our help. 

After the cleaning session, we had a long chat with her where she shared with us her life story. She told us that she used to work at a hotel where she helped out in the kitchen(where she worked for 20 odd years there), as well as the challenges she faced and the regrets she had. She said she started off as a junior staff but was promoted to an assistant in the kitchen where she would make sandwiches and salads for guests. Since she is illiterate, she had difficulty when taking on the job at first, but managed to do well after learning and improving. She even told us she had never gotten a wrong order! In addition, she also know how to make vegetables curving like creating a rose out of tomato.

On the note of her personal life, she have three sons who are extremely good to her (including her daughter-in-laws). Due to a slight dementia, Mdm Chua would use a poker card to remind her which son visited her that day. (Ace meaning the elder son, two meaning the second son and so forth). How innovative is that?! Finally, she said that she had lived in Kallang for over 10 years and is very appreciative of the help and concern she received from T.H.E. Seniors. All in all, this experience taught me that despite we moving on to a globalised city-state, there ought to be ppl who needs help and assistance in society. An fulfilling orientation visit I must say.

Koh Kok Seng

My orientation visit!

Hello, Lingqun here. Actually this is my first time to join "The Seniors" and I have never taken part in such a meaningful activity before. I feel quite enjoyable and learn a lot.

My group consists of terry, jeraldine,jingying,yian,chunhai and me .Among them,YiAn ,Chunhai and Eng Soon are our seniors and lead our other four newcomers to visit Mr.Tan's home.

At the beginning, I think it must be a quite tired job and I am afraid that I cannot do very well. However, thank god, when Mr.Tan opened his door, we all are so surprised cos his home is so clean, which means we do not need to help clean. Haha~~~And he can speak Mandarin, so lucky!

So, the only thing we can do is just to chat with Mr.Tan and watch TV together. Mr.Tan is a quite friendly elderly and knows so much knowledge about politics, history, delicious food and so on.To our surprise greatly, Mr.Tan knows Sun Zhongshan unexpectedly. He told us Chinese History and discussed the relationship between Taiwan and Chinese mainland with us.

For me, as a Chinese, I was touched since he said definitely Taiwan belongs to Chinese mainland all the time.

Moreover, Mr.Tan’wife came back when we were chatting with Mr.Tan. She is also a quite kind grandma and enthusiastic to us

It is not difficult to find Mr.Tan and Mrs.Tan are enjoyable for their present living state.

By the way, I wanna say Chunhai speaks Mandarin very very very well and I admire him deeply.

Ok. This is my short summary for my first try to visit elderly and it is a thing I want to insist on in the future.

Although it is sad that most of these elderly do not have sons and daughters, I believe that they can still feel our love to them.

That’s enough.

My group!

- Lingqun