I was assigned to visit Mdm Ho today...again! Haha! Mdm Ho seems to be the elderly resident that I have visited for the most number of times ever since the start of my volunteering stint with T.H.E. Seniors. As usual, we did the regular chores--- sweeping, mopping and wiping. But today was rather different because we had a new 'visitor'-- a Bangladeshi door painter. Why do I specially mention him? Well, because I discovered a few things through Mdm Ho's interactions with him. So here goes...

Most of us would more or less know Mdm Ho's 'pattern'. She keeps a close eye on you while you meddle with her stuff with a broom or mop or rag in your hands. AND her supervision doesn't stop at just watching you; she readily gives comments (euphemism intended) when she notices that you are doing things the wrong way (at least in her view). So it's really not surprising to hear her 'scolding' Woon Yong as he worked his way around the house. Hold on a minute... at this time you'd most probably think that I am bullshitting--- Mdm Ho scolding Woon Yong?!?!?! That's not very possible right--- considering that she always sings praises of him and even specifically requested for Woon Yong to visit her.  Haha I will reassure you once more; she does tell him off and she goes all out in doing so. But here's the difference--if you don't know the insider secrets, you'd think that Mdm Ho is being very hard on and unappreciative of what we have done for her. But allow me to offer a new perspective-- this is exactly Mdm Ho's unique way of caring for someone. Yup, you didn't read me wrong. This rationale works the same as the Chinese saying " 打是疼，骂是爱". Still not convinced? Aha...I will offer some concrete evidence here. Remember the door painter? Ok, so now's finally the time to bring him in to our story. Being Mdm Ho, of course she will not give up on the opportunity to interact with people (she has the ability to talk to just about anyone...and I really mean anyone regardless of race, language or religion LOL) So, Mdm Ho had been talking to the door painter intermittently. At first, she asked him about stuff related to the door painting task---will the inner side of the door be painted etc. After the contents of that conversation topic had been fully exhausted, the content of her subsequent conversations with him started to revolve around us, the volunteers.  As and when, Mdm Ho will tell the door painter that we 'come over every Sunday (actually it's Saturday, but that's not really important haha) to help out..we clean everything..we receive no pay..' She repeated this for about 5-6 times (I'm serious), just like how she always praises the alumnus Ah Hua for coming to help and how he's now a successful lecturer earning huge bucks every month $.$ So you get my point. Mdm Ho may 'criticise' our clumsiness at doing housework but she means no harm. In fact, if she doesn't say anything at all, it'll be really boring, wouldn't it? That's all part of the joy of volunteering :) And to add on, while I was performing the stunt of dusting the top surface of Mdm Ho's wardrobe, she looked rather worried-- like I may fall off the chair that I was standing on anytime. She kept asking me '可以吗？’ and said that there's no need to do a very thorough cleaning up there. So there... it's really not hard to spot Mdm Ho's 关怀方式.

My point is that T.H.E. Seniors is really a good place to see the good in others. For me, I choose to believe that everyone is kind by nature. And a kind heart is exactly beauty in its own right.

Shuqin :)