天冷就回来

I always say, every visit is a different experience. Today's visit kind of impacted me.

Missions for this week's visit:

1) 大扫除

2) Decorations

3) Video of Chinese New Year greetings with the elderly.

Today, my group consisting of Woon Yong, Kiah Yeen and Kelly visited Mr Chiu. He was recently discharged after being hospitalised. My last visit to Mr Chiu was during the Deepavali and Hari Raya period, you can read about it here.

Left to right: Woon Yong, Jeremy, Mr Chiu, Kelly, Kiah Yeen

He has lost so much weight. Throughout our visit, he was so tired. He had no appetite. Midway, he laid and rested on his bed.

Nonetheless, our group did what we could do. We did a general cleaning of Mr Chiu's place and gave his kitchen a slight makeover. While he was resting, we decorated his place with ang pao rings, ang pao fish and the ang pao snake.

Our efforts!

Finally when we were about to leave, we asked if Mr Chiu wanted to take photos and the greeting video with us. From his resting position, he mustered his already limited strength to sit up and put on his trademark glasses that make him look yandao. Despite his fatigue, he enjoys taking photos with us, and our presence in this short an hour and a half.

The hardest part of visits is always saying goodbye.

I can't help but to worry and feel sad. Recently there were just too many news of our elderly being admitted to hospitals, but there was comfort in the fact that they are being well taken care of. But for the case of Mr Chiu who was discharged, there was nobody looking after him. He barely had the strength to walk, and I wonder if he had taken his meal for the day. In either cases, we need more volunteers visiting them.

As volunteers, we have to keep such emotions in check. I was hiding in the kitchen the whole time in a dull mood, and I thought I must not let Mr Chiu see me in my state.After all, we're supposed to touch the elderly's hearts. For this, we need a strong heart ourselves.

I guess, like I always say, this is one of the reasons why I always come back to Kallang Bahru on Saturdays.

-Jeremy

PS: I promise this will be my last emo emo post here