Story behind the feeling

Hi, sorry for the late post for my experience of my first ever voluntary activity in university. It was a fruitful and fresh experience for me as a new comer, although I am already a year 3 student.@@
I went to the gathering place with great expectation. After a short briefing and group allocation, we started our visit to Mr. Tan house. Unfortunately, he was not around, so we went to Mdm Ho house directly. Mdm Ho was resting when we arrived at her house, but she still gave a warm welcome to us. As she spoke Hokkien more frequent the whole time, I tried my best to understand what she was speaking as I am pretty weak in Hokkien. However, when she spoke Chinese to me after she knew I was struggling in speaking Hokkien, I felt pleased and comfortable in communicating with her, especially she also spoke Malay which made me feel like I am home.
Firstly, we help her with a quick sort out, sweeping, changing bed sheet etc. Next, we started to introduce ourselves to her and made our first contact. She shared many of her experiences and some interesting stories of her. Also, she liked to joke with us around, making us felt the warmth and the confidence in interacting with her. In our conversation, she showed positive thoughts and her story of life, which was gorgeous and meaningful. Thus, we have a great afternoon in sharing our thoughts.
Throughout the whole interaction with Mdm Ho, I could feel the loneliness she had had long time. She lived alone after her husband passed away, but hopefully her relatives still have contact with her. Even she was cheerful and energized, she did not reflect her true feeling in front of us. Concern and caring were the only things she wanted.  I can feel the satisfactory of her even we just had a short interaction with her. Therefore, I swear to myself, I would never abandon my parents no matter how old they have become, as I cannot endure the way she bear her feeling and loneliness all the time.
It was an enjoyable weekend that make my day and I am looking forward for the next visit in future.

MingHui

Last Saturday, we visited Uncle Tay. Uncle Tay is blind and requires assistance in leaving his house. As the issues regarding Uncle Tay's sister were not settled yet, he was not in a good mood as the volunteers were unable to help him due to issues concerning the privacy of his sister. In addition, his lunch was not delivered punctually and he would only leave his apartment to head downstairs for his weekly cup of coffee at the coffeeshop only after his meal was delivered. After his meal was finally delivered one hour late, we were able to acompany him downstairs for his coffee.

Although I am unable to converse in hokkien, which Uncle Tay is most comfortable conversing in, I could still feel Uncle Tay's warmth and gratitude towards us for keeping him company. When it was finally time for us to leave, Uncle Tay thanked us and asked us to visit him soon. It was very touching to see how Uncle Tay genuinely appreciated our company despite not being to see us or properly converse with me due to the language barrier. In the short span of two hours we were there, we were able to bring Uncle Tay comfort and I am very thankful to have been there to personally experience how my little effort could bring happiness to someone else's life.

-Melissa Lo

Last Saturday, we visited Madam Khatijah. Although she was still recovering from her knee surgery, she cleaned her house before we visited her. Our attached senior, Xuan Kai, brought her photos taken previously when volunteers visited her in the hospital. She was extremely appreciative of their efforts as she repeatedly praised their dedication and their performances put up when she was still in hospital.  

She recounted interesting stories of her pet monkey, which she bought in Rochor decades ago. She was cheerful and talkative and there was never a moment of silence with her.

We also visited invited her neighbour, 99year-old Madam Chin. Madam Chin was frail and could barely walk even with the help of her personal helper. The 2 elderly were extremely close, as Madam Khatijah tolerated the searing pain in her knee as she walked to Madam Chin’s house to visit her, not complaining about the pain even once. Before we left, Madam Khatijah hugged us and gave us a peck on our cheeks even though this was the first time she had seen most of us.

It was my 3rd visit and I think each visit is rewarding as there's always a something to learn from the elderly. Every elderly I have visited so far provides us with new perspectives and often show concern towards volunteers, even for new volunteers like us. Madam Khatijah in particular reminded Xuan Kai repeatedly to print the photos we took during this visit so she could frame them up. I think this shows how much they love T.H.E.S and the impact T.H.E.S. has in their lives :)

- Jiamin

Hi everyone! Last Saturday was my first visit to T.H.E seniors and I was grouped with Carmen, Stephanie and senior Geraldine.

First up, we visited Madam Wong! :) Madam Wong is already 86 years old this year and through our conversion, we found out that her legs will hurt when she walks for long distances and thus, she doesn’t join her friends when it comes to activities which involve a lot of walking. Despite her condition, Madam Wong’s house was very clean when we stepped in as she is actually very independent and still cleaned and mopped the floor herself when we could have done that for her. This made me feel quite guilty as I myself seldom clean my messy room as compared to her. I was also touched as although she may be old, she does not want to rely on others if she is able to do the things herself and that she genuinely just wants to chat with us students. Madam Wong also shared with us her interesting life story such as how she hide from the Japanese soldiers during the Japanese occupation days and that she is a very picky eater and only likes to eat a particular brand of biscuits haha!

Next, we visited Madam Tan. Madam Tan is actually a very cheerful and funny person. Throughout our conversation, there was quite a lot of laughter as she shared with us funny stories such as how her chickens would wander off and then come back pregnant as her families used to keep chickens back in the kampong days.  She is also very cute as she would tell her that her fake teeth look very straight and fake and how golden tooth was very common back in her days.

Overall, it was a fun and memorable experience chatting with the elderly and I have indeed learnt quite a lot of things from them. However, I felt that I could have talked more as I wasn’t very influent in my Cantonese after not speaking in this dialect for quite a long time. Certainly looking forward to the next visit! :)   

Miao Li

A saturday well spent

Better late than never!

I joined the orientation visit on 31/8 and it was a good time.

Our "client" was Mdm Ho and she was a jolly old woman. We first cleaned her house(which didn't require much cleaning to begin with) and then sat down to talk to her.Even though we were the ones who were supposed to be there to talk to her, it seemed that she was the main person calling the shots in the conversation, which really helped to ease a lot of awkward tension.

It was very heartening when she tried to involve the new people in the group. She also made very specific references to many people from the CSC bunch, and how they were doing. I can tell that the CSC community has made a real difference in her life, and continue to be a part of her life and social circle. Another interesting thing was her ability to remember details despite her being old, and being able to recall who did what. The CSC people have also treated her like their own "mentor"(for lack of a better word) and have also somehow kept her in the loop of the things happening in their lives. The benefit of accompanying these people really do go both ways.

I was glad to be part of the orientation visit and to have had such an experience!

Yuanjie

A Well-Spent Day

Yestersday, it was my first time visiting Mr Ong and Mdm Cheng.

My group first went to Mr Ong’s house and offered to do housework for him but he rejected as his house was rather clean and tidy so instead we sat down to watch TV together and chatted with him at the same time. He shared with us his outing experience at the zoo and also recommended us the food, “Han Nan Curry Rice” he had eaten before at the nearby hawker centre, which I tried it for lunch and I think it is quite nice and cheap. Generally, Mr Ong was in pretty good health but he looked relatively tired as he couldn’t sleep well at night and kept waking up for several times during his sleep. He also told us that he his left arm was a bit painful and he couldn’t see clearly with his right eye and discomfort in his right eye as his eye get dry easily so he need to apply eye-drops frequently. I felt sad upon hearing this and I really hope that Mr Ong’s eye will get better the next time I see him.

After that, we went on to visit Mdm Cheng who was wheelchair bound. Upon arrival at her house, she was very welcoming and thrilled to see us. She was also in a good spirits and eagerly told us some of her outings she had been to in the past such as her Sentosa trip and her experience on the Singapore Flyer. She said that she enjoyed going to such outings and look forward to her next trip probably to Garden by the Bay next week.  Mdm Cheng also taught us some Cantonese words and in return we taught her English and me and the other volunteers had fun learning Cantonese. We had a pleasant time talking and interacting with Mdm Cheng as she was very friendly and easy to communicate with.

It was great that I spent my morning with Mr Ong and Mdm Cheng. Our short visit meant a lot to the elderly and it made them happy that people came to talk with them. This was indeed a meaningful and well-spent day as I not only get to meet new friends but also the opportunities to interact with different elderly and I look forward to seeing them in future visits.

Lay Hong

A Memorable Experience！

Hello everybody! This was my first visit with the T.H.E Seniors. We visited Mdm. Cheung and Mdm. Wong during this visit

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We first visited Mdm. Cheung. When she saw us, she happily opened the door and welcomed us into her house. We first helped her to clean her house. We divided ourselves into groups to help her clean the windows, the floor, the washroom and the fans. After cleaning for a while, we all started to chat comfortably. She even insisted that she helped with the housework. Seeing her walking around to help us, I find that she is really healthy at 81 years old. After we were done with the housework, we all sat together and Mdm. Cheung started to tell us a lot of interesting stories. We got to listen to many of the events that occurred when she was a young lady. She is very friendly and chatty. She even showed us many pictures that she took in the past. Throughout the whole visit, she had always been smiling, making me think that she must be a very positive and bubbly person.

The next stop, we visited Mdm. Wong. She also welcomed us with a bright smile. When we went into her house, I find that her house was so clean. Everything was put properly at its own place. At that moment, I felt really guilty that I have a really messy room. Haha. We then sat down and chatted with her. She started opening up to us and told a lot of interesting stuff as well. She told us that she is a very picky eater and that she does not like lontong. She also told us about her knee pain. Throughout our visit in her house, she was in a good mood. I could see that she tried to make us feel at home. 

Visiting the elderly that day really made me remember my grandparents a lot. They used to tell me their childhood stories just like Mdm. Cheung and Mdm. Wong did. I come from a Cantonese-speaking family, so it really made me felt at home speaking to Mdm. Cheung and Mdm Wong in Cantonese. It was a memorable experience visiting the elderly this time. I hope that I can do it more often in the future!

Making a Difference

Hello!

Today was my first visit to T.H.E. Seniors and I'm representing my group, Ai Jia, Andy, Teng Swee and myself to write our reflections here! So we had the honour to be led by senior Chaur Ann (HAHA) to visit Mdm. Tan. She welcomed us warmly when we greeted her, then we offered to help her do some household chores despite her considerably clean house because we expected some hard-to-reach areas. The guys swept and mopped the floor and cleaned the windows and doors while Ai Jia and I had the luxury to just sit and chat with Mdm. Tan haha! We got to know she wakes up between 5 - 6 am everyday and goes downstairs to exercise for 1 hour (very healthy 82-year-old!), she had many jobs when she was young but stopped working at 21 when she got married (good life!), she had 7 siblings (1 brother 6 sisters) and she was very fortunate that her father didn't give any of the girls away like most parents in the past did so everyone lived together for very long and how there was a trend in the past to have 2 gold teeth planted in place of the originals so a lot of youngsters at that time actually did that plus it wasn't expensive at all! But then she got old and had to change her whole set of teeth to fake ones which looked really fake because they were super white and uniform hahaha!

Throughout the 2 hours of chatting with her, we got to know her jovial personality which was extremely influential because it made us feel at ease around her. According to Chaur Ann, we later found out after the visit that Mdm. Tan was quite pessimistic when they initially visited her, blaming herself for being old and useless, which really came as a surprise because there was no trace of that attitude in her today which's great! Although we had awkward pauses in between our conversations because we weren't very proficient in hokkien, I think we managed quite well as we could understand the bulk of what she was trying to tell us and vice versa too. What I personally enjoyed most was the way she laughed because it was a really shy, high-pitched chuckle almost at the end of every sentence which's super cute! Below are the photos we took together with her, including senior Jeraldine's group who came a while after.

The end of the visit made me reflect a lot on how simple gestures like a greeting could brighten up someone's day; at the same time make oneself feel appreciated by how he/she has made a difference to someone's life, no matter how small. I hope Mdm. Tan had as much fun as we did. I believe the inspiration we got from her - seeing how contented and cheerful she is even at this ripen age - was more than what we could've asked for. I really enjoyed every part of the visit today and I look forward to future visits to the other elderly; I'm certain everyone in the group feels the same!

Cheers,
Joelle

My first visits

Last Saturday was my first time joining voluntary activities in T.H.E, which I believe, was without doubt very enjoyable and exciting especially for new comers like myself. As it was the orientation day for freshmen, we had a huge turn up that morning occupying the entire lobby in front of the Touch Senior Center. After a short briefing and group allocation, we gathered in each of our own group, broke the ice before our beloved group leader Kah Suan provided us with the information of the seniors we were about to visit.
The first couple we serve was Mr. and Mrs. Tan. When we first arrived, Mrs. Tan was out, so we decided to let the guys clean the windows while the girls sit around and talk to Mr. Tan. However, Kah Suan wished to give more chance for the first-times to communicate, therefore she took over my job and asked me to join the "forum". Though such, she still couldn't help to talking, and in fact, she was always the one who could bring up interesting topics. I should learn from her. Mrs. Tan came home when we were enjoying talking with Mr. Tan. He even taught us how to breed centipedes using duck feather and plastic bags. Mr. And Mrs Tan seemed to be very happy and positive that day. Unfortunately, they have to leave at 12, so we had to end the session early.
The next place we pay our visit to was Mr. Ong's. Mr. Ong was a taxi driver he had a stroke before. Amazingly, Mr. Ong was very technologically savvy. He loved listening to radios through his phone and he enjoys old musics sang by popular stars in the last two decades. Kah Suan used her phone to send some of the old musics to Mr. Ong's and he was very glad. In addition, we also fixed the radio function of his headphone so that he won't had felt alone after we left.
I must say that I loved this activity, not only for the visiting part, but also because I have befriended many new peers in and out of my group. As happy and joyful as I was, I am now very much looking forward to tomorrow's visit.

Yushu

Seen, but does not see.

It was quite a good and remarkable experience weekend for us as that was our first time visiting a blind old folk, Mr Tay.

As we’re both quite fluent in Hokkien, there was no problem for us to communicate with him. When we first went to his house, we all introduced ourselves to him. We need to speak loud and clear, and touch his hands while introducing ourselves. It is impossible for him to memorize all 5 names in just a couple of hours, so it will be fine if he forgets us in our next visit :p

Later then, we brought him down from his house to have a cup of special coffee with 3 pieces of butter inside. He was extremely happy as he wasn’t able to go down to have a cup of coffee by his own until we visit him. We talked a lot with him, and also quietly listened to him. He told us a lot of his sad stories, which really made all of us, reflect deeply.

He is now 84 years old, and he had been visually impaired for 20 years. Try imagining that we are blind as well. Most of us may think that, “Well, I can’t see”. But for an elderly, they may think, “I can’t see, I’m so worried about my younger sister”. They worry more than we do. However, what was even more unfortunate was that his younger sister didn’t contact him for 3 whole years, despite of his care towards her. Mr Tay is now already living in darkness, living in fear, and even his closest relative abandoned him. This is really very sad. What especially sorrows us is that he will feel helpless after we leave each time. Though he seems to be quite a pessimistic person throughout the conversation, he is also kind in advising us to bear a good heart in mind.

However, luckily Mr Tay is a very easily satisfied person. He kept thanking us for visiting and accompanying him. We wondered why he wanted such a cup of coffee every week; he said that it simply made him feel well. We might need something expensive or nice to satisfy our demands, but a cup of hot coffee gave warmth to Mr Tay. Simple makes happiness too, however, most of us do not always realize and appreciate that.

This trip to the elderly house made me learn a lot. We would like to visit and help Mr Tay again and the other elderly in the future. We will age, and one day, we will be old as well. All of us deserve to be happy, and to be concerned, including Mr Tay J

Lee Chin & Ming Dei

Satisfying Saturday

Last Saturday, I met a very nice elderly who brightened up my day, her name was Mdm Khatijah.
Before we even stepped into her house,her joyful voice greeted us as we slowly piled into her clean and cosy one room flat. There, seated on the couch was a very cute malay elderly smiling at us as she asked us to make ourselves feel at home.
When we offered to help with any housework,  she nicely declined and said that we were not her 'maids' and all she needed was our company. Those words made me feel warm inside as she saw us as her companions and she really appreciated our presence.
Even though it was my first time meeting her, she was very warm and friendly. Silence was never present in the small cosy home as the bubbly Mdm Khatijah had never-ending topics to share with us. Be it about her room mate, her son or her past experiences in hospitals, it was never an issue for her to open up about her opinions.
What tugged on my heartstrings was when she showed us a bruised scar on her knee and how it hurt badly after her surgery. Having just been discharged from hospital after leg surgery, I could tell that she was in quite a lot of pain as even minimal movement put her in discomfort. However, despite the pain, she could still manage to do chores such as washing the curtains, sweeping the floor and washing her own clothes!
After about 2 hours of chatting, we told her that we had to leave soon. I could tell that she was quite disappointed but being understanding, she would keep helping us to check the clock so as to make sure we weren't late to report back whilst she continued chatting with us.
Before leaving, Mdm Khatijah commented "Next time ask the same people to come back" though it had just been a few short hours, I could feel that she had already formed a bond with us and wanted to see us again. She even gave everyone a warm hug and peck on the cheek before leaving :)

Being my first session volunteering session with T.H.E.seniors, I felt that this was truly a satisfying experience to be able to make an elderly happier by just taking out a little of my time to accompany them. To me, I felt that instead of me helping her, she actually helped me to by brightening up my day by making me laugh that morning. Hope to see her again soon ^^

xoxo
Yiting

It was my third time doing visits with T.H.E. Seniors but my first time visiting Mdm Chow Moi and Mdm Cheng.

We went to Mdm Chow Moi's house first and she is a really adorable old lady with a really great smile (despite being toothless). We sat around and chat with her. Yesterday she was in the Hokkien mood and spoke quite some Hokkien though she usually speaks Cantonese. I am not really proficient in speaking these dialects so I did not really speak much to her directly. The fellow volunteers helped to translate the conversations as well. I feel that language barrier does hinder our interactions a little but one does not need to understand the language to tell that she was really happy that we were there to accompany her. After a while, we started to watch TV together. She also told us that recently, there was once she watched TV till 4am in the morning! Mdm Chow Moi smiles and laughs a lot and it is really nice to know such a cheery 90-year-old lady. Furthermore, seeing her stand at her door down the corridor waving goodbye to us till the lift came made me experienced for myself what the other volunteers had shared about during the orientation sessions - that these visits really mean a lot to these elderly and this makes me want to go back more often :)

We visited Mdm Cheng after 11.30am when she got back home from her regular chicken rice breakfast/lunch session with her friend. Mdm Cheng speaks Cantonese and Chinese. To be honest, sometimes I find it a little hard to think of things to say to the elderly as I have not done volunteering in the elderly sector before. However, I attempted to ask some questions and slowly got the hang of it. I hope I will get better at conversing with them as time pass by. We spoke to Mdm Cheng about television shows, her family, food, mooncakes, mid-autumn festivals and etc.

I feel that each visit gives everyone a different personal takeaway. For me, I feel motivated to do more for these elderly who appreciate and cherish all the little things so much. I look forward to learning more from these elderly and listening to their stories :)

Mei Na

A Heartwarming Day

It was my first time participating in T.H.E Seniors and this 3-hour session was a refreshing experience. I felt that it doesn't matter what you do at their house or for them, as long as you are there to accompany and care for them, they are already happy.

During this session, we visited Mr Chew and then Mdm Tan. My first impression of Mr Chew was that he seemed like a very quiet person and did not like to talk much. Throughout the entire time while listening to him and chatting with him, i felt that he was feeling a bit emotional about his situation and about how he feel that he cannot handle his health issues. Us being there to listen to his stories and problems seemed to have cheered him up a bit and for that, I felt relieved that we made a difference even if it lasted for a short while. Mdm Tan, on the other hand,seem to have a bubbly personality. Due to some problems with her eyes, she couldn't see properly and she kept saying how she felt apologetic that she couldn't see or recognize people. Looking at Mdm Tan really reminds me of my own grandmother, being warm and cheerful. I enjoyed the time chatting with her even though it was short. There was this one thing that she mentioned that was interesting. She mentioned that there was once she wore a 3/4 pants out to exercise and one of the other elderly said that it was short. She even said that she like that pants a lot and it was really one that she treasured a lot. We laughed about it.

Overall, it was really wonderful. However, i felt that i wasn't able to join in the conversation. Most of the time, i sat there and listen but i felt happy looking at their smiles. When we were leaving Mdm Tan and Mr Chew's house, i saw the smile on their face. It was warm and i felt really energized. I cannot really express that feeling in words but felt great.

Mei Shan