I visited Madam Cheng on 12/10/2013. This was my second visit. Once we reach her home, she told us to help her repair her room’s floor. There were some indentations on her floor. We helped to tap the hole by using scotch. After that, the volunteers from SMU also came to visit Madam Cheng. What an unexpected coincidence! Then, we helped to do some household chores together. We mopped the floor and wiped windows as well as cupboards. Others accompany Madam Cheng chit-chatting. Madam Cheng told us that recently she woke up quite early. She also told us to ask her out if we have any outings.

Madam Cheng speaks in Cantonese. I can understand but cannot speak. Madam Cheng told us that recently she woke up quite early. She also told us to ask her out if we have any outings. She has to sit on wheelchair. I realized it was quite troublesome to stay alone and tidy up her house.

After that, due to the absence of another beneficiary who we intended to visit initially, we went to visit Madam Khatijah. SMU students were also inside. We spent time chit-chatting with her together. I just found that she also came from Malaysia which is my hometown.

 After the visit, I realized that the life of an elderly is not easy. Although they are old and go through half of our life cycles, some of them might not gain what they have paid throughout their lives. We can find many rich businessman or those elderly that was overwhelmed with home love. However, due to some specific reasons or incidents that were heard, some of them spend most of their time alone in one-room HDB. They need our companies and ears. From this, I have learnt how to appreciate what I have possessed now and try to utilize my time to do stuffs that are more meaningful for me and those who I care. =)

I visited Mr Tay on 12th Oct and I was actually a little stressed when I knew that we need to speak hokkien >.< because I don't know how to speak hokkien. Fortunately, the other group members could speak hokkien so basically I just listened and asked them to translate for me when needed. I think language barrier is definitely an obstacle for me. I shall learn some hokkien so I could converse with Mr Tay next time :D

Mr Tay was quite happy when he first see us and he immediately prepare himself to go down to the coffeeshop with us. He was grateful that we visited him and he kept on saying thank you. He is very friendly too! We sat down at the coffeeshop and he had his usual coffee with butter. 2 of my groupmates bought him 2 tins of biscuits and newspaper too. I was a little surprised because I didn't know that Mr Tay uses newspaper to clean himself (I learn something new about Mr Tay during this visit :) ) Throughout the time spent at the coffeeshop, we chatted with Mr Tay. But I guess our topics are quite limited due to our language ability. We tried to keep the conversation going and it really makes me happy when we come to a certain topic that made Mr Tay talked a lot. He is very excited about it and he shares many detail about it. I could sensed that he was really proud and happy to share the fond memories because those were the happy days for him. Even though I may not understand everything he said (because I know vvvv little hokkien), i tried to acknowledge by saying "en, en" frequently so he would know that we are still listening to him. I hope that he could continue to be that cheerful! However, there are times that he suddenly talks about how sad and difficult his life is as a blind man. This is the part we get a bit nervous and stressed up to change topic >.< It is a little bit challenging for me because I would need to be cautious of how I initiate a topic. I would need to be careful not to be bring up inappropriate topics.

We also helped Mr Tay to read his letter and cut his finger & toenails for him. He is constantly showing gratitude towards us. He kept on saying thank you thank you, countless times. I felt that this is something that I learnt from him- that is to be thankful of small little things that happen in our lives. Being grateful makes one feel happy or satisfied with life no matter how good or bad it may be.

Before we left Mr Tay's house (after bringing him home), we also helped him call his god-granddaughter (?) and his sister because he would like to talk to them. I could sensed his disappointment plus a little bit anger when they didn't answer the call. I was feeling nervous because I was little afraid that he maybe upset by that. We tried several times, and finally one of them finally return the call!! I was so glad that he managed to talk to one of them (i forgot is it his sister of god-granddaughter) and he is little bit more happy after that :)

There is a little bit tension when we were monitoring Mr Tay's mood as it fluctuates. Sometimes he is happy and sometimes he is very sad. Despite that it was a little stressed due to the language barrier, we had fun trying to speak hokkien haha! The greatest satisfaction is to bring joy to the elderly. Making Mr Tay happy makes me feel happy too. I wished that I could do more for him. I hope Mr Tay could stay more cheerful and less pessimistic sometimes. :D Im looking forward to the next visit! :D

ps: sorry luting! :/ I forgot to help you take your phone at Mr Tay's house before we left for the coffeeshop :/ So sorry! :/

Eileen (:

Sorry for the really really late post! This is for the official visit on the 5^th October. This is my second time doing visit with T.H.E Seniors and my group visited Mdm Chow Moi and Mdm Cheng.

We went to visit Mdm Chow Moi first and was greeted by her really cute “teeth-less’’ smile. She was very happy when we gave her the mooncake and hung the lantern in her house. Since Mdm Chow Moi could only speak hokkien, and we couldn’t translate the ‘’deng mi’’ into hokkien, we decided to do something else. We played hokkien songs and danced around with her. She had a lot of fun dancing and being amused by senior chaur ann and hui jia. We  then left for Mdm Cheng’s house at around 11.30 am. Mdm Chow Moi was waving goodbye to us at the door till the lift came. Even when we were downstairs, she still waved non-stop to us from her kitchen window. It is very heartwarming to see a 90-year-old lady, being so cheerful and optimistic, laughing and smiling at every small little things.

We then visited Mdm Cheng who was back from coffee with her friend. Half of the time we were taking photos with her, asking her to pose all the different animal actions. We then sat down and talked to her. She was teaching us how to boil good soup and how Guangdong people must have good soup every day for dinner, just like what we watched in hong kong dramas! She also talked about her husband who has passed away and how a virtuous wife she was :D:D!

The pig pose!

 

Although it is only my second visit, but these visits have so far, left me feeling really satisfied and made my day. I think that these elderly have brought so much more joy to me than what we brought to them. From these elderly, we can really learn how to be optimistic even when in despair, to cherish the small little things that we usually take for granted, and to bring joy to people around us.

-yieyin

 Very happy to have my first experience with T.H.E.seniors on Oct 12th.The visit was quite meaningful and the seniors as well as my group members are all  nice persons.

Our team firstly visited Madam Ho,who's indeed a language master！She can speak Cantonese,Hokkien,Mandarin,English and some other languages,and it's really amazing.We did some cleaning for her upon entering her house and then chatted with her,about her experience and family members,also about us.Madam Ho is a kind lady and easy to get along with.She even treated us to some delicious carrot juice!The only difficulty for me was that She kept switching from language to language,among which I could only understand Mandarin.So I tried quite hard to catch what her meant.Anyway,it was still pleasant chatting.

Then we went upstairs to visit Uncle Ong.In general he was in good health and can go downstairs to take a walk or have meals.He was focused on some TV show when we arrived.He was still exploring his new mobile phone and we tried to help him with that.But it was a pity that we failed to move an annoying icon on the screen.In general he was in good health and can go downstairs to take a walk or have meals.He had cleaned the house before our visit so that there wasn't much we could do.We didn't chat much either as he was absorbed in his phone:D.However,I remembered that he didn't like chicken,haha!

I think as some experienced member said,:"once you get started,you find it hard to stop."I'm looking forward to our next visit!

Zhenzhe

    12th October was my 2nd visit and we visited Mr Tan this time round. We helped him to wipe his windows and we also tried removing the paint stains on his floor. Mr Tan was friendly and interactive, he shared some of his life experiences/historical stories with us. After a while, his wife returned home, and we learnt from her that she likes to exercise and participate in such events. It's really remarkable that she is still leading an active lifestyle in sports at her age. Mrs Tan also mentioned that she would like to go on a sentosa outing as she hasn't been there before.  All in all, it was yet another meaningful visit. (:

Tina

The 12 Oct official visit was my third visit. My group members for the day was Kah Suan, Hazel, Teng Swee and Jun Da. We were told that we had a special mission for the day, which was to clean Uncle Chiu's toilet. Before we went to help Uncle Chiu we visted Mr Tan first. Mr Tan is staying with his wife but Mrs Tan was not home because she went to visit her friends, so we had a chat with Mr Tan about how he met his wife, the places he went before etc.

After visiting Mr Tan, we went down to Uncle Chiu's house. As we were a little pressed for time, we got started with the cleaning of his house and his toilet. It was tiring but a very fulfiling mission for us because a better environment will be good for his health. After all the clean up we had a short singing session with Uncle Chiu. We played the music through our smart phones and i can tell that Uncle Chiu was very happy listening to the music and have people sing along with him. It was a fulfiling day and even though we didnt spend too much time interacting with the elderly, we do feel good about having made a person's life better. One random act of kindness will make your day and that's what make us look forward to the next visit.

Vernon

My Third Visit

The 12 Oct Official Visit was my third visit to help out the elderly. My beneficiary today was Mdm Khatijah. It was my first time meeting her and I must say that she is a very friendly and outspoken lady. She shared many stories with us passionately and most of the time we were just sitting there listening passively without feeling the need to proactively engage her in conversation.

Before we went to her house, we went to buy ice kacang for her as that was her request during the last visit. Unfortunately, we forgot to request to remove the milk and corn from the dessert, resulting in her not being able to eat it. Hopefully next time we'll get it right so that she can get to enjoy the food she loves! =]

All in all, I feel that it was time well spent with Mdm Khatijah because I believe she loves to be surrounded by people to talk to given the fact that she has a very bubbly personality. I also got to spend more time knowing my fellow peers. Here's to forging many more fond memories in the future. Cheers!

Andy

It was my second visit on 28th September the previous Saturday.

Madam Cheong is a very spontaneous lady. Initially, I had expected her to be resistant to the idea of playing word riddles with us (one of our 'missions' for the day). But she played along and even taught us Taiji as our penalties. However, she got a little agitated when her neighbour, Uncle Tay was not in his apartment (later we found out that his friend had brought him out without notifying the centre). That spoiled her mood for the games so we started doing housework instead. While mopping the floor and cleaning the windows, she would ask after us, and tell us how she learnt Chinese (from television dramas). She even spelled out her name in English for us.

She really cheered up a lot when some of the seniors came over to visit her. She bantered with them and it was really heartwarming to see how much cheer and laughter we can potentially bring to her. But on retrospect, while we joked with her and made her laugh, I realize I had also really enjoyed myself that morning. I don't know if it was the knife and needles she keeps wrap in old calender papers, or her cute electronic lantern she hangs by the cupboard, but I know I left feeling especially light-hearted that day.

I can't wait to see her and the other elderly again(:

Jasmine

Last Saturday(28 Sep) was my first visit with T.H.E. seniors where my group was assigned to visit Mr Tan and Mr Ong. Before the visit, we were briefed and given some lantern riddles, mooncake and lantern for the elderly.

Mr Tan and his wife were very friendly and it was a joy to talk to them as they were very warm and friendly. While initially Mr Tan didn't wanted to guess the riddles, Mdm Lim encourage him to play and we ended up playing all the four riddles given to us. At the end, Mdm Li was the one who most guessed all of the riddles correctly. Throughout the interaction, both Mr Tan and Mdm Lim chatted with us, including sharing some details of their lives with us. Both of them also watch a lot television shows and Mr Tan even surprised us as he knew who the younger singers from Taiwan like "Zhang Yun Jing" as she appeared on the television during our talk, showing us how up to date he was.

Next, we went to visit Mr Ong who had just received a new handphone, which he ask us to help him with. Even we had a bit of problem with an older model phone which we were not used to, after fiddling with the phone for a while, we manage to figure out how to use the functions that Mr Ong wanted to learn such as taking pictures and listening to music. We practiced the steps with him as he learned how to use the phone. It required a bit of patience as we had to repeat quite a few times for him to remember the steps, but it was glad to see that he remember how to use it at the end. As we spend most of our time guiding him how to use the functions of the handphone that we did not play the riddles with him.

For my first visit, I felt that I was pretty lucky to be assigned to Mr Tan and his wife and Mr Ong. As they knew Chinese, I didn't have any trouble communicating with them. They were friendly towards us and I enjoy talking to them. All in all, my first visit was a fun and pleasant one.

- Song Han

It was my first time visiting the elderly with T.H.E. Seniors on 28 Sep and it was an awesome experience. Together with Joleen, Kiah Yeen and Shuang Shuang, we paid Mdm Tan a visit and did lots of things with and for her.

I didnt quite know what to expect, but Shuang Shuang, Joleen and Kiah Yeen seemed really well organised and knew exactly what to do. While Shuang Shuang asked Mdm Tan what she needed us to do for her, Joleen and Kiah Yeen started checking the expiry dates of Mdm Tan's food and also checked what kind of medication she was taking.

It was nice that Mdm Tan is the only elderly we had to visit, as we could spend quality time with her. She seemed a little out of sorts initially, so Shuang Shuang started our HTHT by asking her how she is feeling and she told us that she misses her son who is in the hospital due to kidney problems. The motherly concern that she shows for her son really touched me and really inspired me to do the same for my children next time.

Then, we changed the topic and chatted with her about random things, before we 猜灯谜 and ate 月饼. For our forfeits, we sang and Mdm Tan sang with us too :D She got really high and sang a Teochew song to us all by herself!

Mdm Tan cutting the mooncake ^^

Our 'family' photo

On the whole, we managed to cheer her up quite a bit, though the process of saying goodbye was a little heart-achey. Looking forward to the next visit (:

Sofina Ng Chu Quan

My apologies for the late post.

 I had my first visit with THEs last Saturday, on the 28th of September. It was one that I really looked forward to, and I must say, I was really pleased with the way things turned out :D

  My group visited Mr Lin, who luckily for us, was at home when we went up to his flat. We did a bit of tidying up by sweeping and mopping the floor, and afterwards, we sat down and did some catching up with him. It was my first time seeing him and so i couldn't tell, but apparently Mr Lin seemed to be in a really good mood that day as he was more chatty compared to the previous times my group mates visited him. He shared with us how there was this Caucasian who was really helpful by providing him with new furniture for his home, such as a new cupboard and wardrobe. And from the tone of his voice, you could tell that Mr Lin was really appreciative of the aid that the Caucasian provided. We also talked about some of his favourite television programmes. For example, he talked about how he didn't like to watch 黄金年华 and local chinese drama because he found them to be boring and not useful in helping him learn new things. As such, he preferred watching the news, documentaries and korean drama! Hearing him share about some of the things he talked about had this "calming effect" within me and although I didn't really talk to him much as I was a newcomer, I really enjoyed listening to him and I thought I could just sit there for hours just to listen to some of the things that he had to talked about. Alas, time is never on your side when you are enjoying yourself, and my group had to leave to visit another elderly- Mdm Ho.

  When my group arrived at Mdm Ho's place, another group was also there, and they had already helped her with her housework, so all we had to do was to sit down and accompany her. What struck me about Mdm Ho was her personality and her 精神. She seemed really energetic and there was this very "firm" feeling about her voice that was able command our attention like a very strict teacher (not in a bad way though). One interesting thing she talked about was how she was already a great- great- "grandmother" and how she would offer her great- great- "grandchildren" yakult during CNY by getting them to queue up 1 by 1 all the way till the corridor outside of her house. The feeling that i got from Mdm Ho was that she seems to be way younger that she really is, which can only be a good thing. 

Overall, I have to say that my first experience with THEs went way better than expected. I had this sense of fulfillment after the visits, and I really enjoyed myself just by listening to some of the things that the elderly had to share. If only schoolwork wasn't so time consuming, I would definitely make it a point to go down and visit the elderly every week :D

Gary

Last Saturday my group first visited Mdm Wong who welcomed us with a jovial disposition. When we presented her with the lantern and mooncake we brought to celebrate the mid autumn festival, she took out another lantern that was given to her earlier and proudly explained to us how to use it. 

We spent time solving lantern riddles with her and had to translate them into Cantonese as she is unable to understand Chinese, the language in which they were originally written in. It was hilarious as we tried to translate it as accurately as possible with our mediocre Cantonese. Mdm Wong was a great sport and put in a lot of effort in deciphering the riddles.

She is also a resourceful person and showed us a bamboo frame she made herself for steaming food out of bamboo poles used to hang clothes; she had to use a knife to chop the bamboo into smaller pieces.

Mdm Wong posing with her mooncake

Homemade steamer bamboo frame

After that, we moved on to visit Mr Wong. However, he complained about a bad backache and was unable to sustain a conversation. Thus we decided to leave early so that he could rest.  As we had some extra time, we also visited Mdm Cheong and spent time conversing with her over mooncakes.

Every Saturday spent with the elderly is a constant reminder of how incredibly gratifying it can be, that a single individual’s dedication at a discrete point in time can have such a simple, direct impact on someone. And I am more than glad to be that vessel.

-Victoria

Last Saturday, my group went to visit Mdm Khatijah. It was the first time I visited her ever since she was discharged from the hospital so I really looked forward to seeing her again. When we were at her house, she told us that she was feeling abit unwell and that her knee was still in pain. She told us that the doctor initially didn’t want her to be discharged from the hospital but she wanted to rest at home instead and so the doctor agreed. I guess it’s a good thing because she told us before that her stay in the hospital is very boring.

We chatted quite a lot and she told us that she will be leaving for batam the next day to see her son and her grandchildren. I can tell that she really looked forward to it and I also felt very happy for her too.  It was a really enjoyable visit that day as I finally got to see Mdm Khatijah again after so long and I hope the condition of her knee will get better soon J

-Pin Jin (Year 5.25 de :P)