Mid Autumn Festival @ T.H.E.Seniors~

Hello people~ I'm Jiancong~! =) really had a great time last saturday~ so here blogging*.~ = )

yup yup the day started off with elderly sitting in a circle, playing BINGO~! yup yup thanks to Project C.A.N., the winners of the BINGO were happy to receive their prizes. can hear they saying 'woah~ fish essence arh' 'woah~ chicken essence arh' etc etc when they get them.

then hor then hor after that got one elderly came arh.. mdm ang~ then i sat beside her lo.

the next game was a Q&A game. the elderly who raised hand the fastest and answer the question correctly will win a prize.~ woah.. my teochew not that good. had a hard time explaining arh.. hahah.. so paiseh.

then rite is this peeling orange game. only 2 elderly were picked to play, and mdm ang got it! the orange mdm ang got hor is very hard lea.. the other elderly peeled so fast. not fair lo, different type of orange.. tsk.. =P then hor i took over the job, help her to continue peeling the orange lo.

after that rite... i add one piece see whether it's sweet or sour, and it's sour lo... not that me glutton, eat up the whole thing okay, is that i sacrifies myself to eat a sour orange k.. tsk dun misunderstand me arh..

then while i was eating the orange, we continue to play the next game: passing the message! the messages were all titles of old songs. me being bad in teochew again.. when passing the 'yue liang dai biao wo de xin' message, the 'yue liang' i tried to made the chinese sound like teochew.. but failed.. mdm ang dun understand me. =( then with some gestures, and some help of other volunteers help.. then she said: 'OHHH...~ uue ngg' phew~

then rite.. more food came~! we had mooncakes and pamelo.. xin ku le those who peel the pamelo and cut the mooncakes.. =P


and thanks for 7MC and PrimaDeli for bringing us the nice nice Mooncakes~! yalo. mdm ang said she din want the piece of mooncake and gave it to me... and so i ate. and on my right, mdm huang said she din want her piece of pamelo and gave it to me.. and so i ate it too. and again.. dun misunderstand... coz they din want so i help them eat okay?.. and see~ im not the only one.




yup yup..~ and the celebration ended off with a big big T.H.E. Seniors family photo~! =)




yup u can see the rest of the pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/rvp.pub02 Can also shun bian see the MAF @ CSL k?.. =)
great work! T.H.E. comm! =)

- Jiancong =)

takeaway from 30Aug Orientation 2 visit

Hi Everyone!

My 1st time writing here too. :)

Today we visited Mdm Tan Ah Kim (haha, I knew her name from peeping at the lunch box they delivered), Mr Ong and another senior (by the cantonese group).

Was pretty apprehensive about what I could contribute at first or how I was going to interact/communicate with the elderly, but the experience turned out to be fantastic. :) 

Fairly surprised by how receptive and hospitable they were, considering that we arrived in such a big group and was taking up so much space in their houses. 

The other thing that touched me was how even though some of the seniors (i mean CSC seniors here! ) have graduated, they still came to visit the elderly (... and surprise surprise, there's even an NTU guy in the group haha). You guys were amazing the way you could joke and connect with them so effortlessly and being so thoughtful (checking Mr Ong's fridge for food turned bad, cleaning up of his house and offering to buy necessities). 

That would be the spirit we newbies would hope to cultivate as we interact with the elderly more. :)

It was pretty heart-aching though, to hear Mdm Tan lamenting how the worsening of her eyesight has affected her and Mr Ong mentioning how he had fell down once along the corridors/stair and luckily, was carried back up to his apartment by someone.  

It opened me up to the possibilities that we could just be facing the realities that these elderly face (a worsening eyesight/mobility problems or being left alone) when we grow old ourselves one day.  I guess having a positive attitude when faced with these challenges would be crucial to our mental & emotional health. :)

It didn't feel like we were doing much (asking repeated questions) but the faces on the elderly showed how much our presence meant to them. Mdm Tan's 'huh?! ' face when we told her we had to leave definitely left a huge impression on me. What these elderly really yearn for is accompaniment. 

Anw, I do have some questions and suggestions...

The estate that they are living at looks pretty new (or maybe its the paint), where did they stay prior to living here? Some of the elderly have surviving family that doesn't seem so distant (at least from what i gathered), y are they living by themselves then? Do their families visit them?

On the bus back to Kallang MRT I began thinking about what games we could play with the elderly despite their physical limitations and 2 ideas came to mind (u guys probably have thought bout them already though). 

With Mdm Wang, we could perhaps play Pass The (hokkien) Message and the ppl who got the message wrong would have to sing a verse in hokkien. 

With Mr Ong, haha, maybe something related to Spore. eg. word games ( sg food item names) or true/false questions.. 

just some suggestions that probably can be refined and acted out so we wouldn't be faced with sitting around and not knowing what to do sometimes.

Paiseh, this post sounds more lyk a personal reflection than a post about the happenings. my train of thoughts tend to work this way. :\

haha, so in conclusion, it was an eye-opening and definitely fruitful session n  i look forward to joining u all on future visitations!

C u guys around! :)   - Amelia - 

First Visit To Touch Seniors

Hello all

A Year one freshie here who has completely no idea what to blog (first time visiting and writing on blogspot or anything of this kind ever and the seniors dont know....) Sorry if I am long winded.

I'm supposed to write about what happened during the freshies' first visit to T.H.E Seniors (wish it were easier to type)

Well first and foremost it was basically a group of strangers all gathering at one point to meet up (Kallang MRT Station) at about 10.00am i think...cant really remember. I was half asleep when i went there but seems like i was the only one.....at least someone was late when she was supposed to be the first one there so it didnt matter.

We all then took a bus down to Touch. Its situated right in the middle of a HDB estate with a market and 2-storey shophouses, which felt like what Singapore meant when you say heartland to me.

Upon reaching the area (its actually at the void deck below the block where the people we help live), we were divided into 3 groups, Hokkien, Cantonese and English/Mandarin(anyone who cant speak any form of dialet is placed here = =). I was put into the English Mandarin group (thankfully I have not forgotten ALL of the Chinese i learnt, just a bit of it).

So the group of us (the half baked/raw potatoes) went up to the houses.

Initially we visited an uncle that had difficulty walking. He was having lunch and had not showered so we got redirected to the 2nd house.

We went to the next uncle's house. He seemed a jolly fellow who was actually quite healthy considering his age (72). I actually find it odd that people will open their houses up to a bunch of strangers who look like teenages and talk to them openly about their lives, but thats what happened in general. The uncle was telling us about his activities that he was doing now, answering questions that we had about his life. He told us somethings about how life was long ago like the cost of living is going up and that he cannot afford to pay for some things (like senior ezlink concession pass is now $60 instead of $40 and that he cannot make a new passport because its too expensive, although he has been sent letters to remind him to do so) I was half listening and half lost at the same time, no thanks to trying to listen, translate and then tell the others the translation at the same time. Guess I need more practise with Mandarin or translating because I dont think my translations were actually accurate.

After about an hour, we left the uncle's house and went back to visit the first uncle. This time, he had finished bathing and was partly waiting for us to return. It took some time and a lot of effort just to open the door for us, such that we were worried that he might trip and fall. We all went in and did not want to rush the uncle while he went back to his chair, using his walking stick as an aid to slowly walk back to the chair. We all sat down on the floor around him. Ofcourse the natural question was whether he was okay. He told us that he was just getting old and his legs were feeling weaker as the days go by. Previously he could walk along the corridors or visit the surrounding areas, but now a days he cant do that and has to stay at home. His legs were also a little swollen, but when asked about it he said that the swelling had actually gone down already. He said that he had expected to live to an age of 50-60, but in the flash of an eye had lived to 82 instead. He told us about how Singapore was like when he was young. He was brought over by his father who had a provision shop along Singapore River back then, with a brother already in Singapore at that time. At that time, the streets were different. He said that the streets were messy and dangerous with crime and gangs, but now they are safe and quiet. He told us about his past experiences in life, like that he had a lot of suitors but never cared for all except one who got chased away by his brother. He regrets not chasing after her and says that he is living a lonely life as a result. And then he laughed, saying that he has to be optimistic about life and what he has. With that, as our time was up, we thanked the uncle for his hospitality and left.

We actually went to check 2 other houses but they were both not at home.

After it all, we went back downstairs to the void deck again and gathered with the other language groups again. Following a short debrief we were all dismissed (after filling in some admininstrative forms ofcourse because we were the new people after all). Some went of to the nearby market to eat lunch thou.

Now, thinking about the visit, I wonder sometimes who is helping who. We might be fit and young, but our minds are equally young. We can help the elderly physically and be a listening ear, but in the end they can teach us important values and lessons that we may never experience. It was a meanful experience in its own way.

Gim Hong

New Chairpersons

Dear Fellow T.H.E.seniors volunteers...


It's time for the current Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson to step down.

For this one year, and I had a great time volunteering with all of you and organizing events for our volunteers and elderly. I would like to use this opportunity to thank all of you for the support and help all of you have given to Janicia, my committee and myself. Thank you.

I'm really glad that I got this chance to know and become friends with all of you through T.H.E.seniors RVP. Hope to be able to keep in touch with everyone!! =)

With that, I would like to formerly introduce to you the new Chairpersons taking over Janicia and I.

*Introducing*
New Chairperson: Tan Wen Ting Jolene 98232557 jolin_tan88friends@hotmail.com
New Vice-Chairperson: Ong Pinchuan 91284900 pinchuan@singnet.com.sg

I hope all of you would continue to show the new Chairpersons support like you did for Janicia and I.

Thank You.


Regards,
Wong Phui Yi Jasmine
Chairperson (AY 2007-08)
T.H.E.seniors Regular Volunteering Programme
NUS Students' Community Service Club

THE seniors' volunteers gathering

Hey everyone's invited to our BBQ gathering on 27th June! =)

Venue: East Coast Park BBQ Pit, near macs.. just walk around to find
Time: 6pm till late
Fees: F.O.C., you may bring your other friends along but they gotta pay a nominal fee

Do come and have fun!!

Well, first time posting in this blog, Luke here (surprise! Surprise!)

Today is my first time joining T.H.E. seniors for their Dragon Boat Festival (aka Dumpling Festival)

The volunteers were asked to go to the elderly's flat to ask them down for the party, which was held at the center. Jessie and I went to look for Mdm Lim.
First impression, very 慈祥 old lady, and she just permed her hair for her grand-daughter wedding last week! Seeing her reminds me of my ah ma..(and therefore i visited her later today) and I was happily talking to her the whole session.
Mdm Lim has a slight problem with her sight and she cannot see very well.. so we walked slower and more careful helping her out with every slope there is along the way.

As she can only understand hokkien, I am force to speak in my 1/2 past 6 dialect with her, haha well, sometimes she understands even when I am unsure what i was talking about.

Mdm Lim is surprisingly sporting, when it comes to the 比一比 session, she volunteered to go out for the challenge without much persuasion and as a result, she won!!!! haha scoring the valueable 2points for 星星 group.
after the games, some kuays were provided for the elderly and we were just sitting down chatting, mixing around.

I can see that the elderly really enjoyed themselves! great job to T.H.E. Seniors committee!

Pinchuan here... my turn to post le :-p cuz I can't find ppl to arrow le...

Anyway I posting for the visit on 24th May (last Sat), n I took so long cuz my internet died-ed til today...

The turnout last Saturday wasn't so good :( a lot of ppl went holiday, disappeared, working, shagged out from Sentosa. So there were only 5 of us... sadly. 5 ppl... we go everywhere together lor! We decided not to visit Mr Tan this time, because everyone was so tired from Sentosa, and then we gotta visit so many elderly and cleaning Mr Tan's house will take long long time (Haha perfect excuse :-D) We wanted to visit Mr Ong first, out of pure randomness and because he live on so high floor, but he was asleep. Anyway, he was sick the previous week, so we sneaked off quietly again, (not very successful because the other 4 girls all cannot keep quiet. :-p ). Since Mr Ong asleep we went down 2 floors to Mdm Tan.

Mdm Tan was alone at home; her housemate was not in. She was in quite a happy mood that day, and we just talked. Or rather, the others talked and I pretended to understand everything they say. :-p Not much to say here, after that we visited Mr Chiu. I can't actually remember whether he was home (老了，不总用了), I don't seem to remember much about our visit to his house, so I don't think so. Anyway even if he was we left very fast, cuz we were rushing to visit so many elderly. :p

Then we went over to Mdm Lim's place. She was in a good mood today, maybe it's seeing all the old faces (the old girls). We talked a lot, or rather the others talked a lot and I pretend to understand like at Mdm Tan's, and Jasmine just fall asleep (dun even try to 敷衍 a bit lor!) Aiya Sentosa mah, very tired, so I help tell her dun sleep, then she laugh at me say I dun even understand what they talking about. :-p Haiz talk about ungrateful. :-p

Anyway halfway through Jessie got to go, then as she leaving Jasmine also run out say got to do something. We all thought she talking to Jessie. And she very very long never come back, so 尴尬, leave us there so long, we thought she leave already and forgot her bag. But when she came back, she brought a cake. She had gone downstairs to buy the cake (very pink -.-) so that we can celebrate the May birthdays (erm... only me sadly). So we celebrated at Mdm Lim's house.

Lastly we went over to Kam Por's place. We did some cleaning up at her house (haiz I thought no need to do housework one that day :-p), some sweeping and mopping only. Very easy, very fast. I didn't think Kam Por was in a good mood that day. She had just gone downstairs to buy Chinese medicine. 冬虫夏草, n another type of medicine which I never heard before. I know 冬虫夏草 is quite expensive one, and she bought 2 bottles, maybe tt's why she was not so happy. She also had to alter her medicine intake timing; instead of taking her Western medicine in morning, she takes it in afternoon and takes the Chinese pills in morning.

Kam Por was the last we visited that day, we went back Mr Ong's sometime in between (forgot when) but he was still asleep, so we didn't see him in the end.

pc