hi, I am posting about my visit to uncle lin on 9 nov, which was a few weeks back, sorry for the late(and short) post :P

When we visited uncle lin, he was having his meal before going off to an appointment. We chatted with him most of the time. I remember that even though we ask him to have his meal while we chatted with him, he still concentrated on talking to us which made me feel a bit guilty for interrupting his meal. It felt that he was happy to chat with us.  This made me feel that our visit is really appreciated by the elderly as much of the time they are alone on the apartment.

-song han

Last Saturday, my group (Hui Jia, Eileen and I) visited 2 friends, Mdm Goh and Mdm Tan. We went over some simple house chores and chatted with them for a while before ending each of their respective session. Both elderlies are bubbly and cheery which made my day and this is what I look forward to whenever there is a visit.

The visit to Mdm Tan place was more memorable. Not just because I accidentally destroyed her mop due to overexertion of strength :P ( cheese I am still guilty bout that), but also how much it lifted her mood when we are around her interacting with her. It was the kind of emotions that make our weekly visit mroe worthwhile. It is also very heartwarming to hear that neighbours has been helping out with one another when they need each other the most. Apparently, Mrs Tan was helped by the malay neighbours across her house in times of need. Now that's what I would call the Kampong spirit.

I realised that quality time has been wasted if no communication and interaction was made. This made me more motivated to do more to improve the relationships around me. Looking back, I have lost quality time and friendship because I have not followed up. The experience at Mdm Tan house has reminded me that people are not to be taken for granted and time and effort are needed to keep relationships going, so if friends suddenly receive a text from I, please do not treat me as a weirdo. With this, it is going to be the end of the year. 2013 was a great experience for me in THES and I hope it would be a better one ahead in 2014 J. Happy new year !!!

- Edwin

Hihi everyone (:
Yi'an here and I'm here to blog about my visit to Mdm Ho and Mr Ong which happened many weeks back o.o so pardon me if I'm leaving out many details and thank you if this post benefits you in any way (:

On that fateful Saturday Mr Ong was not home, so I stayed with Mdm Ho through the entire duration of visitation time. Kai Him's group was standing in for me before I arrived and they helped with much of the chores till they left for their own duties (thankyouuu hehe). I proceeded on to mop for Mdm Ho and it was actually my first time helping her with her chores, despite my presence for the past one year (?). You wouldn't expect an elderly to remember, but Mdm Ho did, and I guess it really shows how much attention she pays to each and every one of our volunteers coming in and out of her house every time. I chatted with her about random stuff, her kids, life in geylang bahru with my group mate which happens to be Criss and only Criss hahaha.

We've not been back for long, but I guess at the end of the day we were glad to have made the decision to revisit our elderly here. Seeing lots and lots of new faces around and I guess it made me miss the old faces for a bit. So.....heh hope our lovely existing crew keeps up their good work and wishing everyone a HAPPY 2014 to come ^^

Yi'an

a blogpost about a blog

I have a weakness for quotes, short stories, reflections. in this blog, i have found some beautiful ones. this place used to be my favourite website every two weeks, when i eagerly await new posts about our awesome friends, from our awesome friends.  i havent been diligently reading blogposts for about half a year already, so i decided to do so earlier on. 

boy was i not the least disappointed. thank you all for sharing your views and thoughts and i hope that more will continue to write here, read here. just like to share some of my favourites from you guys in this half a year.

Love, Kai Him, the graduated one.

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.  

– Jasmine, on Mdm Cheong

He also seems to find pleasure in life’s small gift. The expression of satisfactory when he drank his simple cup of coffee was priceless. It strikes me hard about how this society has become, a society that is always in a rush and does not reminisce. Mr Tay taught me to slow down the pace of life, at least for the holidays and live in every moment, what I have forgotten and relearnt from the precious gems of the society- the elderlies. 

– Edwin, on Mr Tay

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

– Sofina, on Mdm Tan

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. 

– Gary, on Mr Lin

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 

Every elderly I have visited so far provides us with new perspectives and often show concern towards volunteers, even for new volunteers like us. 

– Jiamin

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. 

- Yuanjie, on Mdm Ho

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. 

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. 

– Joelle, on Mdm Tan

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. 

- Lee Chin, Ming Dei, on Mr Tay

Hi Everyone!!

Today is my first visit for THES. My initial expectation for today is that I have to help up with the cleaning of the beneficiaries' house. I always have this impression that the beneficiaries' houses are messy and filled with scraps materials. Therefore, I was prepared to do some serious housework. I am also aware that I may encounter difficulties communicating with the elderly as I am only familiar with English and Chinese languages (though I try hard to speak a few words in Hokkien).

My group visited Mr and Mrs Tan first. Contrary to my expectation, the house was well maintained and the couple spokes mandarin. They are very friendly and we did not encounter any difficulties throughout the visit. We helped to mop the floor by following instructions from Mrs Tan. After that, we helped to remove outdated decorations, which are inaccessible to them. We then chat with the couple. Mr Tan displayed good knowledge of the past events in Singapore and gave us a 'history lesson' on Singapore's histories. It was a good refresher on the stuff we learnt in school.

Our second stop was Mdm Wong's house. There were no housework that was needed to be done so we spent the whole visit keeping her company, chatting with her. She could only speaks Cantonese and I could not understand her conversation with my group members. I made attempts to laugh (without knowing the context) at appropriate time, taking cue from my group members' laughter to show that I am listening. The elderly also offered us water chestnut to eat. We played cards with her also. Even though I could barely comprehend the conversation my group had with her, I could feel that she enjoyed herself today. This is our goal.

These visits are largely beneficial for the elderly to know that there are people that care for them. Our helps are also imperative to ensure their well beings when helping them with stuff that would be otherwise be a challenge for them.

-Wee Chong

Today my group (Kiah Yeen, Shuang Shuang and I) visited Mr Tay. He was very cheerful and positive today which was a really good thing. He was also in the mood to talk as he chatted a lot with us today. He taught us some simple Japanese words and even some Khek (Hakka) when i told him my dialect was actually Khek. He also explained that somehow, drinking butter with coffee helps him lay off smoking; something that intrigued me. He had been smoking for 70 years and only quit smoking 3 years ago because cigarettes were too expensive and buttercino was a much cheaper alternative. So glad that he kicked the habit though! Apparently, he found out about this method himself? He also told us many stories of the past which were very interesting to listen, especially when he injected lots of sound effects and hand gestures. 

Mr Tay also kept thanking us countless of times during the whole visit. Something seemingly insignificant and easy to us, such as reading the letterbox mails and bringing him down for coffee can actually mean so much to him and he is so grateful for all the volunteers' help. Just giving him our 2 hours can mean the world to him. It was great to see him in such a good mood and all of us kept cracking up as he chatted with us. Initially, it was quite difficult to talk to him as we were not fluent in hokkien and we also had to talk loudly for him to be able to hear. However, seeing him in such good spirits made everything worthwhile. Really do hope he continues to stay this happy(:

Joleen

Sight in visually impaired world

Over the weekend, I visited Mr Tay for the first time. This is the first time I interact with a visually impaired elderly. Therefore, I did not speak out a lot and let the more experienced volunteers do the interaction. While doing the usual activities, I was amaze by how Mr Tay can recount his past experience in such vivid manner that he seems to live right in the moment of his story. He also seems to find pleasure in life’s small gift. The expression of satisfactory when he drank his simple cup of coffee was priceless. It strikes me hard about how this society has become, a society that is always in a rush and does not reminisce. Mr Tay taught me to slow down the pace of life, at least for the holidays and live in every moment, what I have forgotten and relearnt from the precious gems of the society- the elderlies.

- Edwin

My First Post of the Semester! :D

Hi everyone !:D ( hehe shall start with my opening phrase everytime )^^

This is actually my first post for this Semester! :D Suddenly got a strong surge of feelings. I guess I really learnt a lot along the way throughout this semester as I visit the elderly weekly together with other volunteers!:) I began to notice the changes in their mood and feel that I’m growing alongside them, as I spend time interacting with them each week. ^^ Even though it is the same place,­­­­­­ with the same elderly, there seems to be new lessons learnt from each visit.

My group mates for this week are Eileen ( my Life Science mate!:D) and Hazel ( my A-class bodyguard !:P) hahas. We went to Mr Lin’s house.  I saw Mr Lin early in the morning before the visit and I guess he was in great spirits as there was food being sent in bulk to the apartments in this vicinity. ^^ Perhaps to the elderly, having basic needs such as food can really make their day !:) Maybe we can learn to be contented and happy with the basic things which we have and also cherish them !^^

 

We went on to clean Mr Lin’s windows (by Hazel and Eileen who were taller ^^) and mopped the floor. A clean living environment is healthier for the elderly and I’m glad that we contribute to the cleanliness of the elderly’ house every week. After cleaning the house, one of the things which Mr Lin shared is that TV can let us know more about other places in the world which we can’t go or can’t afford to go to. Even though most of the elderly may not know how to utilise the Internet, it’s great that we still have ---the TV!^^,  to let them get in touch with, or at least know more about the rest of the world. :D

Next, we moved on to Mr Chua’s house!:) However, no one answered the door. Mr Chua is our new beneficiary and I really looked forward to visit him and have fun interacting with him! ^^ We’ve not had a chance to visit him since the exam period and I hope that he’ll be at home for the next visit!:) Eileen was sharp to notice that Mr Chua’s bamboo pole holder has no caps on and suggested providing caps lest it became a breeding site for mosquitos. ^^ Sometimes we just have to pay attention to small details around us and maybe we can do little things which makes other people’s lives happier and better! :)

Having some time left, we went to find Mr Tay!:D It really feels great to see him yesterday as Mr Tay’s has become less depressed as compared to the time when I first joined T.H.E.Seniors!:D:D Seeing the change in him really made me happier. ^^ This shows that we can be happier and more optimistic if we are willing to, and bring joy to the people around us at the same time!:D Although there may be times when we may be depressed, it’ll be over soon as long as we’re willing to look on the bright side, like Mr Tay. :D Maybe this is how we can grow together with the elderly, as we experience each and every visit with them and learn something new. ^^

I hope that more elderly will be happier with volunteer’s accompaniment and may our simple acts bring them joy each week !:D :D

-Kah Suan J

Today, we visited Mdm Khatijah for 14th Dec official visit. She got discharged from the hospital not long ago, so we are really glad that she is ok and that she is still chatty. 

She also shared with us that she has been upset about the misunderstanding that her neighbours had towards her recently. Hence, she chose to refrain from  interacting too much with her neighbours. Perhaps this was why she was seemingly more reserved after her discharge? 

Mdm Khatijah also shared her concern regarding arranging her own transportation to get to SGH for her appointments. She wasn't sure of the alternative transportantions that she could take from where she stay other than cabbing (she felt that it's quite hard to get a cab from this area). We offered information on how she could get to SGH via bus or train, however she still appeared a bit perplexed. Hopefully, Mdm Khatijah can get some help and get to the hospital safely. (:

Tina