05 12 2015 visit to Mr T

On Saturday, Yuan Qin and I visited Mr T.

That was her first time visiting him and to me, it will usually be a good time for me to talk about some current affairs or history-related stuff.

The visit was most probably a good time for us to learn some stuff from the past and also to make good discussions with Mr T.

Just one thing new I learnt from Mr T during the visit was that he used to work for a saw mill in Malaya. From his sharing, I realised that Malaya had a rather robust lumber industry back in the 50s. In fact, there's quite a lot of things to learn about the technical know-how for the trade and it was indeed a rather important industry for the economic growth of the region during those days.

Visits to Mr T are always a good session for volunteers to learn new things from the past experiences and knowledge of Mr T.

Joel Chew

03 10 2015 visit to Mr T

This post is the 3rd post of me writing about Mr T. To think about it, I have indeed visited Mr T for several times over the past 1 year.

Today, it was Vigilia and I visiting him and Gary joined us towards the end of the visit. Just like usual, we ran some errands for him and brought him down to the nearby coffee shop for his usual cup of buttered coffee.

However, he didn't seem to be feeling well today and was in a rather negative mood. He complained of something like a ear block that caused him to not hear well for the past 2 weeks and he wasn't feel well in his stomach too.

He was feeling rather sad and was indeed moody. We tried to persuade him to go visit the doctor, but he claimed that he did not want to trouble us too much and insisted that he does not want to seek medical attention.

However, when it comes to health-related affairs regarding others, he seemed to be rather concerned.  He will instead persuade others to go seek medical attention and recuperate appropriately. An example was he was talking about an elderly lady in her 60s who visits him every Monday was not feeling well and had to go for an eye check. When he was talking about that elderly lady, I can tell that he seemed rather concerned about the well-being of she. In-fact he even encouraged that elderly lady to go visit the doctor to get her eyes checked instead of visiting him on Monday.

From that, it proved that Mr T was indeed a person who put others ahead of himself and that is a rather positive attitude we can learn from him.

-Chew Jun Kai Joel

A visit to Mdm W on 3 Oct 15

Today's my second time visiting Mdm W. Unlike my first time visiting her, this time it's a smaller group (Just Wei Feng and I). It also meant that we would have to do the speaking instead of just being the listeners.

Mdm W is a cantonese-only speaking elderly and it is a bit of a challenge to me and Wei Feng. I am able to understand canto but not as good when it comes to speaking. I need that 0.5 second to process my thoughts before I speak. However, it got better after I spoke for a while; although some pronunciation is not so zhun. On a side note to Wei Feng, you may visit Mdm W more to pick up Canto. haha.

Mdm W is 88 years old this year and going strong. She is an independent person who takes care of herself and the up keeping of her house. Speaking to her was casual and easy. She is a person who expresses positivity and quickly builds rapport with students who visit her. To the rest of us who can't speak Canto, fret not, do visit her and try to speak to her in simple mandarin and you can slowly learn some Canto too.

Recently due to the haze, it has cut down the time Mdm W goes out to the street. She limits her travelling to buying groceries and collecting her packed lunch at the void deck. Hopefully the haze situation turns for the better for her and other elderlies to spend more time at the neighbourhood parks.

Good to see that Mdm W is doing well. Many thanks to her, our PG!

Cheers,
Jonathan Chew

A day with Mdm H on 28 Mar '15

Hello all, this is Jonathan Chew making the first post in T.H.E.seniors blog. On 28 Mar '15, I visited mdm H together with Kai Him. I have just come on board T.H.E.seniors since last Dec and it was my first visit to mdm H.

Upon entering her house, mdm H was greeted by a familiar friend, Kai Him, and a new friend, Jonathan. Mdm H then replied in her usual Canto conversation with Kai Him. However, interestingly, when she greeted me, she spoke in Teo Chew and I was rather surprised that she knew I’m Teo Chew. Probably, it’s just coincidence, haha.

We sat down and started chatting. Mdm H shared that she is able to converse in a number of languages, i.e. Mandarin, Hokkien, Teo Chew, Cantonese, Malay, and some English. She began switching from one language to another and I thought she’s rather impressive. Mdm H then continued speaking of her family, her husband, daughter, and grandchildren. She had special mention of her doctor grandson whom she is proud of. However, from her sharing, I could hear a grandma longing for her grandson, who is in his 40’s, to settle down. Perhaps, it is the wish of all parents and grandparents to see their child succeed with a family of their own.

Mdm H, at a senior age of about 90, has some difficulty on moving around and appreciates volunteers helping her on simple cleaning of her house. We could see smiles on her face while she watched us swept and mopped the floor. She even offered us to drinks and lunch to show her appreciation. I believe these small gestures of ours do cheer them up and let them know that there’s a group of students who cares and loves them.

I have enjoyed all my visits thus far and am looking forward to meeting and chitchatting with more elderlies!

- Jonathan Chew

31st January: Mdm W, Mdm L, Mdm C.y.l !!

Hi everyone, I'm here to blog again :)


Yesterday, my group which consisted of Meina, Janice and I, was supposed to visit Mdm W and Mdm C.

However, we realised that there were actually secondary school Girls Brigade students in Mdm W house doing some spring cleaning for her so we decided that we shall just drop by to tell her that we will not visit her for this week and let her spend more time with the students. When we reached her house, we saw her sitting there like a queen and "kiao ka" some more and supervising the young and energetic girls while they do their chores LOL. As Janice was the only one who could speak abit of Canto, she was the one talking to Mdm W. So she informed Mdm W that we will not be visiting her. So Mdm W just kept waving bye to us while smiling happily (like she very 沉醉 in being a queen like that hahaha) Then Janice wanted to tell that we saw her photo at the MRT station there but she like not interested at all HAHAHA WHILE CONTINUING TO WAVE GOODBYE TO US (LIKE TELLING US TO FASTER GO LIKE THAT) HAHAHAHA Damn funny and I don't think anyone of us could forget that scene LOL.

Since we were not visiting Mdm W, we were then assigned to visit Mdm L to celebrate her belated birthday for her, along with the group that was assigned to visit her! So we went to buy a cake and quickly went up to Mdm L's house! When we reached her house, she happily showed us 3 photos that her daughter sent her from overseas as it was her birthday! She seem to be really happy and just nice since she mentioned her birthday, we told her that we had actually bought a cake to celebrate her birthday with her and she was really touched and grateful that we actually remembered her birthday and even bought her a cake to celebrate with her :')

Happiness :') May all your wishes come true!!

Selfieeee~

In the end we had to leave for Mdm C's house already so Meina and I walked across the street while happily discussing about Mdm L's enthusiastic behaviour and also kept looking at the photos and selfies we took and laughing at all the unglams hahaha (Janice left early coz she had something on so we went on to visit Mdm C!)

When we reached Mdm C's house, I happily called out to her before entering her house! Oh my, I miss her so muchhhhh~ When she saw us, she politely asked us if we could help her to change her bedsheet so we gladly did. 

Achievement unlocked sia! She remembers my name! Haha initially she remembered me as the girl who help her tie rubber band on her wheel chair/ the girl who speaks hokkien to her BUT NOW SHE REMEMBERS MY NAME!! Haha 

Coz the other time Janice Weechong and I visited her and helped her to put nail polish and we told her our names~ Janice is Huihui, I am Minmin and Weechong is Dongdong HAHAHA actually coz Weechong's chinese name is Weizong so I said that he is called "Zongzong" but Mdm C cannot pronounce so in the end become "Dongdong" HAHAHA so Mdm Cheng was telling me that she still remember our names so I was quite touched haha 

Then she asked me to help her with the tying of the rubber band thing again... Deja vu sia! Feels like the first time I visited her again coz that was the first thing that I helped her with on my very first time visiting her house!!!

After that Meina took out her photo albums and looked at them and we talked until it was the post the time to leave already :(

I used to get VERY sad as I leave the elderly's house. I enjoy talking to them during the 1 hour/ 2 hours and I believe that they feel the same way too. Every time as I leave the elderly's house, I start to think about what will happen to them during the other days of the week. Do they feel sad? Do they feel lonely? Will they miss us? I remember the very first time that I visited Mdm C, I could feel tears swelling up in my eyes when it was time to leave maybe coz of the stories and things that she told me and I really hoped that I could stay with her longer to keep her company. But then someone told me before that I shouldn't think so much and I shouldn't treat every Saturday's visit as visiting beneficiaries. Instead, I should treat treat it like visiting my friends instead! Nowadays as I leave the elderly's house, I still feel a teeny weeny bit of sadness as I leave their house. But then one thing I've learnt is to not think so much coz I think I'm now able to see them as a friend instead of a beneficiary. and I'll just look forward to the next visit and treat it like a meet-up with a good friend~ 

Shall end of the post with some photos of/with Mdm C!

27/12/14 's visit

Weechong helping Mdm C~

Am I cool?? :D

Selfieeee~~

Yesterday's visit!

Selfie w/ the rainbow loom that I gave her :))

Charmaine~~

Hi guys!! Being a new volunteer, I’m here to share my experience with the THES seniors! Last week, I went to visit Mdm T.A.K and Mdm C.Y.L together with the other newer volunteers Pei Yi and Jun Yang. It is a little disappointing that we are only able to spend one hour with each beneficiary because I was already kind of used to dedicating 2 hours with each of them.

Mdm T was as cheerful as always, she always seem to love our company. We help her with the mopping of the floor and the cleaning of the windows. This is my second time visiting her and I realized that these are the weekly household chores that us volunteers do for her. Mdm T has poor eyesight and she can barely make out what is in front of her so I’m amazed that she can still keep her house clean by herself, with the exception of us having to mop the floor for her. As we were cleaning we tried our best to strike a conversation with her. She can only speak Hokkien so the 3 of us, who are not fluent in Hokkien, struggle to hold a proper conversation with her. But as usual, she laughs it off and finds it pretty amusing that we are making an effort to converse with her. I really hope that there will be a workshop held for us to improve on our dialects!

The last time I visited her 2 weeks ago, one of the volunteers from another organization has given her a bottle of honey barbequed sauce. While explaining to her what it is used for, we noticed that the expiry date of the sauce is in a month’s time so we have adviced her to throw it away one it expires just in case it turns bad. While cleaning up the place, I chanced upon the opened bottle of sauce and asked her if she had tried it. She told us that she used it on chicken meat but she finds it abit too sweet for her liking. Apparently she finds it a waste to dump the sauce once it expires so she’s trying to use as much as she can before throwing it away.

We also helped her to look through her letters, which mostly consist of flyers. She seems keen about the advertisements and asks us what promotions are available. This time, she also showed us the Pioneer Generation package she received from the government. She requested us to help her check which of the clinics around her area has subsidies so she was pleased to know that the one she frequents is included inside.

Mdm T told us that she does not go out very often due to her disability to see clearly, hence it is inconvenient for her to travel far or to new places. She would be unfamiliar with her surroundings, which made her fearful actually. But she will be quite bored to be at home all day since she does not even have a television to watch, as she is unable to see, nor is she able to understand Chinese either.  I have offered to take her down for walks once again, but she declined my offer, saying that she do not wish to trouble others and become a burden. But I have never once thought that bringing the elderly around would be troublesome so I hope Mdm T can be a little more selfish and allow us to bring her down more often. She does seem to know that we have another beneficiary to tend to so she kept telling us to go and help out the other elderly instead.

After we left Mdm T’s home we went ahead to visit Mdm C. This is the first visit for all three of us so I thought that it will be awkward for all of us. But we manage to warm up with her quickly. Mdm C is very friendly and she noticed that we are all newcomers to her home. She only wanted us to do some simple cleaning of the windows. I wanted to offer more help seeing that she is wheelchair bound so she would probably have problems cleaning her house but she insisted that she is fine.

Later we sat down to chat and we soon started talking about language barriers between youths and the elderly, which brings us to the topic of asking her to be our Cantonese teacher! She taught us some phrases that we are keen to learn, and I made an effort to jolt down what we learn into my phone’s notes so that I can show off a little to my grandma. Mdm C seems quite keen to teach us but it’s hard to learn so much in a short span of time so we had to make do with the few standard phrases for now.

I found out that Mdm C is a smoker when I asked her about the ash tray on the coffee table. And initially I thought that it belongs to the tenant that is staying with her! Apparently Mdm C used to be an avid smoker who cannot survive without 2 packets of cigarettes a day, but now she does not smoke as much, which is quite a relief. She told us about how she bought tobacco leaves from the market now and rolls them in a piece of paper to make her own cigar because it is cheaper than buying a packet.

As we are leaving, Mdm C told us to drop by again when we are free. Even though we are all newcomers, Mdm C likes having us around. This leaves a deep impression on me as I realized that these beneficiaries really enjoy our company and look forward to our visits every week. And they actually remember us well! I remember Mdm T commenting that she can recognize my voice because I have visited her before. It makes me want to visit them regularly because despite their age, they will remember each and every one of us thus I feel that they will surely be sad if we stopped visiting them one day. And it certainly makes my heart ache because I’m only able to visit the elderly once every 2 weeks

But what’s for sure is that I will definitely treasure every visit that I go for and keep every moment spent with the elderly locked in my heart J   

Lynn ^-^

Firsts

24th May was my first visit with T.H.E.S. During the visit, we visited Mdm C. My group comprised of Lily and 3 newcomers including myself.  It seemed like Mdm C was expecting us as she had already planned what she wanted us to help her with. She even prepared rags that she wanted us to use. It was my first time having such close interaction with elderly, other than my own grandparents of course and honestly, I wasn’t very comfortable at first. I mentally crafted some topics or questions to break the ice and to start some conversations with Mdm C. It took me quite a while to even think of a question. However, in the midst of trying hard to consolidate my thoughts and plan what to say, I saw that Lily, a much more experienced volunteer had already engaged her in a conversation and within minutes, all of us were laughing along with Mdm C’s responses. I could see that Mdm C was very happy to converse with Lily and share her stories. It was then that I realized, at times, it is not about how perfectly constructed your sentences or questions are that will determine how a conversation would turn out.

I am sure that the elderly would never care or judge if you spoke in broken strings of Dialect or Mandarin but rather, what they want to feel is the sincerity you have and whether or not you are genuinely interested in what they can share with you.  Simple topics like asking Mdm C how to cook certain dishes or complementing how she looked in the photos of her in her younger days was more than sufficient to keep her smiling throughout the entire session.

I am truly inspired by many of the volunteers and the great lengths they would go to make sure that the elderly are happy. I was also blessed by one of the elderly who had prepared a birthday cake to celebrate the birthday of one of the volunteers. He has so much to give with the little he had and I really have so much to learn from all of them.

Regine 

10 MAY 回家走走

Hello!!!!!!! 

It has been a long long time since I last blogged. Good to be back! I really miss the elderly alot :'( It always feels comfortable and good to be back, to see all the new faces and of course to have short catch up with the old ones. I was grouped with Jiemin and we were assigned to visit Mdm C.M. and Mdm T.A.K.

We went to visit Mdm T.A.K. first. We swept and mopped her floor while talking to her. Topics covered were: jia ba buay(if she has eaten), whether the food was nice, the hot weather and how bathing just doesn't help, her broom bristles are coming out and littering her floor, Mothers' day celebration by TOUCH, how she prefer to fan herself rather than using electronic fan AND SHE REMEMBERED how I screamed and scared her when I saw a cockroach after lifting up a cloth. She was like ,"Oh it was you!" I still remembered how I scared her and other volunteers. But it was a natural reaction :p Whenever I see the tap at the elderly's house, I would laugh to myself. The special design of the tap only leave you with two scenarios: 1) you fill the pail with water 2) you make your back wet because you turned on the shower accidentally. Because the second scenario had occurred to me too frequently, I would instinctively move aside whenever I on the tap XD. After we were done with the chores, we sat down and ask if she remembered going to 新世界 last time. Her eyes lighted up at that topic=) She remembered she always went there to 看大戏 and shop for clothes. She said there were plenty of food stalls also, especially the yong tau foo stall which only charges 10 cents for 3 ingredients! She said in the past there were so many roadside stalls that she was able to shop from Kallang to Chinatown with her friends when they were not working. I really loved how enthusiastic she was when she was telling us all these=')

Next we visited Mdm C.M. AS usual we laughed first before talking. She looked more alert today as compared to the last time I saw her(yayyyyy!!!). But her memory is really failing. She tend to forget where she put her keys and had to search for it. I think she needs encouragement from us whenever this happens because she would to call herself "siao" when she couldn't remember where she left her keys. She taught us how to people-watch and was beaming with pride when we praised her about her cactus. When we asked her if she remembered about 新世界, she said she do! But forgot what she did over there. I am really thankful for Mdm C.M.
It must be scary to keep forgetting about things, to forget the people around you. But she never let all these
fears stop her from smiling. Her smile is still as infectious and cute. Thank Mdm C.M. For being so brave
and such an inspiration!

Sheng Xian

Last Saturday, Jeraldine, Jiamin and I visited Mdm Chow and Mdm Cheng :D

Mdm Chow is still as cute as the last time I saw her, with her signature smile. Jeraldine was the only one who was able to communicate with her with the limited hokkien that she knows and inevitably there were some silent pauses here and there during our conversations. However, whenever we look into her eyes without saying anything, she would return the gaze with a really really bright smile and we would tell her that she's very swee. She said that she is already over her 90s, how can she be swee but during our interaction I really can't help but notice over and over again the beauty she exudes with that genuine bright smile of hers.

We saw the santa hat laying around, made her wear it and took selfies and polaroids (which we left on her fridge door). These are photos of her being amused with the pompom (which has been in her house for quite a while) and trying to straighten the strands of the pompom very seriously (how cute!! :D).

When we were leaving, she stood by her door waving goodbye to us until we were out of sight. This scene makes me a little sad inside because seeing her thin arm waving down the dark corridor reminds me of how she would once again be alone after we leave :< This makes me really want to commit to coming for THES every Saturday whenever I can because I see that we really can make a difference and bring a little more happiness to them with our company.

Next, we visited Mdm Cheng next and helped to change her bedsheet. Mdm Cheng can speak chinese so Jiamin and I were able to contribute more to the conversation directly haha :) It is really comfortable talking to Mdm Cheng. She told her about her kampong days and family. We also managed to see Mdm Cheng being quite excited trying to play with her neighbour's dog, Doudou, when it passed by her door :D

Just like the other visits, this visit made me reflect quite a bit.

Happy New Year everyone! May the elderly have a healthy and happy year ahead too :D

- Mei Na :)

Last Saturday, Janice Jeremy and I visited Madam Ho. It was my first time volunteering with T.H.E Seniors and I was armed with expectations that we may have to help the elderly with their chores and talk to them. I was actually more apprehensive about the latter-that there will be a communication barrier as I cannot speak any of the Chinese dialect (although I can count 1 to 10 in Canto :D).

Fortunately Mdm Ho was a bit of a polyglot (we were told she could speak Eng Mandarin Canto, although predominantly Hokkien). As she had some difficulty with her mobility, we helped her with some simple household chores like the sweeping and mopping of her apartment, and the cleaning of her bathroom floor. There were some initial hiccups- we accidentally used the “dry mop” as the “wet mop”. On hindsight, we realize that it might have been better if we had checked with her beforehand. But it's okay, an honest mistake. We know now ^^

Mdm Ho also shared with us stories about her grandchildren and also the sharp pain she have been having behind her ear. I only realized the details of conversation after the visit when Janice translated it for me- but I was really struck by the expressions on her face during the chat. The grimace on her face when she was describing the intermittent pain she felt, and how the medications were not doing much for it. But also the smile on her face when she was sharing her stories…asking after the other volunteers who had visited in the past, gossiping hehe.

All in all, I think this was quite a great first visit for me. I have so much to learn especially when it comes to understanding each of the elderly better. And I also look forward to future visits, can brush up on my dialect eh heh. 

Oh and happy new 2014! ^^

-Jacy

T.H.E Seniors - Geylang Bahru

On the 28th dec, I went for my first house visit and we went to Mdm Khadijah's unit. I was expecting to help with some household chores prior to going there. But Mdm Khadijah's house was actually very clean and tidied up. We spent our time talking to her. She shared with us her personal stories and things that she liked and enjoyed. She likes monkeys and pandas and was telling us that she would like to visit the Zoo again, although she had gone to the Zoo several times before.

She was also telling us about her upcoming medical appointments and that she will be accompanied by volunteers. Towards the end of our meeting she told us that she liked to eat longans, but preferred to eat Papayas for dietary reasons. Victoria went down to buy for her Papayas and Longans and Mdm Khadija was very happy for it.

I am happy that I was able to spend time with her. It was a pleasant experience and I am looking forward to future sessions!
-Kali Charan

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