Hi all, our group visited Mdm Cheong and for most of us, it's the first time we are doing a house visit. For those volunteering for the first time with T.H.E.Seniors, we didn't know what we should be expecting or what we should be doing. Therefore, we were feeling excited and uneasy at the same time.

However, upon meeting Mdm Cheong, all forms of uneasiness disappeared. Legend has it that she's a really cute lady and it was true! She welcomed us warmly into her house and despite offers to help her with many of her chores, she insisted on completing it herself. We proceed to completing some of the simple tasks like cleaning windows, mopping floor etc. The tasks were completed swiftly due to the elite task force. Despite not doing much for her, she generously offered packets of drinks for us. Some of us didn't want to accept the drinks as it meant that she would have to buy more of it. However, she made sure all of us had a packet of drink in hand. That wasn't enough, she made sure everyone of us was drinking from it.

We sat down to chat with her, she was really bubbly and told us of the series of activities that she had planned out for herself. She took pride in her busy schedule, consistently reminding us of how busy she was. I could tell that she was enjoying our company as she had many topics to talk to us about. We didn't had any 'frozen' atmosphere as Mdm Cheong's cheerful & adorable nature liven up the atmosphere.

From the visit, we realise that the main thing wasn't about the chores nor the topics we were talking about. It's the quality time we were spending with Mdm Cheong. For the small amount of time and effort we put in, we were able to see her smiles, listen to her lively conversations. It was worth it and we were glad we made a small difference.

“"Being good is commendable, but only when it is combined with doing good is it useful."

-Edmund

(On behalf of Pei Jen, Wei Jiang, Amanda, Gillian & Louise)

Hi I’m Cherie and it is my first time volunteering with T.H.E seniors. My group went to visit Mr Tay on 1^st September. I really did not know what to expect but just followed along with my group’s seniors. When Mr Tay opened the door, we were greeted warmly and he invited us into his house. He was really so friendly and kept asking if we had eaten already.

One thing really different about Mr Tay is that he enjoys going down to the coffee shop to drink coffee with butter added in it! I was pleasantly surprised as it was my first time seeing butter being added to coffee. I could not help but smile when I saw Mr Tay took the first sip of his coffee and smiled so happily. It then occurred to me how the simplest things can make a person so happy and satisfied.

We chatted with him and he told us many interesting stories. Although I could not speak nor fully understand Hokkien, I was roughly able to get his stories with the help of group members who understood. He told us what he did during his younger days and how he really enjoyed his freedom. Also, Mr Tay shared with us where he used to work and coincidentally, he was friends with one of my group members’ grandfather. There were moments when he was not all cheery and the group had to encourage him. Later on, another group joined our group to listen to Mr Tay’s stories. When he heard that many people were listening to him, he was elated.

At the end of the visit, he thanked us many times for spending time talking to him. I felt that the entire experience was very meaningful. It showed me how the little that we can do for them could bring such a heart-warming smile to their faces.

-Cherie 

Orientation Visit 1

Hello, my name’s shurui and I’m a new volunteer with T.H.E.S! My group, consisting of Jocelyn, Chaur Ann, Jia Qi, Yingshuen and myself, visited Mdm Tan on 1^st Sept. Upon entering, Mdm Tan greeted us cheerfully yet a tinge of sadness lingered on in the atmosphere, a result of her encounter that morning where she was reminded of her partial loss of sight. She felt she was accused of being greedy as she didn’t realize that her meal had already been passed to her and hence, was waiting for it.

Mdm Tan’s flat was exceptionally clean and not the least bit cluttered with unwanted items as I would have imagined - a common issue with some elderly. However, she complained of her floor being sticky and thus Jia Qi and I helped to sweep and mop the floor. In addition, Chaur Ann and Yingshuen wiped the windows while Jocelyn chatted with Mdm Tan. Upon finishing with the cleaning, we joined in the conversation too. We chatted with her on a range of topics, including keeping a pet as a companion which evoked a huge reaction from her.

At times, I found her quite adorable when she giggled, folded her arms across her chest, leaned back against her chair and maybe, pouted slightly. This genuine childlike laughter warmed my heart and truly made the mere 3hrs at her place memorable. I was also quite fascinated to seeing an elderly being shy (She doesn’t hang her clothes to dry when volunteers are around!!). It showed me that there isn’t much difference between the elderly and us. They, too, have their moments of joy and discouragement.

During the interaction with Mdm Tan, I felt quite handicapped as I wasn’t able to understand and contribute much to the conversation although I could roughly decipher the topics touched on.  But what is this compared to the difficulties that these elderly are faced with? Lastly, as much as we are volunteering to help the elderly with household chores and keeping them company, they are also offering us an invaluable experience of a lifetime. I’ll definitely be going down again the next visit! (:

Whatssup world? I am here today to blog about my orientation visit to T.H.E. Seniors. For the orientation visit, each group of new volunteers were paired up with 2 seniors where we visited the elderly's home. For this visit, we went to Mdm Chua's place. Mdm Chua is an 80plus year old lady who always have a smile on her face. We helped her to clean up her place which includes sweeping, mopping and cleaning the windows. One thing that touches me is that Mdm Chua told us that without the help of volunteers, her house wouldn't be tidy and clean as she is unable to do the chores. This shows that there ought to be people in society which needs our help. 

After the cleaning session, we had a long chat with her where she shared with us her life story. She told us that she used to work at a hotel where she helped out in the kitchen(where she worked for 20 odd years there), as well as the challenges she faced and the regrets she had. She said she started off as a junior staff but was promoted to an assistant in the kitchen where she would make sandwiches and salads for guests. Since she is illiterate, she had difficulty when taking on the job at first, but managed to do well after learning and improving. She even told us she had never gotten a wrong order! In addition, she also know how to make vegetables curving like creating a rose out of tomato.

On the note of her personal life, she have three sons who are extremely good to her (including her daughter-in-laws). Due to a slight dementia, Mdm Chua would use a poker card to remind her which son visited her that day. (Ace meaning the elder son, two meaning the second son and so forth). How innovative is that?! Finally, she said that she had lived in Kallang for over 10 years and is very appreciative of the help and concern she received from T.H.E. Seniors. All in all, this experience taught me that despite we moving on to a globalised city-state, there ought to be ppl who needs help and assistance in society. An fulfilling orientation visit I must say.

Koh Kok Seng

My orientation visit!

Hello, Lingqun here. Actually this is my first time to join "The Seniors" and I have never taken part in such a meaningful activity before. I feel quite enjoyable and learn a lot.

My group consists of terry, jeraldine,jingying,yian,chunhai and me .Among them,YiAn ,Chunhai and Eng Soon are our seniors and lead our other four newcomers to visit Mr.Tan's home.

At the beginning, I think it must be a quite tired job and I am afraid that I cannot do very well. However, thank god, when Mr.Tan opened his door, we all are so surprised cos his home is so clean, which means we do not need to help clean. Haha~~~And he can speak Mandarin, so lucky!

So, the only thing we can do is just to chat with Mr.Tan and watch TV together. Mr.Tan is a quite friendly elderly and knows so much knowledge about politics, history, delicious food and so on.To our surprise greatly, Mr.Tan knows Sun Zhongshan unexpectedly. He told us Chinese History and discussed the relationship between Taiwan and Chinese mainland with us.

For me, as a Chinese, I was touched since he said definitely Taiwan belongs to Chinese mainland all the time.

Moreover, Mr.Tan’wife came back when we were chatting with Mr.Tan. She is also a quite kind grandma and enthusiastic to us

It is not difficult to find Mr.Tan and Mrs.Tan are enjoyable for their present living state.

By the way, I wanna say Chunhai speaks Mandarin very very very well and I admire him deeply.

Ok. This is my short summary for my first try to visit elderly and it is a thing I want to insist on in the future.

Although it is sad that most of these elderly do not have sons and daughters, I believe that they can still feel our love to them.

That’s enough.

My group!

- Lingqun

Not my turn to post but I took some pictures last visit, so why not? Haha.

Mdm Cheong

Mdm Cheong Smiling

Mdm Cheong with Camy


Uncle Lee with the pictures they drew during one of the events; not one of the elderly under our care but always there to chit chat with us before the visit. Haha.



2 of the pictures that he drew, looks very chim so maybe you all can go ask him the meaning behind it. Haha.


-The real Yi An

Orientation Visit 1!

Yo it's Jeremy again. Blogging for our first orientation visit today. It also marks my full year volunteering here at T.H.E.S, and it's awesome to see so many newcomers and volunteers in a while. Year 2 loh!

My group consists of Yi'an, Yunying, Shimin, Adeline and myself. We visited Mdm Chow Moi, and as usual her place did not require cleaning, so we sat around and chatted with her. She's jovial as usual, always smiling (which is a stark contrast from celebrations where she appeared very sian). She did not put on her hearing aid, as she mentioned that it would be uncomfortable, so we had to speak louder for her to hear us.

I told her that I am learning Hokkien slowly, here's her 金玉良言 words of wisdom:

"要学东西就敢敢学, 不要怕被人家笑."

And contrary to popular belief, she is not a 红头巾 although she looked like one when she donned the red cloth during national day celebrations hahaha.

When asked if she wanted to go to the centre downstairs for a stroll, she would reject our offer. Normally she dare not venture out as she is afraid of falling down and it would be troublesome. Instead, she people-watches from her kitchen window. Her eating and sleeping habits are go-with-the-flow, meaning that when she's hungry she'll cook and when she's tired she just goes to bed. She drinks Chinese wine once in a while too. She's also against the idea of attending activities at Touch Activity Centre, her reason was that she's afraid that she can't click with the other residents.

We 自拍-ed! As usual Mdm Chow's very amazed at this self photo function.

Top (left to right): Yi'an, Shimin
Bottom: Me, Mdm Chow, Yunying, Adeline

When we left Mdm Chow's place, I remembered Jocelyn's words. What exactly go through the elderlies' minds at that instant, and what's gonna happen after we leave? They'll be back in their solitude surrounded by 4 walls. This is something that we should think about and reflect on.

After that our group popped by the kopitiam downstairs and joined Camy's group who are visiting Mr Tay and brought him there as usual for his kopi + butter chunks. He's certainly in better mood today compared to the other time we visited him. Didn't talk to him much, I doubt he will remember my voice but I hope to have more lim kopi sessions with him in the future.

We had our debrief at the activity centre. I hope this week's visit is enriching for the newcomers, as well as the regular volunteers, and hope that they will have the drive to come again. One of the thinking questions was what was the reason that made us chose T.H.E.S. I don't have a CORNy answer to it though.

I just love it. :)

Here's ending off with our Commander Mdm Cheong's masterpiece: