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:

Yo all. Jeremy here, blogging for the 18th August visit last week. It's our first visit for the brand new academic year.

First up, our group of 5 visited Mr Tay. It was my first time visiting Mr Tay; he lives just a few units away from our dear commander Mdm Cheong. Prior to this visit, I've heard many stories about him from my fellow volunteers who visited him before. He is partially blind and described as lonely and emo, and every visit would include bringing him to the kopitiam downstairs for coffee and a breather. In addition, he would need newspapers because apparently he uses them to clean himself.

Things were going smoothly at Mr Tay's place. We were chatting with him (I tried my best to speak in proper hokkien because I am bad at it haha) and keeping him company. However, the ration delivery was late; usually Mr Tay would receive his packed lunch at 10-11am but this time it came at 12+ (there was a delay in the logistics). Inevitably Mr Tay felt very hungry, but refused our offer of bringing him downstairs for lunch because he may end up missing the packed lunch delivery and spending unnecessary money on food, and also not to trouble us. He asked us to help him call his sister on the phone. On the first try she did not pick up. Mr Tay grew even more frustrated and when his sister finally called back, he took it out on her angrily through the phone. The packed lunch finally came, then we split up into smaller groups: Pheng Heong and I would bring Mr Tay downstairs for coffee, while Chunhai would lead his group to Mdm Cheong's place.

Mr Tay finally had his coffee after some persuasion. His special order is to add a few chunks of butter into his kopi, and it smelt very nice to be honest hahaha. During this coffee session, Mr Tay was very quiet, probably trying to simmer down after feeling angry earlier on. Furthermore, he woke up at 5am that day, so he's kind of tired as well. Once he's done, we sent him back and proceeded to Mdm Cheong's. And as usual, he would thank us repeatedly and remind us to come back to visit him again soon.

My thoughts after my first visit to Mr Tay's place was that in such a situation that happened was unexpected, and there's only this much that us volunteers can do, to keep him company and try to appease him. I felt that we did an okay job, because we have to understand that the elderly can get very impatient and stubborn at times and they need an outlet to rant or vent their frustrations. Hence when a similar incident were to occur again, we are better prepared to deal with it and act accordingly.

Anyways when we reached Mdm Cheong's the other group was done with helping with the chores. She was showing them photos of her that were taken at Touch's activities.

Actually it took me close to a year before learning about Mdm Cheong's past: she was diagnosed with depression after her husband's death. She was pretty down until she started attending events at Touch centre and she picked herself up ever since. Very hard to tell because she's always cheerful and optimistic, and always lending a helping a helping hand to other elderly. 

And that's about it for the official visit on the 18th August. Every visit is a new experience, and I hope to inculcate that in the new volunteers who are joining us in the next few weeks during the orientation visits. Looking forward to it! :)

18th Aug visit

Hello everyone!

Yi’an here! Last week (18^th August 2012) my group visited Mr Chiu and Mr Tan. We had a fun time at Mr Chiu’s house as he’s a rather jovial person. Camy found traces of evidence of him smoking and he said that he only smokes when he goes to the toilet to do his business! His floor was dusty due to the ashes from the burnt joss sticks and we cleaned it up for him. Our team also continued covering the ant holes to prevent the insects from entering his house. He showed us a flyer of an event organized by the community center, which was a walk at Marina Bay the following week and also shared the tv shows he faithfully tunes in to; such as 黄金年华. He appeared to be in good health although he needs the exercise!

Next up was to Mr Tan’s house. Mrs Tan was not in as she went out to collect medicine for her chronic illness. She went out around 7am and only returned after 4-5hours when we were almost done with the cleaning of the house. During our stay there, Mr Tan shared stories of Singapore’s past during the Japanese occupation. He related the story of his friend’s father who managed to escape death miraculously in the Japanese’s attempt to kill any of those who had received good education. The motive behind their actions was to thwart any congregation of those who had the potential to mastermind revolts against them. By right, all of them had to have wires pierced through their palms so that none of them could escape. But he secretly pretended to do so, when in actual fact he placed the wires in between his fingers and when the Japanese started shooting, he pretended to collapse and die, only to crawl out after they cleared away.

Such stories of Singapore’s past brought me chills and also gratefulness that our generation escaped living in such hard times. While Singapore is no longer as it was, there’s often a general consensus that youths like us aren’t aware of the past which I agree with. People of the older generation remember stories which go about untold and unheard, and I find it such a pity that part of our history is being eroded away quietly as time passes by. As much as the primary objective of our volunteering is to help our Seniors at TOUCH, I do find ourselves in a position where we too are contributing to society. We’re giving a helping hand to those that are in precarious positions of coping with ageing and health issues, it’s something that policies might overlook and networks might miss. I hope everyone realizes that they’re not just a nobody in this volunteering outlet; each and every one of us is important, so I thank you for coming down every/alternate week to THE and I hope to see you guys each/every week too. T.H.E JIAYOU! ^.^

p.s: sorry my posts are forever so wordy! But if you read through everything, THANK YOU!!!!!!!

Yi’an

Hi, I am Jocelyn, a volunteer at T.H.E. Seniors.

To share a little segment of my visit on 18 August, let's start from our visit with Mdm Tan. 

Together with Yi an, Eng soon and Criss, we went to Mdm Tan's house. We did no cleaning because - like what one of the volunteers said: Her house is so clean you can roll around on the floor! 

Just as we sat down, Mdm Tan told us to help her put thread into her needles; she would need these as and when there are holes in her clothes, etc.

(And I thought it was quite cute to see 3 tough guys doing this needle work! Haha)

While putting thread into the needles, we held small conversations about the vegetables distribution, about her cough. She then shared with us that she had cut her finger when she was trying to cut her nails...

The font colour of the words of which you've been reading thus far probably represents ONLY to a small extent the difficulty Mdm Tan has with sight.

With her head hung low, she shared how useless it feels to lose (partial of) her eyesight. She gritted her teeth and clasped her hands tight. I could feel the immense sense of sadness, a sense of loss, maybe. I felt it so hard as if it was my own pain and for a moment, I was lost for words. I did not want to give just a casual response to trivialize her loss. Yet I did not want to dwell deeper and make the atmosphere too heavy.

The room was silent for a while too... before Yi an, once again, poured some humor into the air by playing with his (huge) scissors and talking about other random topics. Then Mdm Tan smiled and laughed again. 

It may not permanently remove her sorrows, but I believe, even for one split second, the humor did brighten up Mdm Tan's day and the laughter came from her heart. (Her laughter is really cute! If you've not heard it before, it sounds like... Like she's playing hide-and-seek and she caught you! There are elements of excitement and mischievousness. I bet she must be a fun person to hang out with when she was schooling! - and actually now too. She enjoys talking about her life!) :)

A while later we were supposed to leave, but I felt reluctant. I thought: what would the house be like after we close the door? It will be back to Mdm Tan being alone at home. Back to silence. And that thought killed me.

As a volunteer, how does it feel like to say byebye? "Just say bye and go to the next house!"?
As an elderly, how would it feel like to see the volunteers leave?

==================================================================

On a lighter note, of course, we went to Mdm Ho's. As usual, sweeping, mopping, un-dusty-ing the mats, and cleaning fans. We sat there for quite a while after the cleaning, listening to her talk about all sorts of topics - from the government to the people living in Blks 61 & 62 to the past and present volunteers.

It is really interesting how Mdm Ho remembers her volunteers - every single one, she said. She remembers us by the places we live in and our family background. For example, she refers me as the girl who stays in Ang Mo Kio, whose dad would fetch her here every Sat, and whose mom would complain because she is not doing household chores in her own house but in elderly's houses.
Such details are keyed into her memory, and everyone is an unique individual volunteer to her.

The theme of this blog post is probably this: to switch your position and imagine what it feels like to be the elderly. In Mdm Ho's story, we have learnt that as much as the elderly mean a lot to us as beneficiaries we visit weekly, we actually mean a lot to them too. Don't ever belittle the power of the 2/3 hours every week.

==================================================================

I am blessed to have gotten to know these elderly! .....But sorry ah, I am not contented. I want to get to know more about them, get them to share with us more more more about their stories and learn about their life experiences! And the only way to optimize my learnings is to attend these lessons regularly.

Every (alternate) Saturdays 10:30am-1:30pm. Are you coming with me? :)

21st of July was my second time visiting the elderly with T.H.E Seniors. On this session, we made visits to Mdn Chua, Mdn Cheong and Mr Tay. Mdn Chua and Mr Tay were familiars as I had visited them on my first time here; nonetheless, the experience was different. Mdn Chua was nursing a cold she contracted just 1 day ago when we visited her house. We swept and mopped the floor and wiped the windows clean. After some time chatting to her, I saw a side of her I had never seen before. She took out the stack of poker cards that one of the volunteers had given her as a gift and played card games which involved only one player. It may not seem much but we really have to take our hats off to her as her reaction time was at times faster than us in the game. It made me think about what she often says which roughly translates to: when people grow old, they become useless. Looking at her, I wanted to tell her that it really isn’t true. They may be limited in their movements and reaction times, but as long as their minds, bodies and spirits are still fighting on in life, they aren’t useless at all. 

We visited Mdn Cheong next and for the first time, I scrubbed a toilet clean. Our group jokingly mentioned Mdn Cheong as “The Commander” before entering her house. But while being directed to do work, I could see that none of us were doing the chores begrudgingly. I don’t enjoy cleaning toilets in general and this experience made me reflect upon how volunteers challenge their own limits in small ways through their volunteering experience. In a way, volunteering not only changes the lives of the beneficiaries but also does well to the joy bringers. My volunteering experience changed my lives in the smallest aspects but they mean something to me. I thought about how I lost the passion for giving to society and I’m glad I found it back (: 


Our last household for the day was Mr Tay and he was in a lot of pain as he had taken ill recently. We brought him out of the house to get some fresh air and collected his letters for him from the mailbox. He was very stressed out by the bills even though they were waived by the government due to the financial package given out in lieu with The Budget this year. We tried to reassure his fears of being unable to afford his daily expenses but he still seemed depressed. I hope the upcoming event can bring a smile to his face. On the other hand, I was relieved and happy to find out that Mdn Cheong runs errands on his behalf such as buying of bread. I remember on my first visit, Mr Tay mentioned that he had no interaction with the neighbors as he can’t see and hence cannot converse with them. Such help extended to Mr Tay signal a gradual integration into the neighborhood to me as a bystander.


Sorry for the wordy post guys! I’ve been enjoying myself at each T.H.E visit and I thank everyone for welcoming me into your volunteer network (: 


 Yi'an

My First Experience with T.H.E.Seniors (21 July 2012)

Hello my name is Ann (: Although I have volunteered before, this is my first time with T.H.E. Seniors and visiting the elderly in Geylang Bahru in Blocks 61 and 62. My compassion for the elderly led me to write my thesis on how they cope with growing old in their living environments in Singapore. Then I realized that in writing about them, I need to understand them as well, and the best way to do so is to volunteer, so that I can know and meet their needs both in writing and in action. (:

Last Saturday, 21 July 2012, together with Yin Min, Yi An, Shawn, Yingcong and Jaclyn, my group visited 3 elders, namely Mr Lim, Mdm Choi Moi and Mdm Tan.

1. Mr Lim

First we went to visit Mr Lim. Mr Lim was watching television on his reclining chair just in front of the television set when we arrived. His house was very neat and tidy, and the radio was turned on as well, and the mood in the house was bright and positive.

Mr Lim is a very cheerful and positive person. It is evident that he has built a close and sincere friendship with this group of volunteers, as he looked really happy to see our faces. We proceeded with cleaning up the house.

After which we sat down to have a chat with him for some time. Mr Lim constantly mentioned about one of the organizations that helped him to move his old stuff away, and gave his house a new coat of paint, and how his house looks clean and how the white walls are very nice. I can see that he was really touched by such a gesture, and according to one of the volunteers, the walls of his flat used to be black in colour, and this lighter colour actually lifted his spirits and brightened up the house. The television set was given to Mr Lim by the organization as well, and he says that he enjoys watching ‘angmoh’ news (the television was turned to Channel Newsasia)! That made me very happy. Mr Lim also talked about how he manages to save electricity because he only uses his lights or electric appliances when he needs, and mostly at night.

Recently, he went to the hospital as he could not breathe well, and although he feels much better now, he has around 7 types of medicine that he needs to eat. But the medicine looked very scary to him (and it looked scary to me as well), and since he collected it from the pharmacist, not his doctor, he doubts its authenticity. I felt really sad – although I knew that the medicine would help him, but his fear of eating so many different types of medicine especially without any understanding of them was justified and I didn’t want him to feel afraid. Thankfully, Yin Min explained that each medicine had a purpose, and it was to help certain areas of his body to recover. Although still in doubt, he looked convinced that he should start eating some of them.

Someone came to deliver food to Mr Lim, and it was heart-warming to see that his neighbours/friends in the same block care about each other and help one another.

After chatting for a while more, we had to leave for the next house. Mr Lim said that he was very thankful that we came to visit him and helped to clean his house each week, and this makes him very happy. I was so amazed that how little we actually did meant so much to him. Also, I felt that the knowledge gap between the doctor and the patient should be bridged, as it is worrying if a patient does not choose to eat the medication prescribed because of a lack of knowledge about its benefits. This visit also enlightened me about the problems and troubles that these seniors faced.

2. Mdm Choi Moi

Then, we went to visit Mdm Choi Moi. Mdm Choi Moi is a very bright and cheery lady with a smile on her face most of the time, especially if you make eye contact with her, and she likes to joke as well. As her house was rather tidy, we sat down to have a chat with her.

She took out two photo albums to show us while we chatted with her, and most of them were taken at TOUCH gatherings or pictures taken with friends. When we asked her about the places she visited, she could not remember them, but she remembered the people that she spent time with which were important to her.

Mdm Choi Moi was not wearing her hearing aid but she seemed to be able to pick out words that we were saying and could hold a conversation with us. I was shocked to know that she was 91, as she was very mobile and could walk around without the aid of a walking stick and could manage cooking (she cooked her own lunch) and even heard us very well. She said she liked to walk around in her flat and she could people watch from her window which made her very happy. She laughs a lot, which made me very happy too. She explained that she preferred not to go down and take walks as if she falls down, she would not have anyone to call for help or depend on, so she decided to people watch from her and walk around her flat, and I felt that it was a smart measure that she took to protect herself.

We also read a newspaper article that dated back to 1998 where her picture was featured, and although it says that she wanted a radio, Mdm Choi Moi never got one. She has a television now though.

3. Mdm Tan

Then, we went to visit Mdm Tan. She is a nice lady with a calm outlook, and it was evident that she had a close relationship with the volunteers as well. Her house was generally neat and tidy. We cleaned and tidied up her house and started chatting with her after.

One of the volunteers informed me that she had cataracts in her eye and so she could not see clearly. After chatting with Mdm Tan, I realized that she had an unpleasant and upsetting experience after her surgery on one of her eyes, as the condition of her eye did not improve and she felt unwell after the surgery. This caused her to lose confidence in doctors and thus she did not seek further treatment after that.

Although she could not see us very well, she recognized some of the volunteers by their voice, and when we spoke to her, she directed her attention to the source of the voice. She was still having her cough despite taking many different types of medications, and we decided to get Pi Pa Gao for her so that perhaps it might soothe her throat. We also told her about the upcoming National Day Celebration event and asked her join in the activity. 

This experience last Saturday left me feeling bittersweet – although it was meaningful that we can make a difference in their lives; sometimes what we do might not change their situation, we can only do so much, listen and feedback to the authorities, and that disheartens me. But what matters is the relationship formed and that is invaluable.

-Ann :)
(PS. Yinmin we miss you!)