Journal Update by Phoebe

First there was Seniors' Fair...

It made me realise how knowing one's dialect well can come in SO handy. I was helping out at the feedback booth most of the time and never had i felt more inadequate and incompetent in communicating. With my pathetically limited understanding of the Hokkien language, trying to translate the questions for those who only understand dialect was almost an impossibility. As a result, i would conveniently skip the harder questions. The alternative? Don't take feedback from those who don't understand English or Chinese lah. But is that fair? Every so often the uneducated elderly are neglected by the society, because information isnt presented in a form that is understandable to them, and thus they are ignorant of the various avenues through which they can obtain assistance. And while we encourage the elderly to take up language courses etc., ought not the youths and adults, who are supposed to be more active both mentally and physically, make efforts to take up lessons on dialects? I think that's the least we can do if we want to create a more elderly-friendly society.

Then there was Heritage Trail...

It was real fun doing the research on Chinese New Year and Chinatown! I was poring over the mouldy, dust-ridden reference book on Chinatown and it almost feels like being transported all the way back to Singapore in the early twentieth century. Images of people and buildings that time has forgotten intrigued me, and it's such a pity that such memories are lost in the younger generation. For the trail itself i led two different groups, the first mainly comprised of Malays in their teens and the second of primary school boys. I'm quite glad they are quite an enthusiastic bunch (i even had 'assistants' to fan me along the trail!) and their eagerness to learn made me feel more motivated as well.

And finally Spring Cleaning!

haha for the one-room flats that is. It was a pretty thought-provoking experience. i had never stepped into a one-room flat before this, and the pre-conceived notions i had of such flats were of dark corridors plagued with pests, apartments so small it's not fit for humans, and many lonely and miserable old people. I used to (secretly) condemn and label this whole one-room flat thing as 'social neglect', 'deprivation of human rights', 'the dark side of our society' etc etc. Then the spring cleaning activity changed all such notions. The two old ladies whose flat we helped to clean were healthy, cheerful and friendly. In fact they had already cleaned up the place before we arrived, and on the whole the flat looks bright and clean. While there were still things i saw that appalled me quite a bit (like how they sleep on a rock-hard surface, and the fact that some of their food has expired), it seems i was wrong in thinking that simply by moving these elderly to comfy, posh retirement condominiums their lives would be far better. Of course their living conditions are still far from perfect, and more could be done to improve it, but i believe what they really want is not so much a new air-conditioner or refrigerator. One of the them was playing cards by herself on the bed, saying that this is the only recreation she has when she's bored. If the society could engage them more in social activities, allow them to feel more included, i think they would be quite contented even with living in their one-room flats.