‘I made plenty of buddies’: Seniors unfold festive pleasure at this energetic ageing centre in Tampines, Way of life News

On a quiet Tuesday (Dec 17) afternoon, excited chatter might be heard from the void deck of an unassuming HDB block alongside Tampines Street 43.

At 2pm sharp, dozens of seniors dressed of their greatest outfits began milling into the Lions Befrienders Active Ageing Centre for its annual Christmas celebration.

The centre was all decked out in vibrant Christmas decorations. Staff, in addition to volunteers, had arrange tables with wood nutcracker figures, brushes and watercolours for the primary exercise: nutcracker portray.

While a number of the attendees focused on the exercise, others chatted with each other as common Christmas tunes stuffed the room.

Once everybody was accomplished portray their nutcrackers, they showcased each their handiwork and outfits to 1 one other within the catwalk section amidst resounding cheers and applause.

The seniors then voted for these they believed had the very best nutcrackers and outfits, with the highest three contenders profitable prizes.

Amongst these winners was 68-year-old Doris Tay, who has been visiting this centre for 3 years.

Speaking to AsiaOne, Doris shared that she had initially joined the train lessons held on the centre to remain energetic after retiring from her retail affiliate job of 30 years.

Over time, she grew to become extra concerned with the centre’s actions, spending as much as 5 days per week chatting, enjoying video games, and having meals with different seniors.

“I made a lot of friends here. Last time… I just went to work and came back home. At most, I knew my neighbours only,” Doris mentioned.

“But now, I know so many people in the area. Even when I go to the market, I will see them and stop to say hi and catch up.”

Earlier this 12 months, workers on the energetic ageing centre requested Doris if she want to volunteer.

While she felt grateful for the chance, the retiree instructed AsiaOne she initially had reservations about it.

“I was worried I wouldn’t have time because I needed to take care of my home… especially my husband,” she mentioned, explaining that he was considerably of a homebody and didn’t work together with others a lot.

“I was scared he would get lonely or fall and get hurt when no one is at home.”

Eventually, Doris determined to volunteer with Lions Befrienders on an ad-hoc foundation, which permits her to stability her duties at dwelling and on the centre.

Her duties embrace accompanying and helping aged members for outings deliberate by the centre and distributing goodies throughout occasions organised by Lions Befrienders and its neighborhood accomplice, the Christian Outreach for the Handicapped.

“Of course, my family comes first. But this (volunteering) is also important to me. I want to help others,” she mentioned, including that she ensures one in every of her youngsters is at dwelling together with her husband earlier than she leaves for the centre.

Doris shared that she feels a way of function and satisfaction from volunteering, and receiving acknowledgement for her efforts is a bonus.

“Just them saying ‘Thank you’ means a lot, I don’t need anything else,” she mentioned.

An alternative to work together

The second a part of the energetic ageing centre’s Christmas celebration was a Carnival Games section.

Seniors had been cut up into teams. The first individual had to make use of chopsticks to stack two rows of plastic cups as rapidly as potential.

The subsequent individual would then should separate the cups earlier than doing the identical, and the method was repeated till everybody had taken their flip.

The first group to finish the duty received the sport.

It was a high-energy affair, with many getting aggressive, and a few cheering their teammates on as they went neck-to-neck with each other.

Among the gamers of this recreation had been husband-and-wife duo Peggy Tan and Andrew Koh, each 78.

The aged couple instructed AsiaOne they had been grateful to have the ability to have a good time the festive season on the centre with their buddies and neighborhood.

“It’s a very warm feeling. I see some of them on wheelchairs and with the tongkat (walking stick) still coming down to join in, it’s great,” Andrew mentioned.

The couple had began attending periods on the centre to maintain themselves occupied after retirement, they mentioned.

Andrew, beforehand a senior technician with the Singapore Air Force, first visited the centre 5 years in the past. Around two years later, he inspired Peggy to affix him.

When requested how she feels concerning the energetic ageing centre, Peggy mentioned: “I’m grateful… because we can enjoy a lot of things like going out for meals and making handicrafts.”

The former finance assistant added that she and her husband had made many new buddies on the centre, a few of whom that they had seen round for years however by no means had the chance to work together with.

Community, tradition and custom

Moments like these are precisely why such occasions are so necessary.

Lions Befrienders govt director Karen Wee emphasised that festive celebrations convey a way of neighborhood, tradition, and custom — particularly to seniors.

“They can celebrate what they have now, and reminisce about the traditions and culture that they were brought up in,” she mentioned, including that these festivities additionally convey hope to the seniors.

Karen additionally acknowledged that the centre hosts celebrations for numerous different festivals similar to Deepavali, Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Puasa.

“It’s a time of social bonding, for all of them (seniors) to come together across race, religion and social class,” she mentioned.

[[nid:722485]]

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com