My thoughts on the CSR Event to 仁慈 Nursing Home

I am fortunate to join a company who believes in CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility, beyond all the other activities that company has provided for their staff. Having these events remind us that beyond earning all the money in the world, we can also do good through charitable deeds.

It was yesterday that i attended a CSR event to 仁慈 Nursing Home. It’s located within walking distance from TTSH…. near to Novena MRT Station. The last time i remembered doing something like this was when i was in Secondary School….

仁慈 Nursing Home is situated at the old site of TTSH, where it’s a one-storey building. So it’s not a very new building. But it has been home to about 200+ residents (they are not called patients, btw). Not a big place, but somewhat cosy.

Our company did the following:
1) Visited them at the wards and pushed them in wheelchairs to the event venue and back to the wards.
2) Sang Christmas carols, had a magician to perform magic tricks to entertain the residents.
3) Provided for and help to feed them
4) etc.

I was glad i went, cos this visit has set me thinking hard… the following summarizes my feelings:

Even though there’s a lot of like…xxxxx Charity shows every year, but it’s never enough to support these residents. And it’s really stepping into the home that made me realize how fortunate i am. Some of these residents are probably here for the longest time until they pass on. Sometimes, it’s due to family situation that they are left in the home.

i felt kinda sad, when i walked through the long room with residents laying on their beds on either side of the room. Some are limited in terms of diet due to their medical condition, and mostly are wheelchair-bounded. Without a doubt, it’s a lonely place. I felt it in my bones that every resident must have lived with this loneliness, not even the nurses and the staff can totally relate to. It’s a kind of pain that no one can really relate to. At some wards, we see really active residents who are zoom-ing throughout the ward on their wheelchairs… and some who just ignored whatever that is happening.

The nurses and the workers at these Homes are really the unsung heros. Some residents can be difficult to relate to due to life experiences, and they did their bestest to reach out to them.

*****

When u reach ur 30’s, there’s a mindset change that u recognize that your parents are getting old. It’s a scary thought actually when u realize that they are aging faster than u think. I think i’m in this phrase where i recognise more white hair… more wrinkles… on my parents’ faces.

Growing up, i saw how my grandparents grew old and how they passed on... i’m glad that they were never in a nursing home, where they get to see us everyday. And i want my parents to be well taken-care of at their own house when they are old. Because it’s about honoring them, isn’t it?

The word of God says that:

Exodus 20:12 (AMP)
Regard (treat with honor, due obedience, and courtesy) your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God gives you.

I need to learn to spend more time with my parents. Beyond My Church, My life, there’s also my FAMILY.

F.A.M.I.L.Y = Father And Mother I Love You