SINGAPORE – Madam Siew Kwee Chan, 83, was excited to see her old friend Soong Yee Hoi, 94, for the first time in three years when she attended a Chinese New Year’s Eve reunion lunch organised by the Henderson-Dawson Citizens’ Consultative Committee.
The pair live near each other in public rental flats in Bukit Merah, but could not meet during the Covid-19 pandemic. Though they have each other’s contact numbers, they seldom talk on the phone as Madam Soong is hard of hearing.
The duo go back a long way – they were colleagues for six years in Chinese restaurant Ming Palace in their 20s and 30s. Madam Siew made dimsum while Madam Soong helped out in the kitchen.
They lost contact afterwards but ran into each other in the market decades later, when Madam Siew moved to Bukit Merah in her 60s.
The duo were among the 140 elderly residents of the Henderson-Dawson ward in Tanjong Pagar GRC who attended Saturday’s lunch at Henderson Community Club, organised for the elderly who come from a low-income background and live alone.
“The last time we came here was 2020,” said Madam Siew. “I’m so happy to be reunited with Yee Hoi again. She has to use a wheelchair now but I’m glad to see she’s still in good health.”
The reunion lunch – coordinated by volunteers from the Henderson-Dawson Grassroots Organisations, American Women’s Association and Hua Yuan Association – has been bringing festive cheer to the lonely elderly of Henderson-Dawson district since 2008.
Lunch was served by 40 volunteers, after welcome remarks by guest of honour Joan Pereira, an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, followed by the celebratory tossing of yusheng salad.
Madam Goh Oh Keing, 98, was another participant, interacting with other guests in Hokkien.
Madam Goh, who uses a wheelchair, has no living relatives and lives in a rental flat with her helper. “I’m very grateful to be invited,” she said.
Ms Pereira, in noting the return of the reunion lunch after the last one was held in 2020, thanked the sponsors and volunteers. Bento sets were distributed to the residents during the pandemic in 2021 and 2022.
The chairman of the organising committee, Mr William Tan, said: “Apart from spending time with (lonely elderly), we also want to spread the value of volunteerism and encourage everyone to contribute towards a healthy and caring community.
“Volunteerism is one of the best ways of understanding their new environment and the people with whom they share their common spaces with.”
