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Vernon Yim
Donovan Wong
Jeremy Lee
Neo Yu Pei
Hwa Chong Institution
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Monday, July 20, 2009
Having just visited the Peranakan musuem with the Parkinson patients, I have learnt a lot both from the trip and also from the patients. The outing was a unique and memorable experience for us, as it was our first time coming into direct interaction with the patients, and our first actual outing with the members of the society. We also hoped that through this outing, we would get to know more members of the society, better able to understand the patients, understand their needs and concerns, as well as to observe on how outings are carried out so that we could organise an outing ourselves for them too in the future.
At the museum, we continued with the distribution of water bottles to the other people from the other buses. Many of them smiled to us when we gave them the bottles, which made us feel happier, more relaxed and less nervous. We helped to give directions to where they were to head to, hold the lift, mostly assisting the caregivers and support group wherever we could. The four of us were split according to the two groups on the tour around the museum. Donovan and Vernon went together, while Yu Pei and I were together. In my group, I remember helping Mr Koh, holding his arm as we went about, and brought him to the gents halfway through, it was actually my first time doing so, i do not get the chance to help the elderly even in my own family. There was a lady from the support group from TTSH, she was busy taking papers and getting stamps from many machines in various parts of the museum. She was actually helping to get stamps and prints of some Peranakan symbols and pictures for the patients. I thought that she was really being very nice and caring towards the patients.
After about 2 hours at the museum, we headed for lunch at The Legends in Fort Canning. It was a really nice place, it looked very grand to me haha. There we had buffet for lunch. We also got the chance to help in some ways such as taking food for a few patients, serving them food from the trays, carry plates to their seats, pouring drinks and so on. Four of us sat with about 5 nurses from the support group from TTSH. They were asking us questions like why we were here, what our purpose was, what our project was about etc. They were very nice to us when we were talking, one of them, if im not wrong she is a sister, she even helped us get fruits haha. After having lunch, we conducted an interview with the Vice President of the Parkinson's Disease Society and his wife. He is a patient of PD as well, and he shared with us his views about the disease, how he lead his life, his goals for the society and what he hopes for the other patients.
There was a talk given by a doctor after the lunch as well. Outside the room, there was a piano. One of the patients played the piano. He was very good at playing the piano, however, as the piano was only for display, he was not able to continue playing. We saw that he was actually very capable and talented in music, and he has a strong passion for music, despite the diffculties he faces from the restricted movements. There was also the prize giving ceremony for the outstanding works of the patients. There was an elderly lady who had made a chinese word "xi" using strings of pink beads.
Al in all, it was an enjoyable and enriching day for us. We got know quite a few patients and caregivers and support group members during the outing. We would like to express our gratitude to Ms Julie for giving us the opportunity to take part in their outing, as well as the nurses from TTSH who were especially friendly and warm towards us during the outing. Below are some pictures we had taken during the outing. Enjoy viewing!
Jeremy
We came for the outing, feeling quite excited and a little nervous, because it was our first time meeting and interacting with the patients, we did not know how they would react to our presence for we are just students. When we got to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, we were quite shocked, with the number of people who had turned up for the outing. We were also actually trying to apply we had learnt previously about the characteristics in trying to identify some PD patients. We managed to spot some, however, there were many others whom we were not able to tell apart. Our first task assigned to us was to help the elderlies board the bus. Next we took the boxes of water bottles up the bus to distribute them.
At the museum, we continued with the distribution of water bottles to the other people from the other buses. Many of them smiled to us when we gave them the bottles, which made us feel happier, more relaxed and less nervous. We helped to give directions to where they were to head to, hold the lift, mostly assisting the caregivers and support group wherever we could. The four of us were split according to the two groups on the tour around the museum. Donovan and Vernon went together, while Yu Pei and I were together. In my group, I remember helping Mr Koh, holding his arm as we went about, and brought him to the gents halfway through, it was actually my first time doing so, i do not get the chance to help the elderly even in my own family. There was a lady from the support group from TTSH, she was busy taking papers and getting stamps from many machines in various parts of the museum. She was actually helping to get stamps and prints of some Peranakan symbols and pictures for the patients. I thought that she was really being very nice and caring towards the patients.
After about 2 hours at the museum, we headed for lunch at The Legends in Fort Canning. It was a really nice place, it looked very grand to me haha. There we had buffet for lunch. We also got the chance to help in some ways such as taking food for a few patients, serving them food from the trays, carry plates to their seats, pouring drinks and so on. Four of us sat with about 5 nurses from the support group from TTSH. They were asking us questions like why we were here, what our purpose was, what our project was about etc. They were very nice to us when we were talking, one of them, if im not wrong she is a sister, she even helped us get fruits haha. After having lunch, we conducted an interview with the Vice President of the Parkinson's Disease Society and his wife. He is a patient of PD as well, and he shared with us his views about the disease, how he lead his life, his goals for the society and what he hopes for the other patients.
There was a talk given by a doctor after the lunch as well. Outside the room, there was a piano. One of the patients played the piano. He was very good at playing the piano, however, as the piano was only for display, he was not able to continue playing. We saw that he was actually very capable and talented in music, and he has a strong passion for music, despite the diffculties he faces from the restricted movements. There was also the prize giving ceremony for the outstanding works of the patients. There was an elderly lady who had made a chinese word "xi" using strings of pink beads.
Al in all, it was an enjoyable and enriching day for us. We got know quite a few patients and caregivers and support group members during the outing. We would like to express our gratitude to Ms Julie for giving us the opportunity to take part in their outing, as well as the nurses from TTSH who were especially friendly and warm towards us during the outing. Below are some pictures we had taken during the outing. Enjoy viewing!
Jeremy
