This week, we did karaoke with the residents. Our original plan was to divide everyone into groups of 5 (2-3 students with residents) to sing songs, however, we were surprised when it turned out we could use the TV and mic. It was a fun activity, and many of the residents seemed to enjoy it as they sang along. We sang ‘you are my sunshine’, ‘holy night’, and ‘jingle bells’ – a few of the residents have learned these songs at church. The most popular songs were in Malay and Chinese though. A weakness of this activity was that it exemplified the language barrier between students and residents, as many students were unable to sing the Malay/Chinese/Hokkien songs the residents loved so much. The ‘cognitive’ aspect of singing was that it encourages residents to recall the lyrics, which makes them retrieve long term memories. The activity also allowed residents to discuss where they might have heard these songs from.
