Connecting with the elderly has always been one of things that I wished from the bottom of my heart. Being a part of the ‘Memoirs of the Pioneer’ local service, connecting and communicating with the elderly are two things that are extremely essential for my purpose of joining this service. As a part of this experience, last week I got the opportunity to visit the elderly at the Lion Befrienders centre, and was able to interact and communicating with them, while learning more about their intriguing lives as well as discovering some of the most essential secrets to ‘life’.

At first, I was daunted by the idea of communicating with the elderly. The fear of a generation gap coupled with the fear of a language barrier were truly frightening. The lady I spoke to was not proficient in English and only spoke a Singaporean dialect of mandarin. Being completely unaware of mandarin, initially it wasn’t possible for me to strike a deep conversation with her. However , soon I learnt how to ask her certain questions that she would be interested in answering which further helped me to develop a certain bond with her. Overall, the experience was really fun and I learnt how to overcome challenges and develops the new skill of communicating with the elderly (LO2). This was only possible because after I struggled initially to strike a meaningful and lasting conversation with Ms Phoon, I learnt more about her and realised that it is extremely essential for us to have a greater knowledge and insight about the person we are talking to in order for us to engage them in a conversation.

From this really enriching experience, I take back the valuable skill of communication with people from a different age group as well as a pride that I have understood some of the ethical implications of our actions(LO7). I can surely say that I have learnt that the elderly are an essential part of our society and taking care of them is our duty and responsibility rather than something extra. I can surely say that I have become more determined and motivated for this cause and will carry this throughout my life and pay even more attention and consciously work to improve the condition of the elderly in our society. Furthermore, I have learnt that perseverance is the biggest part in overcoming a challenge and so is critical thinking. If I wouldn’t have thought about what Ms Phoon would like in a conversation and wouldn’t have struggled in the first few minutes, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to learn the art of communicating with her. Hence, I believe that I have learnt a positive approach to solving and tackling challenges that come up during our lives and I will surely use this during this future.