The home’s mascot, a white and obviously over-fed mongrel, had come in for its tea time treat. Much to its minder’s chagrin, the craft ladies had put their sewing down to ply the animal with roasted peanuts.
“Eh, how can you feed the dog peanuts, for goodness sake. Do you want it to end up like one of your stuffed towel dollies?” cried the dog’s minder incredulously.
As if a sensitive chord had been struck, 75-year-old Ho Mei Yin turned around immediately.
“And what’s wrong with my towel dollies? Why search far and wide and you’ll never find anything that will come close to it,” snapped this feisty craft room supervisor.
Arf arf: Dorothy Loke’s stuffed doggies make the best pets around. She went on to expound on the uniqueness of her towel dollies saying that they were always the first to be sold out at all the charity bazaars and how the proceeds have helped the old folks home belonging to the Little Sisters of The Poor in Sri Lanka
This exchange of playful banter would prompt Dorothy Loke, 71, to ad lib that her stuffed doggies were not doing too badly either.
Proudly waving a patchwork pooch with the cotton still sticking out from an opened end, she commented that hers made for the best pets around because they come with no hassles.
“See, how cute they are? Don’t you feel like giving it a big hug,” said Loke smiling sweetly as she cuddles up to her faux pooch.
At this juncture, Agnes Cheng, 71, who was stuffing polymer cotton into the body of a dolly said: “Aiyah, all our work is nice. No need to compare”.
For a moment there was silence safe for the soft rustling of octagon-shaped paper pieces being encased in scraps of cotton fabric from Tan Yoke Far’s table.
The 72-year-old was in the midst of making a patchwork quilt and the effort of making sure the pieces were precisely joined together has taken up all her concentration, making her largely unaware of the proceedings that had taken place.
It would take all kinds of characters to make this craft room a lively place - from the quiet types like Tan to the livelier characters like Ho and Loke.
To a certain extent, it is the noisiest place in this old folk’s home and certainly the busiest, apart from the kitchen.
The craft centre at the Little Sisters of The Poor is into its fourth year now.
This facility, which is part of a charity, run Catholic organisation to provide care for the elderly, has a regular output of craft products made by the home’s residents.
Far from being a sweatshop, the craft centre has been designated as “hobby” place where residents like Ho, Loke, Cheng and Tan can exercise their creativity and test out their skills.
“The whole point here is not to waste time,” maintained Ho.
Why would these golden girls like Ho choose to task themselves when they should be retiring themselves to a good period of rest and they will beg for logic to prevail.
“Yes, we may be old but that does not mean that we should resign ourselves to sleeping all the time. That’s not healthy even if you are old,” they pointed out pragmatically.
And besides, these ladies would question, why do the general public have this perception that old people should resign themselves to doing nothing.
An individual, regardless of whether she is in the prime of her life or in her twilight years, who spends all hertime sleeping or staring into space, will eventually fall ill. Sheer boredom, insisted these ladies, is the number one killer.
“The point is, as long as you can do something, just do it. We have one 96-year-old who can still thread a needle and sew the squares for our patchwork quilt and she is the oldest in our group,” Ho pointed out.
And one can detect that there is some sense of artistic pride involved as well.
“It’s like leaving behind a legacy. Some of the residents who have passed on are remembered because they have left behind a memento of their handiwork.
“The crocheted table runner, for instance, reminds us of a dear sister who had departed a year ago and a patchwork quilt brings back the memories of how the late maker had been appreciated for her sense of humour at the craft room,” said Ho.
What also makes their time at the craft centre a pleasant one is of course an enviable feature.
“We have no deadlines,” smiled Ho gleefully.
“Don’t forget these items are not made with the intention for sale. The onus is always on the idea, to see whether it would appeal to the individual who will be making it.
“So you can be assured that every piece is a labour of love, a gesture of a sincere heart,” said Ho.
For those who are interested to purchase these crafts call Little Sisters of The Poor at 03-91311464.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment