20S21

Our class partnered with Lions Befrienders (Bendemeer) Senior Activity Centre for JC2 SL Day 2021.

Our first activity was a game called "Guess-The-Song". Our class played 10 second snippets of popular Chinese songs back in the 1970s! Points were kept track and prizes were handed out to the respective elderly based on how many points they scored in the "Guess-The-Song" game. The prizes include biscuits and snacks, and the top prize is a Lucky Cat figurine.

The second activity we did was Calligraphy, more specifically, chinese calligraphy. In this activity, the elderly were required to write down 5 chinese characters, 4 times each. Furthermore, we also explained the origin of some words to the elderly, giving them insight to the origins of the word. For example, 爱 and how it has a 心 to represent the relationship between one's heart and love.

We all felt that it was meaningful and fun and taught us about teamwork and caring for our elderly. Through this activity, my class stated that they were able to bridge the gap between the elderly and our generation, understanding each other's interests better. For example, we were able to discover the old and popular songs that the previous generation is interested in.

Furthermore, quite a number of my classmates also said that they now personally feel more inclined to helping out the elderly, albeit in a small act such as giving up their seats in the MRT. All in all, our class generally found meaning to the activities and were inspired to do more in their own ways.

Personally, (Antonio Go) I found SL day very fun, actually more fun than I initially expected. Given the planning and the purchasing of materials Alex (the other SLEAD Activist) and I had to do, I initially found this task very daunting. Furthermore, I also expected a language barrier between us students and the elderly.

However, come SL day itself, I found joy in seeing the elderly actually having fun recognising the songs we picked out for them, while cracking jokes during the calligraphy session. In my opinion, seeing the elderly enjoy themselves made planning the activities well worth it, and I would gladly do it again if it means making them happy.