Small acts of kindness will make a great difference to the lives of those in need of help. Since 2008, Tzu Chi home visit volunteers have been visiting Mr Tan regularly. Besides providing financial assistance and daily necessities to the paralysed elderly, they also did laundry, cleaned up his house and repaired a leaking pipe for him. Volunteers also phoned him once every other day to find out how he was. Picture:Mr Tan (centre), a quiet man of few words, broke into a wide smile when he saw so many volunteers helping to clean up his house.

The mattress cover was torn, exposing the bed springs.

Mr Tan often had toothache; the volunteers took him to Tzu Chi Free Clinic where he received dental treatment from volunteer doctor Dr Tang. A new set of dentures was made for him after a few consultations.

Not minding the dust at all, the volunteers carefully cleared the clutter in every corner and let Mr Tan decide whether he wants to keep them.

Mr Tan couldn’t make it to the toilet in time due to his disability and his sheets were stained with faces as a result. Here’s volunteer Tan Suan Hong changing his sheets, undeterred by the smell.

Soaked in water for too long, the towel Mr Tan uses to clean himself after meals grew murky and gives off an unpleasant smell. Empathizing with the elder’s condition, the volunteers change the water whenever they came visit him.

Volunteer Tan Suan Hong giving the elderly a bath to cleanse away the faeces stained on his feet.

The junior Tan giving the senior Tan a hand to put on his slippers after the fresh bath.

After the renovation works had completed, Tzu Chi volunteers went to Mr Tan’s place again on March 28 to help him clean up and put everything in place.

New bed sheet was put on to make the bed comfortable for Mr Tan.

The tiny and dim one-room flat was full of clutter and covered with a thick layer of dust; the only space left was a narrow pathway that led to the toilet at the back.

With great effort, an elderly man on a wheelchair moved himself to the door with one foot and opened it slowly. “Hi, uncle, we’ve come to see you again!” Volunteers Cheng Eng Teck, Cai Rong Fu and Karen Loi greeted him warmly. 

Paralysed from the waist down, the frail-looking elderly man with unkempt hair seemed to have difficulty raising his head. His head was slightly askew as he spoke. The clothes he was wearing looked unwashed for several days. This man is one of the Tzu Chi’s long-term care recipients from the Southeast zone - Mr Tan.  

Leading a Hard Life

64-year-old Mr Tan used to work as a coffee brewer in a coffee shop. He is married for over 20 years but has no children. His wife took care of him since he suffered a stroke five years ago. Besides being diabetic, his wife also had kidney disease. Under great pressure having to take care of her husband and earn a living at the same time, Mrs Tan did not allow Mr Tan to move anything in the flat and would even beat and scold him if she could not find what she wanted. Although Mr Tan chats with his neighbours occasionally, he gradually became unsociable and wary of strangers.      

When Mrs Tan was hospitalised, Mr Tan had nobody to depend on. Yew Chui Fong, a Tzu Chi volunteer who lived nearby, saw his plight and reported the case to Tzu Chi Foundation. Mr David Liu, CEO of the Singapore branch, visited Mr Tan personally to assess the case. In March 2008, Tzu Chi officially took charge of the case and began providing financial assistance to Mr Tan and subsidizing his daily necessities.

Genuine Care

“Uncle, you hair is very long. Shall we ask a volunteer to cut it for you?” the volunteers asked during one of their visits. The elderly hesitated for a while before giving a monosyllabic reply. Volunteer Ang Bock Kee then draped a towel over his shoulders and began cutting his hair, while Goh Eng Eng came to show him the bed sheets they bought, “Shall we change it for you, uncle?”

“Alright, but be sure to put my things back properly!” Though having his haircut outside, the elderly man made sure he keeps his eyes on the happenings in his flat.

Not long ago, he complained of a back pain whenever he went to bed. The caring volunteers thought that it could be a problem of the mattress. When they lifted the bed sheet, they noticed that the mattress cover was torn. Some bed springs were exposed and the surface was uneven. The volunteers bought a new mattress and changed the bed sheet for the elderly and from then on he stopped having back pain and was able to sleep well at night.     

Once, the volunteers came to notice a small plastic container he left on the table which contains a little grey towel soaked in murky yellowish water. “This is the towel which he uses to wipe his mouth and hands after meals every day. (Not to cause trouble to him,) we only wash it and change the water for him when we come,” explained volunteer Cai. So everything has to be simple and manageable for a disabled person.  

The genuine care and respect the volunteers showed Mr Tan gradually moved him and helped them gain his trust. Slowly, he would gladly open the door for the volunteers whenever they’re visiting and even asked them to be patient with his slow responses resulting from his physical disability. 

The volunteers took further steps to help him with housekeeping. They washed the toilet and the kitchen sink, repaired a leaking pipe, replaced light bulbs, and so on. Besides visiting him, the volunteers also give him phone calls regularly to check if he needs anything. During the weekly visits, they will clean his flat, wash his clothes, change the water in the plastic box and fold pieces of tissue neatly so that he can use them conveniently.    

As the blocks in Mr Tan’s neighbourhood are all very old, the local Town Council implemented a project in which lifts were upgraded to serve every floor and flats were renovated to improve the living conditions of the residents. Before the start of the upgrading project, the residents had to clear all the furniture and things in their flats. In order to reduce the inconvenience caused by the renovation, the construction company was kind to set up resting areas at the void deck and built temporary toilets on every floor. When Mr Tan received the notification letter from the authorities, he requested the volunteers to help him clear his things and the latter obliged readily.          

On the morning of 14 March, the volunteers carefully cleared the clutter in his living room, bedroom, kitchen and toilet. It was very dusty everywhere but they patiently let him look at every item and decide if he wanted to keep or discard it.

The door of his refrigerator had never been opened since his wife was hospitalised. The volunteers wanted to help him clean the fridge on several occasions but were not allowed to do so. On that day, when the fridge door was opened for the first time, there was a strong smell of rotten food. Undaunted by the sight before them, the volunteers cleared all the decayed food and medicine and cleaned the fridge thoroughly. Their unflinching spirit is truly admirable and touching!

With the joint effort of all the 12 volunteers, both young and middle age, the originally dim and cluttered flat has brightened up. The amount of junk they cleared could fill a medium-sized truck!                 

Help arrives when it is most needed

In one of their visits, the volunteers noticed an unpleasant smell emanating from the elder’s body and realised that his pants and legs were stained with faeces. Some of it had dried up and was stuck on the skin. The chairs outside were stained with faeces too.       

Only then the volunteers realized that although there was a squatting toilet outside the flat, the fact that he could not make it to the toilet in time due to his immobility left him feeling helpless. The following day, two male volunteers came and took him to the newly constructed bathroom where they quickly washed off all the stains for him.

Volunteer photographer Lai Tong Heng, who happened to be present during the visit, was deeply moved by what he saw. “I often watch Da Ai TV and see how our Taiwanese Tzu Chi volunteers care for the needy. Today, I feel very touched when I see our local volunteers doing the same for those in need.”  

The renovation works were completed as planned. Coated white, the interior of the flat was shimmering bright when the sun shone in. The toilet bowl, sink and windows were all new, which made one feel as if one had just moved to a new house. However, the positions of the furniture had changed, which caused Mr Tan a lot of inconvenience. The furniture also needed to be cleaned as they were all covered with dust due to the renovation works.   

On 28 March, Tzu Chi volunteers visited Mr Tan again to help him clean up and put things in place. Excess furniture and other unwanted items were discarded after seeking his approval. Now, his flat looks more spacious than before and is well ventilated. The new look also makes one feel more comfortable.         

“Aren’t you happy seeing so many people helping you?” asked Cai.

“Oh I am very happy! Thank you very much!” The quiet elderly broke into a rare smile and began to hum a familiar Hokkien tune softly.  

Wisdom gained from witnessing suffering

With sincere loving kindness, Tzu Chi volunteers are able to gain the trust of their care recipients who were complete strangers to them at first. They have also learned valuable lessons in the process of care giving. Cheng Eng Teck, a long-time volunteer who owns a publishing house, does not have to do any housework at home. However, he not only has to wash Mr Tan’s clothes, but also the smelly and slimy towel!        

“We respect him by not meddling with his things without his permission and making sure that things are put them back at the same spots. This is understandable. As his body often trembles uncontrollably due to his disability, he will have difficulty reaching the things he need if they are moved. So, this has to be taken into consideration when we help him arrange the furniture and things in his flat.”   

When she was helping to clear the late Mrs Tan’s belongings and refrigerator, volunteer Ha Nyit Fong noticed a lot of unworn clothes as well as food which the family had not been able to eat. “When I see the rotten food in the fridge, I recall Master Cheng Yen saying that the human body is only a vile skin-bag. When we stop breathing, our bodies will start to decay. So we have no claim to our bodies but the right to use it. There’s really nothing worth fighting about in life!” The volunteer mused.  

She and her husband Chong Choon Yew are grateful that they have learned a lot through making home visits. “He used to be very quick-tempered like a bull, but he is as industrious as a bull now,” the wife quipped. Chong is now a committed volunteer who makes himself present almost whenever he is needed and has no qualms about doing the “dirtiest” of all jobs.