A hidden history
Look deeper beyond an 'old lady living in a one-room flat', and you'll find lots of surprises with Mdm Choo.
by: Tan Yu Jia
Mdm Choo sits on a short stool, back hunched, carefully cutting a red angbao into a shape of a lantern. She sits amongst her belongings-- shifted out by volunteers cleaning her house -- and slowly places the angbao down as I approach. A bright smile crinkles across her face as I sit down next to her.
"I'm doing some lanterns for Chinese New Year," she shares, "I like to do art and craft." Excitedly, she shares that she likes to do other crafts too: be it crocheting, knitting, threading beads, she's done it all.
​
Immediately, I am intrigued -- there is more to her than the one dimensional view of "a lady living in a one-room flat."
Mdm Choo shows a picture of her craft: a rooster made of coloured plastic wrappings
Mdm Choo is 80 years old, and has been living with a roommate in Bendemeer for over 9 years.
She was born and bred in Singapore. Her primary school education started only when she was 11, and she stopped school at 16, when she was Primary 6.
Her mother was a laundress and seamstress and brought her children up single handedly.
​
"I relied on my mother a lot as I grew up," Mdm Choo says.
​
She begins to take me through a well-kept photo album. It's small, but it's full with pictures.
Her younger days are captured in a series of sepia photos. In one of them, she wears a light floral dress, pearls and shades, and reclines on a car with a casual smile. The next photo shows her perched on a piano bench, casually glancing sideways at the camera. With dark flowy hair, a patterned dress and her usual shades, there is an air of mystery around her.
​
As she emerged into adulthood, Mdm Choo began work at Joo Hong Medicinal Hall, a Chinese medicine shop, sorting and packaging different kinds of medicinal herbs. These herbs would be shipped from China and delivered to the shop at River Valley. She'd then transfer the herbs from their boxes to organised glass jars.
We flip to a photo of Mdm Choo with a young girl and boy. She was never married, but has close ties with her grandnephew and nieces. They've been there for her birthdays, a National Day Parade celebration, a family outing. She's been there, beaming with pride, at his Passing Out Parade; at her university graduation.
They brought her on regular trips all around the world in her later years. She visited Big Ben, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and sits amidst snow happily in some of the photos she shows me. As the family grew, there was no more space in the common house they shared, and so she moved out -- finding a roommate to live with in this one room flat
​
Now, her source of warmth and companionship comes from going to church, and the different volunteers who come to see her regularly. She likes it when volunteers come over, because "there's someone to talk to."
The Bendemeer area is taken care of by Lions Befrienders, and Mdm Choo remembers their activities by heart.
Monday is exercise day, Tuesday free lunches, Wednesday for exercise again...
She counts off the days and shows me some colourful slips of paper from Lion Befrienders.
"You can't lose it, you need it to join," she says as she keeps the papers back carefully in a small blue pouch slung around her shoulder.
Mdm Choo explains the different Lion Befriender tickets she has.
The friendly senior with Caretalyst volunteers in Project Refresh
Mdm Choo's greatest hope right now is to have a comfortable and clean home, where her belongings can be secured and taken care of. Living with a roommate is not easy -- Mdm Choo has to try hard to keep her home spick and span. With the help of volunteers, the house is cleaner now. "Now when I'm home, I'm much more comfortable," she beams.
​
She is not that worried about her future. "I know God protects me in whatever I do," she says gently. Even though it seems like Mdm Choo has little materially, her warm smile shows a complete sense of contentment.