How food is giving these S’pore seniors a second lease of life

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SINGAPORE – The customers have dried up and the shutters drawn down, but 85-year-old Madam Beh Ah Moy’s stove is still warm as ever. 

 

These days, she cooks not for the queues of loyal patrons who flock to her hawker stall in Bedok Avenue 4, but for the 40 or so seniors who congregate at Thye Hua Kwan Active Ageing Centre at 90 Pipit Road every Thursday. 

 

She shut her vegetarian stall some 20 years ago, after deciding that 12-hour days – starting as early as 2am – were too much for her ageing body to take. But she has kept all her recipes. At the centre, she continues doing what she has always done best – frying beehoon, stewing curry and steaming kueh. 

 

“I miss my stall. It was tiring, but one of the happiest periods of my life. I loved seeing how the customers enjoyed my food, and the queues on special occasions like Chinese New Year made me feel really proud,” she tells The Straits Times. 

 

She now finds satisfaction in the way the faces of her friends light up when they try her cooking.

 

The widow, who lives alone in a neighbouring block, refuses to accept any remuneration, seeing her work as her contribution to the community. 

 

“I want to encourage the seniors to come down to the centre. I always tell them not to stay at home because they’ll grow lonely, especially as their kids grow up and move away,” adds the mother of two adult children, who have their own families to look after.  

 

Refusing to succumb to the loneliness that afflicts many of her age mates, she keeps busy and, by her own admission, “barely spends any time at home”. When she is not volunteering, she is out shopping or delivering food to friends. 

 

She also conducts cooking classes at Thye Hua Kwan Active Ageing Centre, where she shares her long-honed recipes with fellow seniors. 

 

“Giving seniors the opportunity to conduct classes is our way to preserve their recipes and let other seniors learn and improve their skills,” says centre manager Elaine Oh, 49. 

 

It also employs other seniors as micro-jobbers, in a bid to keep them active, and orders food from residents like Mr Hamdan Hussain, a 66-year-old single father who is a full-time caregiver to his 12-year-old son. He ran a stall selling curry puffs at 79 Circuit Road Food Centre from 2010 to 2014, then switched to a home-based business after his divorce to focus on caring for his child. 

 

The puffs he supplies to the centre weekly make up the bulk of his income at the moment, with the rest coming from word-of-mouth orders. Still, he offers them to the centre at a 10-cent discount. 

 

“Being able to contribute makes me happy. If I can’t give money, I can give my time or effort. I tell my son, ‘You don’t have to be very rich to make a difference. You can use your ideas and energy too,’” he says. 

 

While Mr Hamdan refines his curry puff recipe in MacPherson, another senior in Woodlands is learning how to craft the perfect pandan cupcake. 

 

Mr Wan Kok Weng first learnt to bake by watching his wife, Madam Yap Choi Chee, a home baker in her 50s, who made all manner of sweet treats – from mooncakes to tau suan (split mung bean dessert).

 

Back then, he observed from afar and entered the kitchen only when it was time to eat.  

 

But since the 73-year-old, who suffers from a brain disorder and heart disease, started attending day sessions at Ren Ci’s Nursing Home in Woodlands in April, he has become quite the baker himself. 

 

“Last time, I cooked for him. He never lifted a finger in the kitchen, so I was shocked to hear that his cakes were so popular here,” jokes Madam Yap, who dropped by the centre one afternoon in June to taste her husband’s creations. 

 

“Of course, they’re not as good as my wife’s cakes,” Mr Wan concedes with a wry smile. “But I still feel proud whenever the seniors here ask me to bake for them.” 

 

Ren Ci organises cooking lessons every Wednesday at Woodlands. The aim is to create a routine for seniors and give them something to look forward to. 

 

“A lot of them feel a sense of loss, a loss of self-worth when they’re no longer working. These activities create a role for them, which comes with responsibility, and imbues them with hope,” says Ms Png Geok Kuan, a senior occupational therapist in her 50s.

 

Because food is a universal language, it helps to coax the more introverted attendees out of their shells. Serving as a launch pad for deeper conversations about their childhood, families and neighbourhoods, food forges bonds among the seniors and combats their isolation. 

 

They are encouraged to cook familiar favourites, but many have trouble remembering old recipes or are reluctant to share them. In such cases, staff will prompt them gently, and guide them through common dishes like mee hoon kueh and curry. 

 

Because of their advanced age, many seniors cannot enjoy local dishes in their original flavour. Butter is substituted for olive oil, while salt and sugar are sprinkled less liberally. 

 

At some elderly care facilities, their involvement in the food production process goes beyond cooking and eating.

 

Econ Healthcare’s Nursing Home in Yio Chu Kang, for instance, has a sprawling garden where papayas and kailan grow in abundance, thanks to the diligent care of residents. 

 

Those who are physically able tend to the garden for about half an hour almost every day.

 

“It improves their physical mobility and creates a sense of belonging. The touch of the soil and the smell of the plants also stimulate senses. And they feel a sense of achievement when they reap the fruit of their labour during harvest time,” says Ms Liu Jian Ping, 55, assistant director of Econ Healthcare’s Nursing Home in Yio Chu Kang.

 

At times, the kitchen will transform the harvested produce into dishes from their childhood. The late Mr Simon Chua, a resident who died at age 82 in June 2024, introduced the nursing home to scrambled eggs with Indian lettuce, while another resident requested kailan with mushrooms, prawns and tomatoes, a dish his mother used to cook for him as a boy. 

 

To ensure these recipes do not fade away with the residents, staff are compiling them into a book, which they will share with the seniors’ family members and other nursing homes upon completion. 

 

“We are in the midst of trying recipes,” says Ms Liu. “I think their life stories carry value and we treasure them. We want to pass them on to the next generation in a meaningful way.”

 

A similar project is under way at St Luke’s ElderCare. Seniors from its nursing home in Ang Mo Kio, senior day care, and active ageing centres are teaming up with students from the Institute of Technical Education to record their beloved childhood recipes, like the rendang recipe 60-year-old Mohamad Aidi Juami inherited from his mother.

 

“It’s very simple and has a traditional flavour. The students told me it tastes very good,” he says. 

 

“I’m glad that when I die, people will remember me through this recipe.” 

 

The bachelor, who used to work as a secretary’s assistant in a law firm, also records the necessary ingredients in his “story of my life” scrapbook – a collection of old photos, newspaper clippings, and details such as favourite dishes, travel destinations and family members that seniors compile with the help of facilitators. 

 

“Through this project, we see how rich their lives are. Working one-on-one with their facilitator helps them open up and they seem happier too,” adds Ms Sim Hwee Ching, 50, a medical social worker at St Luke’s ElderCare. 

 

The scrapbooks are shared with the residents’ families or kept at the nursing home upon request.  

 

“We want to preserve their memories, and help them leave behind a legacy.” 

 

 

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Reproduced with permission.

 

 

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