Recall the last reflection? I was quite desperate to get some information on my patient better, especially for the sake of the biography thing. It just wasn’t natural to me; I rarely intrude on people’s private lives, even for people I know and am familiar with. Hence I was finding it difficult to pluck up the nerve to start asking.
When we got there today the HCA staff members were quite disappointed. Apparently, they were hoping that we were from Hwa Chong Institution instead. Not surprisingly, the HCI boys were supposed to go that day, and from what I heard when we arrived, they were also planning to do some sort of project with the patients. Anyway the HCA staff members were trying to decide what CD music to play today when we showed up, so I guess they had been waiting for a long time.
The patients themselves were already bored, so most of them were having their own discussions, with a few of them choosing their own beauty sleep instead. I tried to ask my patient about herself this time, but little came of it. Fortunately, two of the HCI boys (out of the 7 or so who were supposed to show up) came in to do the entertaining and gave me a much needed break from the awkward situation. Both of them were foreign scholars from Indonesia, and they were both impressive in their own way, but mainly because of how hard they worked. For example, they were given some Chinese song, which they had only partially learnt before, and despite having learnt Chinese only a year before, they both persisted and eventually finished the song. Even Jo was impressed by their hardworking attitudes.
Tea break was a little later than usual since they had arrived so late, but the patients took this quite well, and they proceeded to finish their food quite quickly. It was around this time that my patient left, so I was left chatting with her friends. Surprisingly, when I asked about their past both of them told me a considerable amount. To be honest, I did not manage to get one of their names, but nonetheless I will write down what I do recall of them.
The patient whom I did not manage to get the name of was apparently living on her own at that time, since her daughter was living in New Zealand and was staying with her husband. This patient was quite lonely, but could only afford to come to HCA on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Hence she was often bored at home, especially due to her condition. She was unable to do a lot of things that she wanted to do since she was too weak to do so, and hence was quite frustrated at herself. To a certain extent she wished that her daughter could be with her, but she understood that her daughter also had other commitments. I spent quite a bit of time listening to her, and a fair amount of time trying to figure out what ailed her. Although she mentioned the term in Chinese quite often, I couldn’t recognize it until she took the initiative to ask one of the HCA staff to clarify it for me. Apparently, she was suffering from diabetes, and was quite close to death. I was both appreciative of her helpfulness, and yet it was a painful reminder of how close all the patients were to death. I’ll try to get her name next week.
The other patient, if I’m not wrong, is Mdm Tan Ah Mei. She was the patient whom I helped to the toilet (and back) during our first proper visit to HCA. According to her, one of her nieces or daughters (I can’t recall which one) is currently studying in one of the Raffles Schools, which explains why she has a sort of awe for any Rafflesian; her Rafflesian relation is apparently brilliant, and she thinks that every other Rafflesian is similar. I was quite flattered as she poured out numerous praises for the Rafflesian community in general. Anyway, she soon moved on to her life experiences after I talked about going to Beijing in Primary 5. She had apparently been to Beijing as well. And Shanghai. And Hong Kong. And some other province in China. And a few places in Thailand. And Taiwan. And Malaysia. And Indonesia. Basically, she travelled a lot when she was younger and healthier. She went on and on about her experiences, and I was all too glad to listen: The more material I got for my biography, the better. Besides, it was just plain interesting to listen to another person’s life story like that. I could have listened for hours if not for the fact that she had to go. She talked about her experiences in Beijing, from enjoying the food to climbing most (if not all) of the Great Wall of China. She talked about Shanghai being like Singapore’s Orchard Road; shopping and epic buildings galore. She talked about how the enjoyed Hong Kong’s scenery, and how she enjoyed being with her friends. She talked about her brief pleasure trips to Thailand with her friends, and had quite a bit to say about their fantastic organizational skills in terms of holiday planning. She mentioned that she had travelled to Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and even Australia, although since her illness she had been instructed by her doctor not to travel, as apparently her body would not take the strain. She mentioned how much she missed her family as well as her travels, and wished that she could be well again, so that she could enjoy the rest of her life properly. She complained about how weak her body was (for a person who climbed the Great Wall of China… That’s saying something) and about how hard it was for her to go about her daily life. Apparently, travelling is now too expensive for her, hence she is honestly quite bored with her now sedentary lifestyle. I felt her pain; I miss my childhood as well, where I did not need to be burdened with the reality of school and the working world. In a way she was like me; she had a past that she missed, yet was unable to return to it at any cost.
Honestly, I hope next week at HCA will be as productive as this week’s. I intend to learn more about the patients whom I managed to interact with today.
Andrew.
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