Growing old gracefully .... How many of us can do that? Not unless you're Sean Connery or the late Katharine Hepburn. More often than not, our bodies are crippled with all sort of debilitating illnesses that either leave us dead if we are lucky, or bed-ridden if we are not so lucky.
I was at Lee Ah Mooi's nursing home at Thomson today with the Slim Lady and her brother. Our mission - to check out the home for the admission of my father-in-law who has become invalid for various medical conditions - stroke, diabetics and hypertension. See? My father-in-law is not so lucky, if I may say so.
The sight at the home is pretty depressing. The able-bodied old folks were seen sitting around the compound of the nursing home quietly, looking listless and kinda bored. The invalid folks, some requiring tube-feeding like me father-in-law, were all in a room, confined to their respective bed, some lying down staring into the ceiling, others lying on their side on their bed, watching the TV.
We were met by a bare-chested man of 60 in his office. I suppose he must be the caretaker of the home, or the "manager". He was business-like in the way he explained the various charges to us, never mind that he was without a shirt or a singlet. There was only one vacancy left in the nursing home. The man told us that Singapore is in shortage of nursing homes. It wouldn't be enough even if the government were to build another 10 nursing homes, he added.
What he said hold much truth. Our workforce is aging, the problem made worse by declining birth rate. Though our life expectancy has gone up, we aren't exactly as healthy as people in the days of yore, like our grandparents. We may live longer, but our bodies can also be inflicted by various life-style diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and strokes that require lifetime medication. Eat healthy and exercise regularly? It's always easier said than done, isn't it?
I know I should never harbour such thoughts. But how fulfilling can my life be if I were to be admitted to a nursing home? What quality of life? How would I feel, watching my muscles and sanity wasting away as I live through the last of my days, under the mercy of care-givers at the nursing home? Is it not better to just let go?
Category: Musings
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3 comments:
wah chris, u really can lor...post so many entries within a short period of time. very free huh?
Evan, Chris writes many posts when he is stressed (maybe because of all the recent work involved in the popiah-making and the running around hunting for the right nursing home for his father-in-law, hee).
Chris, if I were you, I will not consider Lee Ah Mooi Nursing Home at all. Why? Because the caretaker didn't even have the decency to put on a shirt when meeting prospective clients. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Go take a look at Thong Teck Home in Geylang East lah. Near MRT and environment's really nice. May cost more though.
Don't laugh about the man without the shirt okay. My wife once boycotted this popular pau shop in... what a coincidence... also Thomson Road, all because he didn't wear a shirt while selling paus. I asked my wife why did the missing shirt matter at all. She replied that seeing the man without a shirt made her loss her appetite for the paus. Maybe this rather chubby man's exposed bxxxxts look like paus too, wahaha.
Looks like people running businesses in Thomson Road like to go around topless hor.
I wrote in spurt... very much like Victor. But my spurt comes stronger. That I'm sure :O There's no way a 50-year-old old (this is not a repetition of word) man can meausre up to a men 8 years his junior in that department.
That's the fundamental difference between men and women, isn't it, Victor? Women, like your wife, will boycott topless food sellers. Men, like you (ok lah, me too lah) will definitely make a beeline in places with topless waitresses. LOL.
If you try harder, Victor, u may even discover some topless bars at Thomson. Just remember to put on your shades and the jockey cap like what Franxxxis said(Oh, the triple X is intentional). ROTFL.
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