Contribution Name: Lions Befrienders
Pseudonym: Patricia Lum Peck Yong
Year of Author: 1954
Patricia with former President Halimah Yacob during her maiden visit to the Istana. Often seen with her infectious smile and enthusiastic gait, LB centre senior volunteer Patricia Lum Peck Yong, 70, is known as one of the social glues at the LB AAC @ Tampines 434. “Joining LB changed my life. I didn’t know that the life I was living before this could simply transform into something as exciting and more meaningful as now,” said Patricia when met after her percussion lessons at the AAC recently.
From leading the walking group at the AAC, assisting seniors in their day-to-day lives, and more, Patricia is relentless when it comes to dedicating her time to serving others. “I love working hard and don’t believe in having idle time. An idle mind is the devil’s workshop you see. Since childhood, I constantly filled my time with beneficial activities,” she chuckled, adding that one of her favourites was being trained as a seamstress by her mother.
As a 13-year-old, Patricia made her debut with a school skirt. Soon, she started earning at the age of 16, with her teachers being her regular customers, encouraging her passion for tailoring. That interest bloomed into a career for Patricia after completing her studies. “I started working at a tailoring company at Orchard and for the next 18 years I honed my skills under this ‘sewing master’ from Shanghai. We also conquered all sorts of apparel and uniforms – from the local airline to the major hotels!” exclaimed Patricia.
With all her valuable experience, she later spread her wings and started her own business in 1992 at Jalan Sultan Plaza with two of her close friends who also helped to finance the startup and manage the business. “I’d be the one going out getting business and the measurements done, one of my friends would be cutting up the materials, and the other would be taking care of the administrative work. We hired two tailors to sew at the office premises, and another four housewives sewing from home. We specialise in working on women’s apparel. For the men’s apparel, we outsourced to more tailors in Batam, Indonesia,” she reminisced.
Running an empire of tailors was a dream come true for Patricia, but alas, after more than a decade, the dream started crumbling as her two close friends started to leave to focus on their personal lives. “I suffered day and night as I was shouldering all the major responsibilities alone. After a few years, I conceded defeat when the global pandemic COVID-19 came as the final nail in the coffin. I closed shop and brought back one sewing machine home,” said Patricia, adding that she took a break from her business during the lockdown.
That was when she began to notice the lockdown-friendly activities by the AAC in her neighbourhood, helping seniors, especially those who live alone, to cope with the pandemic. “I had seen the centre for many years, but my interest only piqued during COVID since I was at home. Once I joined as a member, there was no looking back. I never knew the activities organised by the amazing staff were so fun while also beneficial!” she exclaimed.
From a person who was engrossed in her tailoring business and had little time left for herself, Patricia embraced this transition to focus on herself and her well-being. “This exposure that LB provided me was unexpectedly amazing. I made a lot of friends, focused on my health, and got to experience a lot of things that I never had before like going for excursions to the bird park, botanic garden, and even to the national functions at the Istana,” gushed Patricia.
She also said her interest in charity and voluntary work sprouted from her association with LB. “I used to donate to charities before, but nothing beats getting to the ground and making an impact on the people directly. It opened a whole new perspective for me where I was surrounded by so many kind and loving people. I feel I have an added purpose in life to serve the needy, especially the seniors,” she shared.
However, old habits die hard – once the pandemic blew over, Patricia reignited her tailoring business albeit on a smaller scale. She now focuses on select customers where she’d get the production done at Batam. “Now that I have learnt to prioritise myself, I do things that make my heart, mind, and body happy. Every morning, I come to the AAC for the exercise sessions, later participate in the indoor activities, assist the staff or seniors whenever possible, and at the end of the day, I go home with a full heart,” she said, adding that the AAC is a second home for her during the weekdays.
Not wanting to stay idle during the weekend, Patricia works part-time at a nearby fast-food restaurant and donates some of it towards the AAC activities whenever possible! “I also joined the ‘Meals on Wheels’ programme to deliver food to the recipients around my block. I donate the earnings to LB again so that they can use it for the community,” said Patricia, who still refuses to ‘slow down’ her rigour despite her health condition.
Recently, she was diagnosed with the L4-L5 degenerative disc disease, which causes her constant back pain, affecting her daily life from sitting to walking and even standing for long periods.
Patricia highlights that she finds happiness in her daily activities and wants to continue giving back to the community as long as she possibly can. “I also feel happy that I can bring joy to others. I would like to call out to other seniors to come out of their houses and join us here at the AAC with their warm and loving staff. Do not lay idle as your mind would slow down!” she chimed.
确实不是闲着的时候！经常面带感染力微笑和充满热情步伐的林碧勇（Patricia Lum Peck Yong）今年70岁，是乐龄中心LB AAC @ Tampines 434的资深义工，大家都称她是这里的“社交黏合剂”之一。“加入LB改变了我的人生。我以前从未想过，我的生活可以像现在这样变得如此精彩和有意义。” Patricia最近在AAC上完打击乐课程后说道。在AAC，她带领步行小组，协助其他年长者的日常生活，Patricia对奉献自己的时间为他人服务不知疲倦。“我喜欢努力工作，不相信无所事事。你知道，游手好闲是万恶之源。自从我还是个孩子时，我就不断地把时间投入到有益的活动中。”她笑着说道，并补充说她最喜欢的活动之一是由母亲训练成为一名裁缝。13岁时，Patricia首次为学校制作了一条裙子。很快，她在16岁时就开始赚钱了，她的老师们成为了她的常客，鼓励她对裁缝的热情。完成学业后，Patricia的这一兴趣发展成了一份完整的职业生涯！“我开始在乌节路的一家裁缝公司工作，接下来的18年里，我在一位来自上海的‘裁缝大师’的指导下磨练了我的技能。我们还征服了各种服装和制服——从本地航空公司到主要酒店！” Patricia激动地说道。凭借丰富的经验，她后来展开了自己的翅膀，并于1992年在Jalan Sultan Plaza与两位亲密朋友一起开办了自己的生意。这两位朋友不仅帮助融资，还共同管理业务。“我负责外出寻找业务并进行测量，一位朋友负责裁剪材料，另一位负责行政工作。我们雇用了两名裁缝在办公室缝制，另外还有四位家庭主妇在家中缝制。我们专注于女性服装的制作。至于男性服装，我们则外包给印度尼西亚巴淡岛的更多裁缝。”她回忆道。经营一群裁缝的企业是Patricia的梦想成真，但可惜的是，十多年后，这个梦想开始瓦解，她的两位亲密朋友因为个人生活的原因相继离开。“当时我日夜煎熬，独自承担着所有的主要责任。几年后，我在全球疫情COVID-19来袭时终于承认失败，这成为压倒骆驼的最后一根稻草。我关掉了店铺，只把一台缝纫机带回了家。” Patricia说道，并补充说，她在封锁期间暂停了自己的业务。就在那时，她开始注意到邻里乐龄活动中心为年长者，尤其是独居老人提供的封锁友好活动，帮助他们应对疫情。“我多年来一直看到这个中心，但我的兴趣是在疫情期间居家隔离时才被激发出来的。一旦加入成为会员，我就再也没有回头。我从未想到这里的工作人员组织的活动不仅如此有趣，而且还有益！”她兴奋地说。从一个沉迷于裁缝生意、几乎没有时间照顾自己的角色转变过来，Patricia欣然接受了这一转变，开始专注于自己和自己的健康。“LB给我带来的这种体验真是出乎意料的美妙。我结交了很多朋友，关注我的健康，并且体验了许多我以前从未经历过的事情，比如去鸟公园、植物园，甚至参加国家总统府的活动。” Patricia开心地说，她觉得自己获得了自由，很高兴有机会放松身心，尽情享受。她还表示，她对慈善和志愿工作的兴趣源于与LB的联系。“以前我只是捐款给慈善机构，但亲自到一线做事、直接影响到他人却完全不同。这让我看到了一个全新的视角，周围都是那么善良和充满爱心的人。我觉得我的生命中多了一个额外的使命，就是为需要帮助的人服务，尤其是年长者。”她分享道。然而，旧习难改——疫情结束后，Patricia重燃了她的裁缝事业，尽管规模有所缩小。她现在专注于一些精选客户，并在巴淡岛完成生产。“现在我学会了优先考虑自己，我做的事情都能让我的心灵、头脑和身体感到快乐。每天早上，我来到AAC参加锻炼课程，之后参与室内活动，尽可能协助工作人员或其他年长者，到了晚上，我带着满满的收获回家。”她说道，并补充说，AAC在工作日里是她的第二个家。不想在周末闲着，Patricia在附近的一家快餐店兼职，并在可能的情况下将部分收入捐赠给AAC的活动！“我还加入了‘Meals on Wheels’计划，为我住的街区附近的受助人送餐。我把收入捐给LB，这样他们就可以用这些钱来服务社区。”尽管健康状况不佳，Patricia仍然拒绝放慢她的步伐。最近，她被诊断出患有L4-L5退行性椎间盘疾病，导致她的背部持续疼痛，影响了她从坐到走、甚至站立很长时间的日常生活。
Patricia表示，她在日常活动中找到了幸福，并希望在自己还能做到的情况下继续回馈社会。“我也很高兴我能给别人带来快乐。我想呼吁其他年长者走出家门，加入我们，与这里温暖和有爱的工作人员一起。不要闲着，否则你的思维会变慢！”她兴致勃勃地说道。
This story is reposted from Lions Befrienders website – Lions Befrienders Website
This heartwarming narrative comes from Lions Befrienders, an organisation dedicated to journey alongside seniors. To learn more about their services, visit Lions Befrienders Services.
This work includes translation generated by ChatGPT, an AI language model developed by OpenAI.
此作品包含由OpenAI开发的AI语言模型ChatGPT生成的翻译内容。