http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cFX0A7t1MI

This is the link to my video.

Here is my video.

Elderly Challenge - Observation 1

I observed that my grandmother has problems with preparing meals, as she cannot bend down to take the required pots and pans when she wants to have a meal, thus she often has to have bread or simple meals, that are easy to prepare because she cannot prepare them herself.

She lives in a condo, though she doesn't make use of many of the facilities, because they are mostly sports related, and she cannot take part in sports, because she is old.

This is her main problem. She does not have problems with loneliness, because she often visits us, her grandchildren and family. Sometimes she has meals with us, but she is usually on her own at home.

Q1. The four Key recommendations of the report are:

1. We will have more houses for the elderly, encouraging the elderly to be a part of the Singapore Community. There will be many different types of houses, to suit the needs of different elderly. Singapore should be the best home that seniors can have.

2. Places in Singapore should be available to the elderly. Places in Singapore will be and inclusive environment for the elderly, so that they can access more places, allowing them to lead more active lives and to become part of our community. The most important places to start are the HDB flats, homes and other buildings. For example, we could add a lift to the buildings, so that the elderly can access higher stories of the building, without having to climb many flights of stairs. We could also add ramps for wheelchair bound elderly.

3. The elderly in Singapore who have special needs should be able to get the proper care that they need. They should be able to have medical treatment if they need it, and we should care more about them, addressing their needs. The seniors should have a good life.

4.Singapore should have more chances for elderly to do activities, associate with other people, and contribute to our community. They should have many friends, because friends in life are very important to have. By giving them more opportunities, they can make more friends.

Q2.We could make our public housing more friendly by installing ramps, so that the strain on the elderlies knees is not as great. Their knees are not very strong, so they cannot go up many flights of stairs.

Q3.Healthcare and eldercare services in Singapore should be efficient and cost-effective, because many of the elderly are retired, and no longer and a source of income, so they must be more careful with their money. Therefore, the services that they need should be cost-effective, charging only what we need to, and no more.

Q4.I can look after my grandmother especially, since she is already 80+ and probably won't have much longer to live. Therefore, I should treat her as well as I can, to make these last years her best years with her grandchildren. I must take care of her emotional and physical needs. SST students should be understanding and caring.

I should teach her how to use technology, so that she can associate with more people. She can then live a more active life, although her life already is very active. However, she is still not that IT savvy.

I could help her clean her house more readily, along with my siblings. She is too old for her to clean the house on her own. Regardless of whether of not I receive payment, I should do the job, assuming that I will not be paid. She should live in a clean environment, because she is old and her immune system is weaker. Therefore, she cannot afford to live in dirty places. I should clean it to the best of my ability, since one of the SST values is Forging Excellence, which means doing my best.

Personal Reflection (NEwater visit)

NEWater is very,very clean and goes through a lot of processes to purify it. If we can duplicate such technology, it would mean that we are excellent as it is very difficult to create such technology.

NEWater is very important to Singapore's water supply as it is one of our National Taps.

NEWater does not taste the same as normal water. It taster quite different to me compared to normal water.

UV disinfection and micro filtration.

Everybody taste NEWater differently. Some find it salty, some find it sweet and some find it normal.

Pictures tell a story...( part 2)

Even the normally stoning Eugene laughed and displayed emotion. Luckily, I had my camera with me and managed to get a "limited edition" snapshot of him smiling. Amazing...

Oddly, Ren Chang didn't seem to notice the commotion around him and continued doing his work...

As we were walking back to class, I happened to catch a glimpse of the man restocking the vending machine and collecting the coins. Because i had never seen anything like it before, I decided to take a picture of the man and the inside of the vending machine, which is much simpler than it looks from the outside.