I walked to my neighbourhood market this morning for breakfast and some “auntie” shopping as my daughter would call it. On the way back I met an 80-year-old lady and somehow, we began to chat. My Mandarin is at best rudimentary but I struggled on, sensing she wanted to talk. At first it was about how cheap the fruits n veggies were at the stalls this morning but slowly I found out she lived in the area with her daughter and family. She spoke crisply and clearly, with a very strong accent since she originally was from Shanghai.
We spoke about this and that for maybe 15 mins (with me grasping maybe 50% of what she said, nodding my head when really I had no clue what she was saying!) and finally as we went our separately ways she said “you know I have probably spoken longer with you today than I have all week with my family...”.
I was sad and happy at the same time. Sad that that is the reality of ageing for some people these days but happy that I was able to make the day a little bit better for a sweet old lady.
Spare a minute for our elderly ... they only need us to be there, listening, even if it is only for a few minutes.
Soon it will be our turn...

他们只需要15分钟...
今天早上，我到了附近巴刹吃早餐和买菜。在回家的路上，我遇到了一位80岁婆婆。不知何故，我们开始聊天；闲聊着今天水果蔬菜价格有多便宜。后来我慢慢得知她和女儿及家人住在该地区。婆婆来自上海，声音清晰，口音重。
我们闲聊大小事，大概持续了15分钟（因为我的华文沟通水平只能算是初级，我大概只听懂一半，只好一直点点头！）。最后，当我们向对方道别时，婆婆说：“妳知道我今天和妳的谈话时间可能比整周与家人的谈话时间更长……”。
我既感到遗憾又高兴；遗憾的是，这是当今某些人衰老的现实，高兴的是，我能够让这位和蔼可亲的婆婆的一天过得更美好一些。
为我们的年长者抽出一分钟。他们只需要我们的聆听，即使只有几分钟。
很快地就会轮到我们了。

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of St. John's Home for Elderly Persons.

St John's Home for Elderly Persons is not a government-subvented Home and depend largely on the public's generosity to enable us to continue our work as a Registered Charity.

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