This year’s Parents’ Day was a joyous celebration of substance and style, as displayed by the members of House of Joy.
House of Joy was birthed by City Harvest Community Service Association to be a different kind of senior centre, one that befriends the elderly and champions active ageing in groundbreaking ways. Today, there are two HOJ centres, located at Mountbatten and Tampines Greenweave, and CHCSA recently received a People’s Association Community Spirit Excellence Award for its work at HOJ Mountbatten.
MediaCorp artiste Edmund Chen taking a selfie with HOJ’s Fan Dance group
Parents’ Day is an annual event for HOJ, one that the members of HOJ and their family members look forward to. The pandemic put a pause on this event but it is now back with a vengeance.
This year saw a departure from the usual Parents’ Day event. It was a day of high style for one and all, and all the 600 guests came dressed up to the nines. The event was also graced by the Member of Parliament for Mountbatten, Mr Lim Biow Chuan, and veteran MediaCorp artiste Edmund Chen.
CHCSA’s Board directors and executive director with MP Mr Lim Biow Chuan (2nd from left), hairstylist Dave Teng (in red)
NOT YOUR AVERAGE SENIORS’ EVENT
To kickstart this special day, Pastor Maria Tok, who heads CHC’s Dialect Service, and Pastor Tan Yah Lan who heads a zone in CHC opened with grace before the banquet began.
The atmosphere in Bliss Garden restaurant at Singapore Expo was filled with excitement and laughter. Parents of different ages—HOJ members—were looking forward to the sumptuous eight-course meal and the entertainment. But the highlight was the various performances, fashion show and and the live hair show featuring the members of House Of Joy.
Since April this year, when the idea for such an event arose, rehearsals began for the HOJ members. The Fan Dance group and the Zumba group worked hard for months to perfect their routine, taking pride in their performance despite the fact it was tiring.
Likewise the 28 seniors involved in the fashion show put all their efforts into practising for this big day. There were two segments to the fashion show: Sportswear and Festive wear, featuring the fashion of local designers JOANNALSM, MIRL and Ther Yang. The seniors strutted their stuff like seasoned models, much to the delight of the crowd.
What really wowed the crowd was a special hair show, led by Dave Teng, founder of Hairfolio at The Adelphi. He transformed the hairstyle of his senior model in front of the live audience, which drew great admiration from everyone.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan was touched by the love and care that CHCSA shows to the seniors in the community. He noted that for the seniors, “it’s important to keep being active, to enjoy the golden years of your life and take part in activities, because if you don’t, you will miss out on activities organised for you.” Being at this celebration reminded him personally of his mother, to remind her to stay engaged in activities such as these.
Caleb Gracy, 21, a volunteer at this event shared that he didn’t feel like it was an event for the elderly—it went against what society expects a party for seniors to be. He witnessed the elderly dressing up and dancing for their audiences alongside fashion walks. “It was so much more lively than most events!” he smiled.
TRULY CHANGING LIVES
For Hairfolio founder Dave Teng, being part of this event was a joyous experience. He was happy that he could make people’s dreams come true, and it did not matter how old they were. “An unforgettable moment for me today was when everyone was enthusiastic about making their elderly parents step out of their comfort zone to do something that they’ve never done before, not in their lifetime,” he shared.
Three months ago, it all began as a hair makeover event for the seniors, but snowballed into this special Parent’s Day celebration. Mdm Yip Peck Chip, 75, who was Dave’s model for the hair makeover felt happy and confident after having her hairstyle transformed.
Dave bringing transformation to Mdm Yip’s hair
CHCSA had picked Mdm Yip for this makeover, as she was going through a tough time earlier in the year. When Dave first met Mdm Yip, she was reluctant to do the makeover, but as he and the team from CHCSA took time to convince her, she finally agreed. “We need to be patient when talking with the elderly, to make them understand our perspective and win their trust,” said Dave.
It was also a day to celebrate CHCSA’s top volunteers. Evelyn Wong and Baby Liew each received a long service award for giving their time and effort to support CHCSA for five years. This event was a great time for them as they not only enjoyed the food but were able to catch up with fellow volunteers.
It was a time of celebrating faithful CHCSA volunteers too
“When we have time, we need to serve to give them (the elderly) love,” said Baby, who has been a volunteer for five years. “These seniors are lonely and they need people to talk to make them happy.”
Evelyn, who has volunteered for seven years, said, “As long as they (the elderly) are happy and looking forward to our visit, I am happy too and I always look forward to visiting them. We are to love the seniors wholeheartedly. Eventually, when we are older, we would also want people around us to love and pamper us. We serve without expecting anything in return; as long as the seniors are happy and healthy, we are glad and filled with joy.”
Parents’ Day is a time for CHCSA’s seniors to enjoy good food, great performances and the company of their family members
If you would like to join CHCSA as a volunteer and bring joy to the elderly or other beneficiaries under their care, please visit www.chcsa.org.sg/services/house-of-joy .
