Interview with Lee Hock Seng (* 24th. April 1921)

 Interview with Lee Hock Seng (* 24th. April 1921)

–      resident of the Silver Jubilee home for the aged –

What do you do in your daily routine?

At 6:30 am I get up, take a bath and change my cloth.

At 7:30 am I go to the dining room to get my breakfast.

At 12:00 pm I have my lunch.

At 2:00 pm is tee-time.

At 5:00 pm I have got my dinner.

Between the meals I mostly sit around alone.

Where do you get information from of the happenings outside of the Silver Jubilee House?

I get the world news by a copy of a newspaper. If you do not read news, you do not know what is happening. It is important for me to be informed.

How is your relationship to the other residents of the Jubilee house?

A lot of them just mind their own business and are not interested in having any contact to the other residents. Furthermore, some of them are mentally sick and do not mention clever things. In fact, they talk rubbish.

Do you have a lot of relatives?

I have got some relatives in Kuala Lumpur and Penang – lots of nephews and nieces. Furthermore, I have got 4 nieces in the UK and one niece in Hong Kong.

How often do they visit you?

They are visiting me during the Chinese new year and also ring me up at my mobile phone. They do not visit me too often because they have a lot of work to do like shopping, cooking, watch out of their children and of course their own job. But when they are free, they come and visit me. That happens around two till three times a month.

Are you bored sometimes?

Yes, I am bored sometimes.

What are you interested in?

As a school boy (during school days) I was interested in fish and birds. Furthermore, nowadays I am interested in sports like Badminton, swimming, cricket, hockey and soccer. But I do not want to do sport activities anymore because of my age. I like to watch the matches.

How is the food in the Jubilee House?

The food is all right. You have to take what you get. I eat everything, even I like it or not.

Which job did you do in the past to earn your money?

I was an office worker.

Did you decide by your own to live in the Silver Jubilee home for the age?

No, I decided it together with my close relatives (children of my sister). They told me if I would stay alone in my house, nobody will know if anything happens. They did not want me to stay alone in the house. They told me to pick a place where I can live. Finally, we came together to the conclusion that the Jubilee home is the only place for me to stay because the environment is clean here.

How much do you have to pay for your living here?

The house is free of charge. Male and female houses are all free of charge.

Which regulations does anybody have to fulfil to live here?

One has to be minimum 65 years old to register for the home. Just a few days after registration you can live here. But before, the higher authority asks you two times questions (there are two interviews on different days) and the resident has to answer these questions.

Do you watch much television?

Just the life broadcast of the badminton Champions League and other sport activities.

How is your family status?

I am single, so I have nobody to look after me.  I had been single for all my life. I had always been very poor and did not have enough money to support a wife and children. I had only been a clerk and lived in Penang for all my life. In further days Malacca and Penang had been a British colony and that was a hard time for the people in Penang.

How is the medical care in the Jubilee house?

Very good. In the Jubilee House there are a lot of inhabitants who pretty much want to stay on their own and their mindset is a little bit broken. If you are physical sick, you have to get to the medical ward and they will help you and take care of you. There are for example people who are not able to walk so well any more and need to lie in bed for a long part of the day. Here, they get the comfort they need.

How do you realise the people who live here?

All the people  have their personal and own things to do. They do not know what is happening outside and do not care much about it. They primary want to be on their own. Some of them are very quiet. I do not want the people to talk to me too much because I often do not understand what they are talking about, the subject.

Do you walk outside of the area of the Silver Jubilee home for the age?

You are not allowed to go outside of the area without a permit because it is too dangerous. But if you are still physically able to walk you will get the permit to go outside and you can for example go shopping to get your own food.

Personally, I seldom go outside because I do not get the permit. I am too old and that would be too dangerous. But myself and everybody else can ask the staff if they would buy extra food and they would do it. So, the staff could also get the food for us.

 

Would you appreciate younger people talking to you?

If they are patient and would explain the topic to me, yes – I would appreciate it. If for example somebody would visit me and tell me what is happening outside the home I would be very pleased. I also like it if a relative or a friend has lunch with me.

I also would be glad if somebody would exchange knowledge with me. They let me know what is happening outside and that interests me. If somebody would join me watching television but still concentrate on the game, I would prefer that rather than watching television on my own. I would like to chat with the person after the game about the game. But I also fear that the younger people do not know the thinks I know and upside down.

How is the apartment you are living in built up?

There are always two persons in one room. The bathroom and the toilet are shared with four persons because they are between two rooms. All in all, there is a medical ward, the physiotherapy centre, the kitchen and the rehab centre in the hall (also used by the people outside). At the back of these buildings, there are the apartments.

Where do the relatives meet the resident inhabitants?

The relatives meet the resident inhabitants in the dining-hall. They are not allowed to enter the apartment of the elderly people. The staff wants to make sure that the relatives are not blamed if some things are missing.