Kidney failure is a very terrible disease which many people die of all over the world. Renal dialysis is one of the treatment methods, but patients suffered a lot in the process of treatment.

We came to NKF Dialysis Centre to attend Bedok Dialysis Befriender to chat with patients on 17th Sep and 18th Sep. The staff here told us that the proceed of dialysis feel very painful and tired because all their blood were pumpted into the machine. Thereby we needed  to talk and play game with them to alleviate their suffering.

Most patients who do dialysis there were old people, and many of them could speak Chinese. On the first day I came to an old man whose parents used to be Chinese. He was very silent at firstly, then became talktive when it cames to Chinese food. His parrents lived in  GuangDong many years ago, so he liked GuangDong foos very much. He told me that tofu pudding tasted best with ginkgo. He also talked about his life. He had been working in a supermarket until he got the disease five years ago. For that he was a so diligent person, I really wished that he would recover sooner .

By the way, I tried tofu pudding after the event, it was delicious for sure.

On the next day, I came to a Malaysian patient because that there are no position surrouding Chinese patient. Unforturnately, my English was so poor to talk with him fluently and to heard him clearly. Most of time we couldn’t understand each other, but at last we made some communication trough unremitting efforts. He told me he had some Chinese friend here and they were really good people. In the game we won a can, which he told me is tasty with bread. It was really a pity that I had no chance to try.

    After two days work, I not only make myself less shy to talk to the native, but also understand more about Singaporean culture. Due to the exsistence of many ethnics, Singaporean culture is diverse. Howerer, every ethnics get along very well with each other, and they accepts difference which impressed me a lot.

 

 

Two weeks have passed since I arrived at Singapore. During the period, I wandered around our beautiful campus of SUTD, ate local food, had fun with TF LEaRN friends at NTU, served as a volunteer at NKF and also studied hard on and after class.

The first photo I post was shot at the lecture in NTU. There we learned about the history, the development, the object and other things about Temasek Foundation. I was deeply moved about its kindness and sense of responsibility to not only us students but also the society. And right during the lecture, the view really caught my eyes that there were different students from different countries as well as different universities in different colors sitting together, talking to each other even they were never acquainted. This strange thing happened because we share the same name as TF LEaRN students. That’s what surprised me indeed.

And the other was the decoration on the wall in NKF. We students from SUTD spent two nights there companying those kidney patients and playing Bingo game with them. At first I was extremely nervous and cautious as they were elderly people speaking foreign languages with severe illness. Fortunately then my fear got eased by those outgoing and friendly patients who were willing to talk with us and share their experience and feelings. Even for their illness, they hold an optimistic attitude, perishing their health and lives instead of dismay. I once read a motto ” Gain from the society, give back to the society” (“得诸社会，还诸社会” in Chinese), and I considered voluntary work just such a selfless and great job passing on love and responsibility to the society. If possible I am really glad to take part in more voluntary work like this in the future.

Being one of the biggest financial cities all around the world & one of the most visited destinations in South East Asia, Singapore is home to many skyscrapers, various kinds of cuisines and charming tourist attractions. During these two weeks I took advantage of the time off class to take a little exploration around the town. Here’s a secret gem I found.

 

Jewel

 

Since Changi Airport is only one station or two away from SUTD, it has basically become my little sanctuary for all kinds of leisure. I would sometimes visit Jewel at night to see the amazing light show. I was fascinated by how the water, music, and light compliment one another. The food here never disappoints as well, with a wide range of options from Singaporean food like buk kut teh to some authentic gelato (lychee flavor from Birds of Paradise is my favorite).

There is a vast lawn in front of the Tanah Merah MRT. At first I thought it was a building site to be developed, but then I accidentally saw a sign indicating that it was a public land. I saw many residents come here to take a walk with their pets, and there are children and adults playing on the lawn. I really like this kind of life scene.

Time passed too fast, and the HASS course ended in a blink of an eye. I really like the teaching style of the professor. There are many small practice games in the course. It is very interesting to let us all participate. I enjoy every HASS course and I have learned a lot about psychology and anthropology. When I left, I told the professor: I really enjoyed your course, thank you!