26 September is when Honnets visit the De Luxe Retirement to reach out to the elderly. The Honnets left the learning centre at 9am on the bus, bringing along gifts and necessities for the elderly. As they arrived at De Luxe, they are greeted by the lovely elderly along with De Luxe’s dedicated staff led by Dr KC Goh. After warming up with the elderly, the Honnets interviewed them. Despite language and other barriers, the Honnets managed to coax some inspirational stories from them.
Carmen Loke from G16 writes:
It has come to my knowledge that women lives longer than men, therefore they told me that ‘If the young ones does not study now, in the future you will be like me going through hard life because we couldn’t afford anything for the family and we became a housewife. My husband has to work to feed the family who needs to survive.’ These ladies are strong, which been through a lot, so they found a place to stay with meet new friends.
Rachel Choy of G20:
“Life is intricate” said Miss Elsa, who moved to De Luxe this May. At young age, she was an aspiring dancer. This role model fought for her dreams even when her parents disapproved. Her hopes were cut short when she had a first stroke.
Nisha Gayatri of G17:
I believe I have learnt a lot from this visit. Our current generation should learn how to appreciate and respect all elderly because as a community we must help each other.
From this trip, Honnet learned that while the people grow old, their spirit never ages. They also learned that these spirited elderly have tons of stories to tell based on years and years of experiences they have accumulated. The elderly have lived through events such as celebrations and wars but never get to share with everyone, even their closest loved ones. So it’s great to hear small nuggets of history not found in the Honnets’ IGCSE textbooks.
At the end of the trip, the Honnets took a group photo of themselves in front of De Luxe and went home, with newfound understand of the elderly and the lives they have led.
We thank De Luxe for helping with bridging the generation gap between the young Honnets of today and the oldest generation of Malaysians. They have become an inspiration and role models for Honnets to aspire to.
Thank you and goodspeed, Honnets!