Wong Siew Wah and Derica Yeo
Wong Siew Wah:
The gardening interest group was formed in 2011. After a lot of effort, we managed to get a plot of Land at West Coast Green Park. We designed the gardens as drawn above. South West CDC provided funds for water supply. National Parks built a path of 1.5m width so the seniors can wheel themselves in. We plant all kinds of plants, such as banana, jackfruits, winter melons, lady fingers, sweet potato leaves etc and a variety of flowers. At present, we have about 40 members in the gardening interest group. We keep one another informed of gardening information and exchange of plant seeds and sharing some of the harvest via chat group.
We had participated in Community In Bloom (CIB) competition and we achieved Silver award in 2014, 2016, and 2018. On 25th April 2021, we conducted a Zoom meeting on “Converting Kiten waste to Gem”. The response is very good, drew more than 30 participants.
I have spent on average, 2-3 hours a day in the garden; weeding, cleaning, watering and planting, etc.
I have one son and one daughter. Both are married and have happy families. I have two grandchildren from my son and one granddaughter from my daughter. The grandchildren always play together happily.
I joined West Coast Garden NC in 2011 (Now it’s called RC). I was appointed as a Treasurer. The appointment was from 1st July 2011 to 30th June 2013. Now I am an executive member in charge of the garden and “Yuan Ji Wu” exercise group. Before Covid-19, I was quite active in our West Coast Garden NC activities, such as Kampong Night, Lantern Festival, National Day celebration, Deepavali, and Chinese New Year Celebration, etc.
I enjoy singing very much, therefore, I have attended vocal training courses. I have joined a choir since 1995 and also Karaoke class since 1994. I am also a member of “728 West Coast Singing Class”. Before Covid-19, I have been actively involved in all these singing groups. In 2018, my husband and I did a Duet singing in Victoria Concert Hall and in 2019, we did one in Conference Hall. West Coast CC Senior Citizen Committee organised a concert conducted by teacher Hu Zheng on 2.11.2019. I participated in Group, Duet, and solo singing.
I learnt cooking, in order to make the best. I read up on cooking books and also updated myself with youtube on cooking. My favourite foods are chilli crab, chicken rice and pumpkin cake. Newspaper, magazines, and cooking books are my daily spiritual food. I used to travel two to three times a year and exercise with neighbours daily. However, due to Covid-19, all these activities have been temporarily suspended. I hope this bad time will be gone soon and things will resume back to normal.
Derica Yeo:
I am very proud to be born in Singapore. My childhood has been very enjoyable with my neighbouring friends and family. I am very fortunate to participate in many activities in the community.
Besides my academic studies, I am also very happy to be able to take up other hobbies such as dancing, playing tennis and doing arts and crafts.
In 2019, I participated in Child Aid Asia 2019. My schoolmates and I travelled to Kuala Lumpur to perform our tap dance to raise funds for the less fortunate. The concert was performed by many youths that were very talented in many different ways. Because of Covid-19, most of these activities were cancelled this year. I hope we will go back to normal soon.
I also enjoy nature and gardening. When I was younger, I helped out at West Coast Green community garden by sweeping the dried leaves and watering some of the plants. I also picked some very fresh strawberries in Malaysia! I feel that nature is very calming and makes me feel at peace.
I love my home, Singapore, very much. I attended the 2015 Southeast Asian Games (SEA GAMES) with my family and was able to see lots of different kinds of sports. In 2015, my family and I also attended Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s funeral. We were all very sad when he passed he has done great things for Singapore.
