Makan With Seniors


Our first Makan with Seniors at NVPC in May.		 Food has a way of bringing people together, which is exactly what an initiative called ‘Makan with Seniors’ started by Ageless Online and FACEUP hopes to do – bring together youths with seniors over their favourite meal. The idea for ‘Makan with Seniors’ came from an initiative called ‘Feast with Strangers’ by Oxford historian Theodore Zeldin, which is being held all around the world. However, ‘Makan with Seniors’ puts the focus on seniors, and celebrates seniors’ life stories.

These conversations are helped through a menu which has a list of questions for the seniors to answer including their memories of WWII, recollecting of local events that impacted them and sharing of their growing up years. Conversations can also grow organically. The hope is that through these simple conversations, there will be more understanding between the generations. Stereotypes can be broken down and new friendships gained.

 


We held our first session on May 19, 2018 at the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) co-hosted by A Good Space. Since then it has taken off:

 

  • Senior Savvy 2018 by Youth Corps (#1).
  • Singapore’s Eldercare Cluster (#2), June 16, 2018.
  • A Good Day, an event organised by A Good Space (three sessions) (#3a (#3), #3b (#4) and #3c (#5)), June 23, 2018.
  • Ulu Pandan CC involving its Wellness Centre, organised by volunteers Le Yi and Melanie (#6), July 14, 2018.
  • NVPC, co-hosted by A Good Space (#7).
  • Camp Hiro’s YES! Festival (#8), organised by Camp Hiro.
  • NUS, organised by volunteers Melanie and Le Yi (#9).
  • NVPC, co-hosted by A Good Space to celebrate International Day of Older Persons (#10).
  • Camp Hiro’s YES! Festival, organised by Camp Hiro (two sessions) (#11 and #12).
  • Dunman High School involving seniors from Tung Ling Community Services, organised by students Shiqi, Tammy and Qiao Ling (two sessions) (#13 and #14).
  • Camp Rec V @ Ren Ci Nursing Home, Bukit Batok (#15), December 2018.
  • NVPC, co-hosted by A Good Space (#16), May 4, 2019.
  • NVPC, co-hosted by A Good Space (#17), July 20, 2019.
  • NVPC, co-hosted by A Good Space (#18), August 10, 2019.
  • NVPC, co-hosted by A Good Space (#19), October 12, 2019.
  • NVPC, co-hosted by A Good Space (#20), November 9, 2019.
  • Camp Rec VI @ Ren Ci Nursing Home, Ang Mo Kio (#21).
  • Pioneers Department of Raffles Volunteer Corps (online) (#22), September 13, 2022.
  • National Museum of Singapore, collaborating with The Moving Visuals Co (as part of an event related to its documentary that premiered on CNA) (#23), July 29, 2023.
  • National Museum of Singapore (#24), September 9, 2023.
  • National Museum of Singapore (#25), November 11, 2023.
  • National Museum of Singapore, with staff of Apollo Management Singapore Pte Ltd (#26), November 21, 2023.
  • National Museum of Singapore (#27), January 13, 2024.
  • National Museum of Singapore (#28) (organised for Battle of Singapore 2024), February 24, 2024.
  • National Museum of Singapore (#29), co-hosted by AIC Singapore and Project Forget Me Not (for those living with dementia), March 9, 2024.
  • National Museum of Singapore (#30), March 16, 2024.
  • National Museum of Singapore (#31), May 18, 2024.
  • National Museum of Singapore (#32), July 20, 2024 (special segment highlighting Maggie and her seafaring career).

 

So far, the oldest participant has been 93 years young while the youngest was 4, and we have had over 100 seniors and youths enjoy our Makan sessions.

We are also open to collaborate with organisations or companies who may want to hold a ‘Makan with Seniors’ session. Anyone who wants to organise a Makan session, please e-mail us too.

Our Makan initiative has been mentioned on MediaCorp Capital 95.8, CNA938 and Shin Min Daily. We have also been mentioned by The Smart Local as one of eight unique activities to meet new friends in Singapore and been written up on CNA.

Our Makan with Seniors session has also spun-off to a new event called Seniors Makan with Seniors, which is entirely run by a senior, Silas. His sessions will be running in months when Makan with Seniors is not running. To find out more, e-mail him at: yesilas@live.com. His next event will be on August 16 (Friday), to register go to: https://tinyurl.com/16Aug2024SMWS.

 

** Our 2024 sessions for Makan with Seniors:

<2025 dates will be posted after our November event>


Do follow us on our Ageless Online FB page or on our Instagram page @makan_with_seniors to get updates.