It was a morning of nostalgia for residents of Sree Narayana Mission (Singapore) (SNM) nursing home on Jan 17 as they tasted delicious pongal cooked by volunteers from Little India Shopowners’ & Heritage Association (LISHA) Women’s Wing and partners.
Painting Pongal pots, singing old MGR (M.G. Ramachandran) and Sivaji Ganesan songs and watching stage performances, youthful energy surged through the seniors. The event was graced by Ms Sarojini Padmanathan, chief executive of Hindu Endowments Board.
For SNM resident Ganga, 79, “seeing the volunteers come with smiling faces” brightened up her day. She said: “They treated us as their own family. I hope this continues every year.”
Married couple and SNM residents Rethinam Pillay Ramasamy, 74, and Pospovalli, 68, were happy to celebrate Pongal together, and actively engaged in activities like Pongal pot painting and singing.
Ms Yogeswari Chandrasekaran, head of social work, resident programmes and concierge hub at SNM, said: “Some of our residents prefer to be by themselves, so such programmes help to bring them out of their solitude.”
Though the residents may have longed to celebrate Pongal with their children and relatives, the volunteers stepped up to fill the void at least for a day.
Among the volunteers were members of the C K Rokerzoids dance group and eight semi-finalists from Miss and Mrs ASEAN 2026.
Ms Lavania Priya, founder and CEO of the pageant organiser Prestige Pageants Royal, said: “I want our beauty queens to use the stage to create an impact. Their voice is powerful, and they can bring about many social changes. I also brought my two kids along as I want them to start volunteering early.”
One of the beauty queens, Krishnaveni, 18, a student from Nanyang Polytechnic, enacted a skit with the message “looks may change, but don’t lose yourself”, based on her experience with her own grandma.
The other beauty queens who performed were Ms Ashin Alexia, an early intervention teacher who danced blindfolded to raise awareness for the visually impaired and children with special needs, and Ms Tivya, a speaker and trainer who encouraged seniors to “never surrender and always give 100 per cent”.
Ms Sarojini praised LISHA’s Women’s Wing: “If women put their heart to something, they will achieve it. We are blessed to have a harmonious community of races celebrating together.”
Ms Elysha Vani, chairperson of LISHA Women’s Wing, said: “We wanted to celebrate Pongal by making our elders feel remembered, respected, and emotionally connected to their roots.”
