A Letter to Myself Podcast: In cleaning their homes for 40 years, volunteer Fion Phua says the underprivileged help her

Excerpts from Fion’s conversation with Joel Chua: 

On why she started volunteering at such a young age: 

“I don’t come from a well-to-do family, so I didn’t have much money to spend. I can’t go for midnight shows or bowling. I was underaged, so I can’t go to tea dances or discos. So I thought, instead of spending my time at the community centre, I should try and be useful. 

So I walked into an old folks’ home or a nursing home, but I realised I was too young. Seeing the elderly … I feel very depressed, (there was) nothing much I can do for them. But I can wash the toilet, clean the window, change their bedsheets … lighten the load of the nurse or caregivers.