TERESA HSU

Never Too Old To Care For Others

One evening in 1945, Teresa Hsu stepped out of a posh Shanghai hotel and encountered a man "all yellow, starved, skinny and barely able to hold himself up," who asked her for a few cents.  The surge of compassion and the sense of their oneness that welled up within her changed the course of her life forever.

Everything about her is unconventional.  Many of us work hard to buy our own flats but Madam Teresa Hsu digs deep into her pockets to buy flats for others - the have-nots, the destitute and the aged sick. While some of us feel a sense of discomfort when accosted by the less fortunate, this woman seeks them out in order to befriend them.

When she turned 45 years old, she went to the United Kingdom to take up nursing in order to dedicate herself t o helping the aged sick.  When she reached 65 years of age, she set up one of the first homes for the aged sick.  She is a grand 95 years old today.  She has lived a long and meaningful life but has not once put a halt to her goal of serving others.  She continues to look after the elderly, some of whom are younger than she is.

Teresa looks hale and healthy, busying herself daily with the welfare of others.  Her abode is spartan.  There are tables and chairs, a small television, a medium-sized fridge, a stove and cooking utensils.  The flat is devoid of ornamentation.  "I don't want any unnecessary clutter.  People come here to sit and talk to me - I need chairs as they are essential.  I don't touch a thing that I don't basically need.  Everything must go to the poor." She dresses simply in slacks and blouse and wears no makeup.  With her salt and pepper hair cut short, she has come a long way from her attractive Shanghai days, when she was smartly dressed from top to toe.

It was at that great cosmopolitan city that Teresa's life changed, forever.  "A few British friends whom I worked with invited me to a meal.  It was quite a posh hotel in Shanghai.  There were all cut glass, champagne, coffee and what not.  When I left the place, just outside the gate I saw a man all yellow, starved, skinny, barely able to hold himself up, leaning against the wall and he asked for a few cents.

"I thought to myself, if all men are created by the same Being, this man is my brother.  What was I doing inside there, having a huge meal amid all that splendour when my brother was suffering?  So I  went home, threw out everything - all my lipstick, rouge, nail polish - everything went and I thought: I'll never touch a cent that belongs to the poor person.  That was the start.  After that, I was free."

Recalling her inability to help the wounded people whom she saw during the Second World War, 45-year-old Teresa decided to become a nurse. ,, saw so much suffering.  I saw all these bodies, saw the wounded people and I couldn't help then because I hadn’t the skill.  Poor people can, at worst, go begging.  But if they are sick and crippled and disabled, they will die unless you go to them.

"I wrote to the Nursing Council in London.  I said, 'I'm grossly overaged, but for me it's a dedication, not a livelihood.' And the matron wrote to say, 'We are so touched by your letter; please come, we will train you.' So I went."

In 1961, she returned to Singapore.  Her sister, seeing her dedication and commitment to helping the poor and sickly, bought a piece of land in Jalan Payoh Lai in 1965 for her.  She moved there to set up the home, now known as Home for the Aged Sick.  It was the first home to take in sick and bedridden patients.  Before long, all the 100 beds were filled, and building commenced on the second block.

Teresa let it be known that she did not, or would not be able to do all these things if it were not for the generosity of her sister.  "My sister supported me, she was the one who bought this land for me.  Since she passed away she left me quite a sum of money, which I was able to buy flat with - five in Singapore, two in Malaysia.  Those people who had no money and who were asked to move, I helped them buy flats."

One benefactee was Maran, the son of the Home's former chief cook, Madam Anjelei.  "Without her, this flat may not be here, because she insisted on us buying a flat, at least 4-room.  I have known her since I was 12, when my mother went to work in the Home for the Aged Sick.  She's no more the boss, she is my god-grandmother.  She's the first to know, whenever there's a wedding, or a new kid born."

Madam Anjelei remembered Teresa's kindness: "She paid me more as I had many children."

To understand the psyche of this woman, you would have to go back to the time when she was a little girl living in Swatow, China, in the last days of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

"I may have been a girl of five or six when I heard beggars telling their sad tales along the street," Teresa said in impeccable English.  "I felt an instant reaction of compassion.  I was too small to look out of the window.  But I wanted to see why some people are suffering like this.  Why?  The question was why and the feeling was: those who suffer must be helped."

If Teresa was certain about her calling, it was her meditation teacher who confirmed it for her.  "He told me, 'You're born to serve, for as long as anyone in this world needs your help, you're never off duty.' I said yes, I realise that.  I never think of my work, of sacrifices or charity.  What I have I give.  What I don't have I can't give.  I don't waste time on frustrations."

Up to today, wherever Teresa goes, she makes it a point to look up poor people.  She related: "Once, I saw a door ajar.  I peeped in and it was quite dark.  So I went in to see if anyone needed any help. There was an old woman lying on the bed who said that she was very thirsty and very hungry.  'I haven't eaten for three days, I couldn't get up.' So I made her a drink and I supported her to sit up and she held the bowl, she went 'gom gom gom' and finished the whole lot.

"Her hair was so brittle and dry, her hand was so feverish.  I said 'how old are you?' She said 'I’m 105.' We called an ambulance because she was alone.  First thing in the morning I went to the nurse.  I said where is the patient who came in at 10.30 p.m.? She said she passed away at 2 a.m. I was happy, at least I had a chance to hold her hand for two hours.  Her last thought to me was that she was happy someone was holding her hand.  That was my last gift to her and her last gift to me."

In another instance, when a friend showed her a newspaper article about a poor family's plight, she went to check it out.  "I went to visit the family and found that it was really very desperate.  So we started helping them." A member of the family had kidney failure.  "Every month we would pay for the dialysis treatment, the monthly check-ups at clinics and for medicine."

The patient, Mr Ong Teck Khoon, was diagnosed with kidney failure in 1993.  He said: "The dialysis treatment costs about $2,000.  My brother highlighted my plight in the newspaper.  Then Nurse Hsu came.  I'm grateful to her.  She's my saviour."

That is not the first time that accolades have been heaped on Teresa.  Those who either know or have worked with her have nothing but the highest praise to sing.  Mr Lim Soon Kheam, the former treasurer of the Society for the Aged Sick, said: "She's one of the rare kind who gave up her own property, a luxury bungalow, to house the aged sick.  I think she is a remarkable person.  She looked after the home without receiving any pay or salary."

One volunteer, Mr Thanaraja, said: "She's 95 and she's looking after those who are younger than her.  She'll go all out.  She doesn't care about herself.  She only cares about others.  This inspires me to follow her."

Where did all this compassion and deep caring come from, you may ask.  Teresa's answer is: "I must have got it from my mother because she was totally dedicated to the job she chose to do and that was looking after the family.  I think that trait was passed down to us.  I've no family, so I look after everybody else.  I choose to serve every. body else who comes to me - that is my job.

"There was a young girl who asked me 'what is your philosophy?' I said the world is my home, all living beings are my family, selfless service is my religion."

So selfless is she that occasionally the unscrupulous take advantage of her kindness and generosity.  "Sometimes I get cheated, Of course.  When I know I write them a letter to say 'I discovered that this is not right, so don't do it again.  It's bad for yourself.  I lose money, but you lose your own character.'

This has not made Teresa cynical, only more careful.  "Even when friends or friends' friends know about my work and bring the cases to me I still go and investigate."

Having dedicated her whole life to serving others, Teresa has allowed herself to be pampered by Madam Anjelei and her family once in a while.  "Every month I'll come to visit," Madam Anjelei said.  "I treat her as my mother and she treats me as her daughter.  She likes my cooking very much, so once a month, I'll cook something for her."

For once, Teresa has allowed someone to do something for her.

"She's 95 and she's looking after those who are younger than her.  She’ll go all out.  She doesn't care about herself.  She only cares about others.  This inspires me to follow her."

"I thought to myself, if all men are created by the same Being, this man is my brother.  What was I doing inside there, having a huge meal amid all that splendour when my brother was suffering.?"

Article Taken from “Singapore Extraordinary People”

 

First Created on 16 August 1998
Updated on 12 June 2000

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