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Dementia Singapore’s Voices for Hope graduate Thomas Ong shares his reflections in a poem titled “Dementia”.
A burden to the family
Which can be big or small
“A faded away easily”
“A not there at all”
Are we to feel the guilt
Of such a stigma and myth
Is fading away really built
Into our setback forthwith
Are we really decaying away
Sliding down the slippery slope
Into some unknown oblivion way
Knowing that the future is hard to cope
The troubles we face
Needing to be tagged
Feeling that we have no grace
And so have to be gagged
Are we demented
Offensive and disrespected
Also to be commented
As one not alive and resented
Our journey is not innocuous
To anyone or to ourselves
So treat us not as precious ubiquitous
Individuals requiring to be put on the shelves
We are not such
We need your care
Your concern and much
More the tender love we share
There is so much hope to live affably
With friends, neighbours and family
In joy, peace and also in harmony
Till then when we fade away eventually
For making our journey safe and sweet
For your tremendous efforts to show the way
We have much to thank and tweet
About the concern and care from the ADA
This post was first published on the Dementia Singapore website.
ABOUT THE WRITER
THOMAS ONG
Thomas Ong Xian Wei PBM, PBS, DGCE (Dip. in Guidance and Counselling in Education, U.K.), B.A., MSc. (Counselling), was a secondary school teacher, principal, school counsellor and an advisor to the Juvenile Court for 10 years. He is 84 years young as of 2023. A graduate of Dementia Singapore (DSG) ’s Voices For Hope programme fifth cohort, he has since gone on to be an active self-advocate, sharing how one can live well despite dementia. He is also currently a co-facilitator for other Voices For Hope programmes and an active volunteer in DSG. He currently enjoys his time sharing as an advocate, and doing things he enjoys like tutoring students in Mathematics, painting, writing, and playing mahjong.
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