Back in the early 2000s, Chiew Poh was chasing the Singapore dream. Her life turned upside down when her husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2008. Today, as a Chaplin with Methodist Welfare Services, she provides comfort and counsel to patients in the nursing home as they approach the end of their lives. Each loss reminds her of her own grief but also renews her sense of peace, purpose, and hope as she helps others find strength in their final journey.
00:00Our kampong is right deep inside. Last time the water pipe was above. All of us when we go home,
00:09right, we can walk under and when the rain is heavy, right, it can get, it can over overflow.
00:16So there were instances when my cousin almost drowned in the water hole. So this is the place.
00:22Now I think they lifted up. Then you can actually walk in. Can you see?
00:26Ah, that is the path. That is the path. It's a road inside. Yeah, it's a road inside.
00:47Now there are many things in life. We cannot absolutely say they are good things or bad things.
00:52I married my classmate from university. We are both graduates in accountancy.
00:59We were comfortable. Both of us are finance professionals. So we were comfortable. Life was good.
01:04In 2008, suddenly he felt unwell. And, you know, he has this swelling in the leg.
01:11And then it doesn't go off. And then he keeps feeling nauseous.
01:14And when we went to the doctor, it was very shocking.
01:18The diagnosis came out is, um, about that cancer.
01:22And basically they are saying there's no cure.
01:29He only has six months.
01:34So with that, my, our world turned, no, it just turned upside down.
01:39I think I plunged into depression. I couldn't take it. Yeah.
01:42I remember that we will go to the park in the morning. We walked together. So, still a lot of sadness. Yeah.
01:57But it's just like knowing that you are part of this bigger universe. And you look at the trees. You look at the flowers. You know that there is something sovereign over the whole creation.
02:12So that is the kind of comfort. Even during sickness, we draw strength as we walk together.
02:31Oh, the park is very important to me. Yeah. So when I'm in nature, I feel a sense of peace. That this space that I can just be myself, whether it's a good or bad, joy, sorrow, it's just a very comfortable space.
02:50And to be in part of this bigger picture, part of a universe, brings me comfort. Yeah.
03:02Throughout my studies, I did an internship. And the internship was to render pastoral care to the patients and the hospital.
03:17And one of the unit that I went and visited was a palliative unit. So by the time, I already have the daily experiences of, you know, writing my journal and possessing my life journey with God.
03:28Using examen and lectio divana. Yeah. So I already was doing that. And then I heard a strong prompting in my heart to do chaplaincy.
03:39My intention of coming to theological school is just three, four years, then go back to corporate world, right? After I know more about God.
03:44Maybe God has other intentions. So I did a prayer, a life changing prayer. I said, God, if your will for me is to do chaplaincy, then you just close all my doors and open only the door that is meant for me.
03:57So all the job opportunities, which actually were through the final stages already, started to close one by one. And only this job with MWS opened.
04:07At that time, they were looking for a chaplain because they have set up a new nursing home. And they need a chaplain for this nursing home. So that's how MWS come into the picture.
04:20My job is mainly to give pastoral care. I will visit homes of beneficiaries who are facing end of life. Yeah. And I will support them in the journey.
04:33And I also visit the beneficiaries at the nursing home where I render pastoral care support. Besides that, I also share encouragement messages on a weekly basis to encourage the residents who are staying in the nursing home.
04:47So every individual that come to the nursing home come in with a life story and the life story is unique. Some are alone. They have no family members, but in the course of the life journey, they went through different kinds of struggles.
05:07unique. Some are alone, they have no family members but in the course of their life journey
05:12they went through different kinds of struggles. I have some beneficiaries who lost contact
05:19with the entire family. So they come in with all these struggles and I basically sit with
05:24them and attend to them. Of course every patient that passed on is a re-trigger of my grief.
05:34To be honest, I cannot say that I'm so professional, I don't feel anything. It really touches my
05:42pain again. It's like your wound is there, right? Then it comes back again. But I have
05:47more and more come to accept that life, we have to live in this tension. If there's life,
05:54there's death. And that makes life complete. I've seen a lot of faces towards the end as
06:02one of peace. So now my understanding of life and death has been challenged. And the more
06:11I see, the more I do this role, it revealed to me an aspect of a divine mystery that I'm
06:20beginning to see in a clearer manner. Before that was unknown, uncertainty. But now it's like,
06:28the scales start to, from the eyes start to fall down one by one. And I could see something
06:34that is very mysterious, but it's going to be good even at the point of suffering. The transition
06:43thereafter is going to be something that it may be even very beautiful beyond our imagination.
06:49For me, when I, I see this more of sharing through the love and care that I have for
06:56them. The Bible teaches us that God is love. When I attend to the patients, especially those
07:02nearing the end of the life, how I do it is through the love that I reveal to them at that
07:08stage of life. And it's a universal language. So it doesn't really matter which faith you're
07:13from. Everybody can understand the language of love. So I don't really think it's difficult,
07:20but that is what everybody, every human being will need, especially at that stage of life,
07:27before they make the transition.
07:30But it used to be a Kampong. That's why it's called Jalan Kampong Chetek.
07:35Oh, this is the Malay Kampong? Yeah. This is where the Kampong area, the Malay will stay
07:40with chickens and all this. And this is a place where they have the school. During
07:46festivals, ghost festivals, people will come and then they will perform. And there's also a temple.
07:52temple. And they will have, he will have childhood games. So we will play our, our games there
07:58and hopefully to strike some price. So that's how we spend our childhood. So this is a gathering
08:04place for the community. It's a joy of getting together in this community. Yeah, like it's the only
08:12entertainment we have. We don't really have television. Yeah. And then we don't have shopping
08:16center. So we all come here. Yeah, to have fun. Yeah. Just now I showed you the road, right?
08:25leading to the Kampong, right? Yeah. And that is, you saw that building over there. That was where
08:31my Kampong was. And we stayed there. We are not the only household. There's quite a few of them.
08:36And before that, this PIE was not there. It came later. Yeah. After the PIE was built, before it became
08:45very active. Some of the children actually tried to cross the road, which is actually very
08:50dangerous. Yeah. And then we ran across. But then when it became more, then after that, when
08:55the houses started to relocate, it was gone. Now they replaced with condominiums. Yeah.
09:01But, and of course you cannot run like that. It can get into accident. So there were a few
09:05fatal incidents in the past. Yeah.
09:08Yeah, we are supposed to be very poor. But I really don't feel it. Yeah. I mean, we don't
09:17really have enough to eat because there are so many people sharing food. Now the housework
09:22is about more than 20 people. There's so much abundance in terms of enjoyment. But in today's
09:28contact in the working world, there's always something that you need to achieve. You need to have
09:34savings. You need to make sure your family is well taken care of. And then job, there's
09:39a lot of expectation. And day in, day out, you're just tied into the road that you don't
09:45really have the space to just be yourself.
09:51Yeah. And looking at the animals, it brought me so much joy. Yeah. Once spotted a goose, and
09:58I was chasing after the goose. And then we spotted a mouse deer as well in, you know, in one
10:03of the, behind our campong. And a lot of monkeys. So being in nature just helped me to feel very connected,
10:12to connected to the, to the rest of creation. And I, I find a simple joy, just be present, you know,
10:20just dwelling in the space, yeah and running about.
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