Photo Stories

Bedside Archaeology

While communal dining spaces and landscaped gardens might evoke feelings of comfort at nursing homes in Singapore, elderly residents often have to forego their personal bedrooms to sleep in shared wards due to high costs and space constraints. With little space to call one’s own, the humble bedside table has become an expression of one’s personality in his sunset years.

This series was photographed at lunchtime at St Joseph’s Home and Hospice, which was set up by the Catholic Welfare Services in 1978. The home cares for 130 residents and has around 20 beds for those who need palliative care. Sister Geraldine Tan, who has helped run the Home since 1985, believes in creating an environment of love and comfort. She shares her thoughts on caring for those at the end of life.

“Palliative care is about asking the person how he wants to live. Is there anything we can do for you? And it may not be big things like traveling around the world. It can be very simple things.”

“At St. Joseph’s, we have a slogan that No One Dies Alone. We try not to let anyone die alone.”

“In palliative care you are invited to be in their circle. We don’t push ourselves in. The invitation is very important. And that invitation… It’s not just to doctors or nurses, it is someone whom they have felt care.”

“When a person is sick and in need, their troubles become very big. We also have to understand where they are coming from.”

“Some 40 years ago, death was seen as a failure to medicine. So when we had patients dying in the ward, doctors would walk pass them and go to the next bed. And that affected me quite a bit. Why aren’t they important? They have lived their whole life to that stage and now they are saying goodbye and why is there nobody around?”

“I want to be a nurse where I can really empathize and cry with the family. When the family is down, we understand and nobody can stop me from crying. Tears become very natural. And with those tears we kind of connect. It is really beautiful.”