Murals At Ang Mo Kio HDB Estate Help Elderly With Dementia Find Their Way Home
Our favourite snacks and candies remind us of our childhood years. For the elderly, these classic products may spark memories and help them recognise their surroundings.
A block in Ang Mo Kio Ave 4 has taken this idea to heart with murals featuring tang yuan, satay, and ang ku kueh. The murals were created by the Alzheimer’s Disease Association (ADA) to enable the elderly and residents with dementia to find their way back home.
Perhaps showing these murals to your grandparents will remind them of the good ‘ol days.
Nostalgic murals help the elderly recognise their blocks
Local hiker Joyce Sim shared photos of the nostalgic murals in the Singapore Hikers’ Facebook group. While taking a morning walk around her neighbourhood, she photographed street art with retro items like kopi cups and classic treats.
The iconic White Rabbit candies, for example, are reminiscent of many Singaporeans’ childhoods, young and old. Besides bringing back fond memories, they’ll likely help elderly residents living at this block find their way home too.
Homemade tang yuan is an age-old dish loved by everyone. Evocative of festive dinners with the family, these luscious glutinous rice balls will surely guide ah ma or ah gong back home easily.
And if the smell of grilled satay skewers hits closer to home for them, this mural makes the perfect indicator for where a certain block is situated.
Some of us prefer to eat kueh lapis by peeling the individual layers while others prefer to eat them all at once. Either way, these colourful layers not only brighten up the neighbourhood, but they also distinguish a particular block very well.
Building a dementia-friendly community
The murals were painted as a part of ADA’s Wayfinding Project in 2020, to transform the neighbourhood into a dementia-friendly community.
We certainly hope that they’ve been able to achieve that with these beautiful works of art.
Once the Covid-19 outbreak subsides, perhaps you could drop by for a visit too, and check out the unique murals.
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Featured image adapted from Joyce Sim on Facebook.
