We’ve covered the heartfelt work that Mummy Yummy has been doing regularly in our communities before, but these real-life stories of their house visits will break your heart.
Mummy Yummy – the CBD hawker who offers affordable vegetarian meals for low-income workers – has gone one step further with their charity work.
Going straight to the doorsteps of those who need home-cooked meals the most.
The team has shared their experiences in multiple posts on Facebook, to inspire other do-gooders to pick up the fulfilling cause — spreading light in the lives of elderly folks who just need a little company.
We’ve summarised a few of their most poignant stories below, but you can read all of their posts directly on their page here.
Grandma Sim recently endured a hard fall in an unnamed hospital’s toilet. After rounds of X-rays and checkups, she was sent home to rest.
When Mummy Yummy staff arrived at her house for their regular house visit, her back acted up and in a fit of pain, she began “cursing and swearing in her flat”.
With the help of a young volunteer, they successfully placated her by repeating these words,
Accidents do happen, Ah Ma don’t like that. Don’t scold bad words, ok?
Mummy Yummy staff even scheduled TCM appointments for the elderly grandma, that very evening.
Now, Grandma Sim’s pain has lessened considerably, and they share that she’s able to enjoy a peaceful night’s rest.
Grandma Sim even ‘reports’ her daily movements to them when they meet on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for “wound dressings”.
Tuesdays evenings are when they bring her for TCM massages. On Thursdays, Mummy Yummy’s staff bring their children to her house to “listen to her grandma stories”.
The team continues to meet her regularly to make new memories together, as they care for Grandma Sim.
Grandpa Raja’s life was mostly a struggle to contain his loneliness, but that swiftly changed when he crossed paths with Mummy Yummy staff.
Such was 85-year-old man’s solitude that, in their words,
He never closes his wooden door even at night when he sleeps. He’s afraid he will die inside alone and nobody knows.
The team heard from Grandpa Raja’s neighbours that he didn’t “mingle much” and seldom left his HDB apartment. The 85-year-old man would wait patiently, sitting on the floor by his house gate for the team’s meals to arrive.
Then, a fateful event changed the course of their lives forever.
A meal was left uncollected for a day at his doorstep. Mummy Yummy immediately placed him on an “alert list”.
3 days of uncollected meals later, the team called the police for assistance and headed down to his flat directly.
The police conducted their investigations and concluded that it may be a missing persons or house accident case — activating the SCDF to break into the flat.
Worryingly, Grandpa Raja still wasn’t found within the premises.
6 agonising hours later, staff members received a call from the elderly man himself. The chirpy grandpa shared he was already home, safe and sound.
Grandpa Raja had been sent home in a police car and was incredibly thrilled by the ride — it was the first time in his life he’d been inside one.
Belying his cheerful story, however, was a much sadder reality. The grandpa had run out of money to take a bus home, and was unable to walk back. In the 4 days he went missing, his mobile was switched off due to a flat battery.
The elderly man was also afraid of begging strangers for money as he feared getting caught and sent to jail.
Mummy Yummy concludes that the police did a fine job of locating the man, and escorting him home safely. However, they feel that incidents like this make the simple act of delivering a meal all the more necessary.
They act as the eyes and ears of our community, and help to sound the distress call for elderly folk who have no next-of-kin.
Mummy Yummy engages in weekend food runs to rental flats every weekend, and preparations take 8 hours in total.
Staff churn out and pack 1,000 packets of fried bee hoon within 45 minutes at lightning speed. All packers have to pass a food hygiene course to get certified, sacrificing their time willingly for the cause.
A transport team then delivers the food to volunteers waiting at each block to do house-to-house distributions.
They share that they’ve met many young Singaporeans who want to make a difference in society along the way, who’ve joined as ‘newbies’ at any stage of the process.
But they’ll be given leadership opportunities and the “full support” to explore their strengths in community work.
Now, the team has 120 area leaders who’ve volunteered to take care of areas in 142 rental blocks.
The growing community of service leaders continue to press on today, by encouraging others to join them in building a more inclusive society.
In their words,
A weekend of mingling with strangers who will never cross your life.
Listening without judgement to the life stories of others, will indeed change your outlook on your own. For more information on how to join them or share info about a family in need of meals, head over here.
We’ve included deets on how to visit the store below. Do note that they have moved and are no longer based at their old address at Shenton Way.
Mummy Yummy Singapore
Address: 20 Jalan Pari Burong, Singapore 488686
Nearest MRT: Tanah Merah
For more details, you can message them on Facebook here.
The next time you tuck into a humble plate of bee hoon, consider this.
We consume meals to satiate our hunger, and prolong our lives, but how significant are our lives in the eyes of others?
Mummy Yummy’s endeavour is not an easy one — willing sacrifices are required. Time, money and emotional attachments making up the bulk of it, but the rewards are often intangible.
But sharing a meal with someone else, usually makes it taste better. For Mummy Yummy’s case, they’re sharing more than meals by touching the hearts and souls of Singaporeans around us.
That alone, is a worthy cause for celebration and contemplation over breakfast.
Also read:
Featured image adapted from Mummy Yummy Singapore on Facebook.
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