Hospis Malaysia: Spreading hope, giving care

NST: There was a time when Lee Ah Moi, 85, did not look forward to going to Hospis Malaysia’s palliative daycare centre. That was before she struck a friendship with Yeoh Suan Teoh, 66.
Both women have cancer — Lee with breast cancer and Yeoh, cervical. Theirs is a friendship that grew in the face of adversity.
Theirs is not a picture of lost hope or of discouragement, as one might imagine of women with cancer.
Yeoh and Lee, who met four years ago at the centre, paint a far different picture.
The vibrant Yeoh has the habit of raising her two fists like she is about to throw someone a punch, then turns around and winks playfully.
She constantly teases the more subdued Lee, who takes Yeoh’s jibes with a smile or a laugh. "She bullies me," quips Lee, laughing.
Yeoh discovered she had cervical cancer when she began spotting eight years after menopause. After tests, she found that she had third stage cancer.
Her doctor referred her to Hospis Malaysia and a nurse started visiting her every week at her home in Ampang, where she lives with her husband and daughter.
The highlight of Yeoh’s week is coming to the daycare centre every Tuesday and Thursday. Sometimes, she dresses up in a kebaya and has her hair done.
"I like to come here and gila-gila cakap (talk crazy). I’m happy-lah here," she quipped.
Patients at the palliative daycare take part in various activities, including light exercises and karaoke sessions.
Lee is grateful to have a friend in Yeoh. "She always helps me to the toilet because I can’t see very well," she said, explaining that she had had a cataract operation in her left eye.
Lee found out she had cancer when her left breast started bleeding and was operated on in 2001.
Hospis Malaysia is a charitable organisation which provides palliative care to those with advanced illnesses, aiming to improve their quality of life and that of their families.
Apart from the daycare, it provides palliative home care services which includes teaching family members how to administer medicine. The staff are on-call 24 hours a day.
Its services are free, which is why it is raising funds through "Voices for Hospices", a dinner event also aimed at creating awareness on the importance of palliative care.
It will be held at the JW Marriott in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday and will see jazz diva Sheila Majid performing. The New Straits Times is the official paper.
All 65 tables have been sold, but organising chairman Datin Tina Ali said that as Hospis Malaysia needs RM1.3 million a year, contributions are still welcome.
A silent auction will be held at the event, where donated items include a painting worth RM12,000, jewellery worth RM15,000 and two business class tickets to Zurich.
The initial modest target of RM100,000 has grown to almost RM400,000 to date, Tina said, adding the work by Hospis Malaysia was marvellous and the care administered by its staff a self-sacrificing love.