Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Monday, April 23, 2018
Interview: Lao Shi Erina Tan
Erina Tan is a 30 years old Chinese-Indonesian teacher working at SPH KV. She teaches Mandarin and is head of the Mandarin department at the school. Despite her ethnicity, she was raised in Singapore, and still carries many of her experiences and memorabilia from the country.
How is your relationship between you and your grandparents?:
"I didn't know my grandparents from my father's side because they passed away before I was born. I knew my grandparents from my mother's side. I still know them today, and we're always glad to meet each other again."
What is your favorite memory of you with your grandparents?:
"I remember my grandmother used to make paper play-things like origami so me and my siblings could play with them. My grandfather was very nice; although my mother would talk about he would sometimes get angry at my uncle, I never saw him angry in person. He used to garden, and my siblings and I would play near his fields."
Do you often meet your grandparents?:
"Well it's rather complicated. My grandfather lives with my family, but my grandmother lives with my uncle. It isn't because they're divorced, but my grandmother has always been very traditional, and believes she should live with her son. My grandfather, however, is more modern, and is not opposed to staying with my family. I see my grandfather every day, and my grandmother relatively often."
What is your relationship with your parents?:
"My relationship with my parents? I think it's okay, in that sense that our relationship is good. Believe it or not, in my family I'm considered to be the 'naughtiest' child in my family. For example, whenever my parents ask me to do something, I'd rather ask them questions about why they want to do it rather than doing what they want me to do. But aside from that, I think we're pretty close."
Are you aware a lot of grandparents/elderly people in other countries are not treated well?:
"Yeah I've heard it."
What do you think about the way Western grandparents/elders are treated in other countries?:
How is your relationship between you and your grandparents?:
"I didn't know my grandparents from my father's side because they passed away before I was born. I knew my grandparents from my mother's side. I still know them today, and we're always glad to meet each other again."
What is your favorite memory of you with your grandparents?:
"I remember my grandmother used to make paper play-things like origami so me and my siblings could play with them. My grandfather was very nice; although my mother would talk about he would sometimes get angry at my uncle, I never saw him angry in person. He used to garden, and my siblings and I would play near his fields."
Do you often meet your grandparents?:
"Well it's rather complicated. My grandfather lives with my family, but my grandmother lives with my uncle. It isn't because they're divorced, but my grandmother has always been very traditional, and believes she should live with her son. My grandfather, however, is more modern, and is not opposed to staying with my family. I see my grandfather every day, and my grandmother relatively often."
What is your relationship with your parents?:
"My relationship with my parents? I think it's okay, in that sense that our relationship is good. Believe it or not, in my family I'm considered to be the 'naughtiest' child in my family. For example, whenever my parents ask me to do something, I'd rather ask them questions about why they want to do it rather than doing what they want me to do. But aside from that, I think we're pretty close."
Are you aware a lot of grandparents/elderly people in other countries are not treated well?:
"Yeah I've heard it."
What do you think about the way Western grandparents/elders are treated in other countries?:
Interview: Ihsaan Justin Shameem
Ihsaan Justin Marzuq Shameem is a 15 years old boy who currently resides in Suriname. He is ethnically Indian, but he grew up and lives in Suriname. Being the son of an ambassador, Justin used to live in Indonesia. He has observed the cultures in both Indonesia and Suriname, but is yet to develop a better understanding of elderly treatment outside of the countries he's lived in.
How is your relationship between you and your grandparents?:
"I'd say my relationship with my grandparents is pretty good; I think I'm pretty close to them."
What is your favorite memory of you with your grandparents?:
"I would have to say my favorite memory of me with my grandparents was going fishing with my grandfather."
Do you often meet your grandparents?:
"I meet my grandparents very often. My grandmother lives right next our house. My grandparents don't live together, so every weekend my family visits my grandfather."
What is your parents' relationship with your grandparents?:
"I would say they're pretty close with each other."
Are you aware a lot of grandparents/elderly people in other countries are not treated well?:
How is your relationship between you and your grandparents?:
"I'd say my relationship with my grandparents is pretty good; I think I'm pretty close to them."
What is your favorite memory of you with your grandparents?:
"I would have to say my favorite memory of me with my grandparents was going fishing with my grandfather."
Do you often meet your grandparents?:
"I meet my grandparents very often. My grandmother lives right next our house. My grandparents don't live together, so every weekend my family visits my grandfather."
What is your parents' relationship with your grandparents?:
"I would say they're pretty close with each other."
Are you aware a lot of grandparents/elderly people in other countries are not treated well?:
Interview: Ms. Rachel E. C. Hawkins
Ms. Rachel Hawkins is an English teacher
from SPH KV. She teaches English for seventh, eighth and ninth grade. She is a
25-year-old Caucasian American.
How is your relationship between you and
your grandparents?
I don't really talk to them. My parents
update them on what I'm doing, I don't have direct contact with them.
My grandfather has heightened dementia, so he probably doesn't even remember
I'm here.
What is your favorite memory of you with
your grandparents?
With my dad's parents, my favorite memory
would be just sitting and talking with my grandmother. I did most of the
talking, and she just listened; she was a very good listener.
With my mom's parents, I guess it would probably be talking to my
grandmother about our family history. She knew a lot about
our family's past.
Do you often meet your grandparents?
When I am in the States, I see my mom's
mother more, because she lives a lot closer to our house compared to my
dad's father.
What is your relationship with your
parents?
To be honest, it hasn't really changed that
much. I’d say it's still pretty good. Being so far
from my parents hasn't bothered too much, since I went to an out-of-state
university. So, I'm used to it.
Are you aware a lot of grandparents/elderly
people in other countries are not treated well?
Sunday, April 22, 2018
Interview: Ibu Vini Tri Ningtyas
Vini Tri Ningtyas is a 23 year old teacher at SPH KV. Her parents are both Indonesian, and still currently resides Indonesia. She enjoys teaching younger children and older children, but spends the majority of her time teaching teenagers.
How is your relationship between you and your grandparents?
"Well, I never really had a long relationship with them. My grandparents from my mom's side passed away when I was very young, and my grandparents from my dad's side also passed away a few years later."
What is your favorite memory of you with your grandparents?
"I remember there was one time where they bought me ice cream. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it meant a lot to me while I was younger, and it still means a lot to me today."
Do you often meet your grandparents?
"While they were alive, we would meet quite regularly. Even though we lived quite far from each other, they would often make the effort to visit me and my family."
What is your relationship with your parents?
"To tell the truth, our family was rather divided. My mother's side was mainly Muslim, but my father was Christian. As a result, my father and my mother's side were rather conflicted about it, and the situation stayed that way until my grandparents passed away."
Are you aware a lot of grandparents/elderly people in other countries are not treated well?
How is your relationship between you and your grandparents?
"Well, I never really had a long relationship with them. My grandparents from my mom's side passed away when I was very young, and my grandparents from my dad's side also passed away a few years later."
What is your favorite memory of you with your grandparents?
"I remember there was one time where they bought me ice cream. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it meant a lot to me while I was younger, and it still means a lot to me today."
Do you often meet your grandparents?
"While they were alive, we would meet quite regularly. Even though we lived quite far from each other, they would often make the effort to visit me and my family."
What is your relationship with your parents?
"To tell the truth, our family was rather divided. My mother's side was mainly Muslim, but my father was Christian. As a result, my father and my mother's side were rather conflicted about it, and the situation stayed that way until my grandparents passed away."
Are you aware a lot of grandparents/elderly people in other countries are not treated well?
Interview: Naomi Hope Nielsen
Naomi Hope Nielsen is a Danish Indonesian girl who is currently studying in Indonesia. She is the youngest of 3 sisters and is currently 15 years old. Her mother is Indonesian while her father is Danish.
"My parents are also close with my
grandparents. They want to take care of them and have us spend time with them whenever we
can."
How is your relationship between you and your grandparents?
"My grandparents and I are very close. Even though I don’t see my Danish grandparents a lot throughout the year, when I am with them, we are super close and always joke around together."
What is your favorite memory of you with your grandparents?
"My favorite memory of me with my grandparents would be one of them taking me to an amusement park called Tivoli during the winter and taking me out to eat a traditional Danish meal, flæskestej. It was just a nice time where we could walk around together and enjoy the view."
Do you often meet your grandparents?
"I meet them every summer, and sometimes in the winter. It’s not a lot of time, but enough for us to bond and share memories."
What is your parents' relationship with your grandparents?
"My parents are also close with my
grandparents. They want to take care of them and have us spend time with them whenever we
can."
Are you aware a lot of grandparents/elderly people in other countries are not treated well?: "I guess
because I have such a good relationship with my grandparents, I am unaware."
What do you think about the way Western grandparents/elders are treated in other countries?
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Survey: Nursing Homes: Is It The Right Thing To Do?
There is an ongoing debate around nursing homes and whether or not it is the right thing to do when family members grow older. It is a matter of familial and social concerns. Sometimes, families will have elderly relatives that have sicknesses that require them to be away from their families because the family does not have the facility to take care of them. However, in some societies, leaving elders at an old folks' home is something that is stigmatized because it gives the impression that the children don't care for what will happen to their parents or grandparents.
We gathered responses from 28 respondents from Indonesia, the Philippines, the Netherlands, South Korea and the United States about this issue.
Question 1: How old are you?
We asked for our respondents' ages because we wanted to know the generation that these people are in and how to find any differences in their understanding of this issue.
10-13: 2 people
14-16: 18 people
17-19: 0 people
20-25: 1 person
26+: 7 people
Since most of the respondents were in the age range of 14 years old to 16 years old, we can assume that our respondents will have some sort of a good understanding about this issue. By 16 years old, we assume that these respondents have had some interaction with their grandparents and other elderly people.
Question 2: Please enter your ethnicity and the country you live in.
This was an open-ended question where our respondents could fill in because we didn't want to discriminate people from certain cultures.
Most of our respondents said that they lived in an Asian country, while a small portion lived or came from the United States.
Where do our respondents come from?
Indonesia: 12 people
Philippines: 9 people
United States: 1 person
South Korea: 4 people
Chinese-Indonesian: 1 person
British-Indonesian: 1 person
What type of culture do our respondents claim they come from?
Asian: 26 people
Caucasian: 1 person
Dutch: 1 person
Question 3: How do you think your culture views the elderly?
We asked our respondents on how they felt like their culture viewed and treated their elderly. In this question, they did not need to state any explanation because this was a multiple choice question.
Extremely important: 8 people
Very important: 15 people
Somewhat important: 4 people
Not so important: 1 person
Not at all important: 0 people
Question 4: How do you (personally) view the elderly?
In this question, culture and society aside, we asked how they personally viewed the elderly. They didn't need to hold onto social or cultural views.
Extremely important: 10 people
Very important: 15 people
Somewhat important: 3 people
Not so important: 0 people
Not at all important: 0 people
Question 5: Do you think that leaving your elderly relatives at a nursing home is the right thing to do when they grow old?
This is the Yes/No question where we first ask the question about nursing homes. Surprisingly, no respondent said yes.
Yes: 0 people
No: 20 people
Undecided: 8 people
Question 6: Have you left your grandparents at a nursing home?
This is another Yes/No question where we ask if they have left grandparents at a nursing home but we didn't need their reasons why yet.
Yes: 2 people
No: 26 people
Question 7: What do you think are the reasons why people leave the elderly at a nursing home?
This was a free answer, our respondents could answer in a couple of words or in a paragraph. Most of our respondents said one thing or the other, work or being unable to care for the elders. However, two respondents said something detailed.
"Sometimes, nursing homes are very beneficial and essential for both the elderly family member and the family. When I stated above that our family had put a member in a nursing home, you must understand the reason. Our family does not have the facilities or resources to properly care for my grandfather. Because he has advanced dementia, he needs constant care and better living conditions than we can provide. Sometimes putting families in nursing homes is also safer for the elderly. Because we do not have maids or other helpers in the United States, sometimes it is better for the person's health and well-being if they are in a home where if they fall they can be immediately helped. However, I also know that people use nursing homes as a quick fix and to pass on all responsibility for an elderly family member to others. It can be good and bad." (Respondent #27)
"If at a certain point, an elderly person cannot look after themselves normally, and if their family is too busy to consistently look after them, that's when people leave their elderly at a nursing home." (Respondent #24)
Question 8: If you haven't already, would you leave your grandparents at a nursing home?
In this question, we asked respondents if personally they would leave their elders at a nursing home.
Yes: 0 people
No: 28 people
From what our respondents said, most of them did not really support leaving their family members in nursing homes, but they also gave ambiguous answers. It shows us the interesting spectrum of how people from different cultures and countries view how to treat the elderly and whether or not placing them in a nursing home is the first action we must take.
We gathered responses from 28 respondents from Indonesia, the Philippines, the Netherlands, South Korea and the United States about this issue.
Question 1: How old are you?
We asked for our respondents' ages because we wanted to know the generation that these people are in and how to find any differences in their understanding of this issue.
10-13: 2 people
14-16: 18 people
17-19: 0 people
20-25: 1 person
26+: 7 people
Since most of the respondents were in the age range of 14 years old to 16 years old, we can assume that our respondents will have some sort of a good understanding about this issue. By 16 years old, we assume that these respondents have had some interaction with their grandparents and other elderly people.
Question 2: Please enter your ethnicity and the country you live in.
This was an open-ended question where our respondents could fill in because we didn't want to discriminate people from certain cultures.
Most of our respondents said that they lived in an Asian country, while a small portion lived or came from the United States.
Where do our respondents come from?
Indonesia: 12 people
Philippines: 9 people
United States: 1 person
South Korea: 4 people
Chinese-Indonesian: 1 person
British-Indonesian: 1 person
What type of culture do our respondents claim they come from?
Asian: 26 people
Caucasian: 1 person
Dutch: 1 person
Question 3: How do you think your culture views the elderly?
We asked our respondents on how they felt like their culture viewed and treated their elderly. In this question, they did not need to state any explanation because this was a multiple choice question.
Extremely important: 8 people
Very important: 15 people
Somewhat important: 4 people
Not so important: 1 person
Not at all important: 0 people
Question 4: How do you (personally) view the elderly?
In this question, culture and society aside, we asked how they personally viewed the elderly. They didn't need to hold onto social or cultural views.
Extremely important: 10 people
Very important: 15 people
Somewhat important: 3 people
Not so important: 0 people
Not at all important: 0 people
Question 5: Do you think that leaving your elderly relatives at a nursing home is the right thing to do when they grow old?
This is the Yes/No question where we first ask the question about nursing homes. Surprisingly, no respondent said yes.
Yes: 0 people
No: 20 people
Undecided: 8 people
Question 6: Have you left your grandparents at a nursing home?
This is another Yes/No question where we ask if they have left grandparents at a nursing home but we didn't need their reasons why yet.
Yes: 2 people
No: 26 people
Question 7: What do you think are the reasons why people leave the elderly at a nursing home?
This was a free answer, our respondents could answer in a couple of words or in a paragraph. Most of our respondents said one thing or the other, work or being unable to care for the elders. However, two respondents said something detailed.
"Sometimes, nursing homes are very beneficial and essential for both the elderly family member and the family. When I stated above that our family had put a member in a nursing home, you must understand the reason. Our family does not have the facilities or resources to properly care for my grandfather. Because he has advanced dementia, he needs constant care and better living conditions than we can provide. Sometimes putting families in nursing homes is also safer for the elderly. Because we do not have maids or other helpers in the United States, sometimes it is better for the person's health and well-being if they are in a home where if they fall they can be immediately helped. However, I also know that people use nursing homes as a quick fix and to pass on all responsibility for an elderly family member to others. It can be good and bad." (Respondent #27)
"If at a certain point, an elderly person cannot look after themselves normally, and if their family is too busy to consistently look after them, that's when people leave their elderly at a nursing home." (Respondent #24)
Question 8: If you haven't already, would you leave your grandparents at a nursing home?
In this question, we asked respondents if personally they would leave their elders at a nursing home.
Yes: 0 people
No: 28 people
From what our respondents said, most of them did not really support leaving their family members in nursing homes, but they also gave ambiguous answers. It shows us the interesting spectrum of how people from different cultures and countries view how to treat the elderly and whether or not placing them in a nursing home is the first action we must take.
Monday, April 16, 2018
The Elderly And The Way They're Treated In Our Cultures
It's without a doubt that the population of the elderly, as of 2018, is increasing. As of 2018, the world's elderly population, 65 and over, is at 8.5%. By 2050, it is estimated that nearly a sixth of the world's population (17%) will be people aged 65 and over (US National Institutes of Health). Since this is an issue that is rising today in our world, a question that arises is, 'How are the elderly treated around the world?' These are some ways where the elderly are treated from where we come from.
Daniel and Rachel are Indonesians, while Renfred and I (Gerard) are Filipinos. We have noticed that in our cultures, the elderly are treated similarly. Since the Philippines and Indonesia are both located in Southeast Asia, the way we treat our elderly is basically the same.
Daniel and Rachel are Indonesians, while Renfred and I (Gerard) are Filipinos. We have noticed that in our cultures, the elderly are treated similarly. Since the Philippines and Indonesia are both located in Southeast Asia, the way we treat our elderly is basically the same.
Sunday, April 15, 2018
Welcome to Project T.A.C.O.
Hi! Welcome to the official website of Project T.A.C.O. We are a group of ninth graders from Sekolah Pelita Harapan Kemang Village who are working on our Global Perspectives group project. We are focusing on how our cultures affect the way we treat the elderly. Our aim for creating this blog is to raise awareness on how the elderly are treated in different parts of the world. If you're new to the concept of a GP (Global Perspectives) group project, don't worry! We'll try our best to show you how it's supposed to be. If you know how a GP group project works, feel free to critique our outcome.
We will be posting everyday from Monday to Thursday about the elderly, so keep an eye out for our (almost) daily posts!
Check out this link to answer our survey regarding this topic.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HK3JYWP
We will be posting everyday from Monday to Thursday about the elderly, so keep an eye out for our (almost) daily posts!
Check out this link to answer our survey regarding this topic.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HK3JYWP
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