'I felt like I was crying all the time': For those who are an only child, no one shares the load when mum and dad fall ill
newsare.net
On a Tuesday afternoon at a coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio, Mr Glenn Poh returns to his waiting mother with two drinks: one hot and one iced. She picks the iced lemon tea. «All my life she never used to drink cold drinks but now, she always wants somethin'I felt like I was crying all the time': For those who are an only child, no one shares the load when mum and dad fall ill
On a Tuesday afternoon at a coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio, Mr Glenn Poh returns to his waiting mother with two drinks: one hot and one iced. She picks the iced lemon tea. «All my life she never used to drink cold drinks but now, she always wants something iced. It's like she's a small kid again,» he says of his 74-year-old mother, Madam Tan Sow Meng, who has Alzheimer's disease. As the only son, Mr Poh took it upon himself to look after her, personally navigating the twists and turns of caring for an ailing parent. «Whatever needs to be done needs to be done. It's because I was raised like this,» he says. Having seen how his mother cared for his late father after a stroke, he knew he wanted to do the same for her. In Singapore, with its rapidly ageing population and cultural norms of filial piety, many adult children find themselves thrust into the role of caregivers. Life can be put on hold when mum or dad falls ill, and those without siblings or other home help can find themselves shouldering the whole load. Read more