For elderly people who suffer from dementia, hope has arrived in the form of a card game called A-HAH!

Dementia is an illness, usually affecting the elderly, where one’s cognitive abilities such as memory, language and intellect become progressively impaired.

Treatment for dementia patients, to date, have resembled playschool: Coloring books and puzzles have been the tools used to help them to improve their memory and motor skills.

A-HAH! Fruito and A-HAH! Memoritz are two card games designed specifically for dementia patients to help them learn and have fun at the same time.

Both card games contain 40 cards each. Each Fruito card has part of a fruit printed on it, when placed together correctly they form images of 10 different fruits. Memoritz cards, on the other hand, are numbered 0 to 9, and each bears a picture of an object pictured. These games help patients to improve their cognitive ability, and also helps stem the progression of the disease.

The two inventors of A-HAH!, Shereen Pong and Daniel Ling from >60 Design Centre,  successfully launched their creation at the 24th Conference of Alzheimer’s Disease International 2009.  Pong says the games are designed to engage the minds of dementia patients. She hopes that the lives of these elderly patients can be significantly improved. Ling reveals that although the patients were initially apprehensive as they thought themselves to be too old to play, they found the games to be engaging and fun.

Each card game is priced at S$15 (excluding GST) and is available from the Alzheimer’s Disease Association. For more details, contact Ada at 6353 8734 or email at alzheimers tp@pacific.net.sg.

PHOTOS: Sophie Wong

City Harvest Church’s Christmas drama has become one of its most hotly anticipated annual events — the Drama Ministry has been constantly outdoing itself, year after year.

Little wonder then, that since late September, the Drama Ministry has been hard at work preparing for this Christmas’ production, which promises to surprise and delight the audience.

Three to four times a week, the actors faithfully gather at different locations such as Riverwalk and Expo for rehearsals. This “extra-curricular activity” is above the actors’ work, school, family commitments, even church ministry. But these actors, directors, stage managers and backstage crew are tireless — determined to put in their all to prepare another exciting and memorable drama.

Director Jaslynn Khoo explains the team’s great attitudes, “It’s great when your passion is your job.”

Rehearsals are far from fun — actors wait patiently while some scenes get rehearsed over and over again. They spend their time poring over script changes, and observing ways to improve their acting. Actor Bernard Loh, a familiar face in CHC’s dramas, says, “As of now, it’s a process of layering and as we go along, the full product will eventually come out, and that’s when the hard work pays off.”

Although the rehearsals can be gruelling, the atmosphere is lively as there is great camaraderie between the actors.  Jokes are exchanged and funny antics keep everyone’s spirits high.

Actor Adrian Chueng says that the rehearsals have been a lot of fun and an excellent way to serve God.

With one more month of rehearsals to go, the stage is almost set for Christmas. Shelia Ther, a pioneer member of the drama team entices City News with this: “Expect a more extravagant presentation and a fresh perspective of the Christmas story this year!”

Catch CHC’s Christmas Drama Productions on the following dates:
24 Dec (Wed) 3.30pm, 5.30pm, 7.45pm
25 Dec (Thu) 10.00am, 12.30pm, 3.30pm

For more details, log onto www.chc.org.sg.

Birthed out of compassion for mankind, Mercy Relief, an independent Singaporean charitable non-governmental humanitarian organization, celebrated its 5th anniversary on the 20 October 2008. The organization was launched in September 2003 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The anniversary celebrations were held at the Singapore Soka Association. It was also an occasion for Mercy Relief to honor the stakeholders who have supported the organization’s humanitarian works.

One such stakeholder is City Harvest Church (CHC), which has provided assistance to relief efforts in times of crisis over the past five years. The most significant effort was for the Asian tsunami crisis: CHC sent the first international missions team to arrive with medical aid in Banda Aceh, the area in Indonesia most badly affected by the tsunami.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong graced the occasion with his presence as guest of honour this evening. In his congratulatory speech, PM Lee commended, “It is encouraging to know that when our humanitarian organizations go out for their missions, we have done so as Team Singapore”.

CHC’s continual initiatives and generosity were recognized by Mercy Relief, and Rev Tan Ye Peng accepted an award of appreciation presented by PM Lee.

The dictionary definition of “compassion” is the “humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it”. This definition exemplifies the compassion of Jesus Christ and His church. CHC has chosen to align its passion and resources with the mission of Mercy Relief, which is “to promote a civil life of compassion, care and volunteerism amongst Man, bringing together people and resources to alleviate sufferings befalling mankind as a result of natural or man-made disasters, poverty and disadvantage.”