"Friends have no teeth?", "Can't swallow hard, and don't want to eat tart and tart?" She may be able to help you, "Go, soft meal girl!
" : MWYO Youth Office Communications Manager Huang Qinger
Go, soft meal woman!
Today's class is not an ordinary cooking class, but a special class in the Soft Meal School.
There are many styles of dim sum, have you ever tried the soft shrimp dumplings?
"You can put the shrimp dumplings into the blender first, then add 300ml of water and 7.5g of soft meal enzyme powder..." Queenie, the founder of "Soft Meal Man" explained to the students while adding water to the blender for demonstration.
Queenie (right) works in brand design herself, but her family's dying experience made her determined to switch runways and join the elderly care industry.
(Photo provided by MWYO)
The concept of "soft meal" comes from Japan. It is a kind of nursing food and nursing food. It has a history of more than 20 years and is committed to providing healthy and safe dietary solutions for people with dysphagia.
Queenie explained: "The meaning is to say something about the food, so that the texture is good and soft, so that a friend who has difficulty swallowing can eat." Queenie and a group of young teams set up a senior clinic in 2019. The social enterprise The Project Futurus promotes elderly innovation and builds a sustainable service model to explore the future of elderly.
And "Soft Food Man" is its silver-haired food platform. It hopes that through the promotion of soft food culture, a group of friends who have difficulty swallowing can eat exquisite food, and "old people" can also live with dignity. and have options.
According to the census data released by the Census and Statistics Department, in 2021, the proportion of Hong Kong's population aged 65 or above will reach 20.5%, and they will enter the "aging society".
By 2040, Hong Kong's population projections estimate that the elderly population will reach 30%.
Queenie pointed out: "At that time, every three people will have an older friend, so let's talk about aging, not just in the social welfare sector, aging will affect all walks of life in Hong Kong, from housing Design, environmental planning, and even people have heard a lot about senior technology in recent years... We really want to promote a positive senior life through our usual education."
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Grandma's dying experience inspires determination to join social welfare
After graduating from university, Queenie herself engaged in brand design work, but her family's dying experience made her determined to switch runways and join the elderly care industry.
She recalled: "I lived with my mother-in-law from the very beginning. She was a foodie and liked to eat. Later, when I was almost middle school, my mother-in-law became weaker and weaker and had to move into an institution. It was so hard, so twists and turns, and even refused to eat. I really didn’t even drink water. I just grabbed a cotton swab to help her slap her lips. So all these things inspired me to want to join the social welfare world and do it. !"
In order to make more people aware of the concept of aging, Queenie sometimes makes her debut, wearing a wig and an S-shaped shirt to transform into a "woman", promoting the culture of soft meals by herself.
She also believes that young and new blood can be creative and bring vitality to the elderly care industry.
"Actually, the elderly care industry needs young people, which makes them more energetic, especially because of the shortage of manpower in the entire social welfare interface, especially the front line. Whether it is planning an activity or taking care of the front line, it is actually very necessary. Young people, together, we will provide a better choice for our elders.”
Young and new blood can use creativity to activate the elderly care industry
Willa is a relatively young member of the team. She is less than 30 years old and majored in history in college.
She admits that whenever she mentions the elderly care industry, others usually think of "disgust" and "hard work", and others are surprised that she is engaged in the elderly care industry.
Willa recalled: "I was talking to people when I first started, I was in the elderly care industry, and in fact, everyone would immediately start thinking, eh, are you working in a nursing home? You must be doing something.㗎?"
Facing the incomprehension of others, Willa will patiently share her work experience: "Actually, the entire elderly care industry is not only about the frontline work that everyone sees in residential care homes. I am mainly responsible for the community work of the team. , I usually meet different people, share the latest information about aging with them, and even go to schools to share, after all, "old" is a concept, when everyone knows that the elderly industry is so broad, Qu Di will gradually change the existing impression, and more importantly, even if I am doing front-line work in a nursing home, it is not a shameful experience. On the contrary, during the epidemic, many front-line staff of the nursing home really worked hard. In war, their work deserves our respect.”
Willa will personally help in the daily activities of the team, ranging from washing dishes and taking out garbage, to the overall management of the entire event.
She said she is proud to be able to bring useful information to the elderly and carers: "Actually, we most want to break the public's perception of 'oldness'. It's good, or it's good for a group of people who are preparing to retire, not to be afraid of the concept of old age, or to be afraid of the arrival of "old age"!"
Old people can be fun too. Soft meals can refresh the fun of tea drinking for the elderly
The smell of shrimp dumplings came from the studio, and Queenie was going to pour the mixed ingredients into the mold to shape.
After cooling down for ten minutes, the soft meal shrimp dumplings could finally be demolded. A group of students carefully opened the mold, and with a plop, a crystal clear shrimp dumpling came out of the mold, and the students were amazed.
In addition to shrimp dumplings, they also make soft meal siu mai and soft meal char siew rice, and bring these unique soft meal snacks to the nursing home, so that Friends can regain the fun of drinking tea and find the taste in memories.
Queenie said excitedly: "We sometimes engage in experiential tea drinking activities, and even turn into a restaurant guy, burying dim sum carts, and concocting Hong Kong-style dim sum soft meals for the elderly... Every time I finish the activities, I am very happy. , I'm so touched. Seeing them enjoying their food and chatting with friends, it's like they're really going out to drink tea. This one is the one that touches me the most. Many elderly people feel lonely, so boring. , and bury the helpless together, so that we can contribute a little bit and care more about them, in fact, we can start by ourselves.”
Make A Change starting today, caring for the elderly around you starts with yourself
Queenie said that this type of soft meal school is very popular, and many caregivers will come to participate. Unfortunately, due to the fifth wave of the epidemic, many activities that require "going into the community" have to be cancelled. Queenie said that the raging epidemic has made People are frustrated, but the difficult times have also brought her a lot of inspiration: "During the epidemic, more than 9,000 people died, I have counted myself, in fact, 96% are older friends, and of course most of them are older friends. I live in a residential care home for the elderly. It hurts my heart to do this by myself. But I think this epidemic has given me a great revelation. It is that the society should face up to the aging process, regardless of resources. Or in terms of policy, we need to encourage the society, people of all ages and backgrounds to participate together and contribute to the elders.”
Speakers in the distance play Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror", which reads: "If you want to make a change, then you look at yourself into the mirror and then make a change …" Queenie said of herself I like this lyric very much: "The meaning is that you look at yourself in the mirror and see yourself reflected. If you want to make a change today, start with yourself. I think it is a good inspiration, especially During the epidemic, we can do something to make a change, in fact, we can start by caring for the people around us in housing and enterprises, and caring for the elders in the society, which is something we really want to see.”
You may think that the younger generation has nothing to do with the elderly care industry. Queenie also agrees that this industry is not very attractive, and it is difficult to make people fall in love at first sight, but with empathy, young blood, through innovation Thoughts, can also activate the old-age career, so that the "old" can also become interesting.
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