(For her bio:
I have a 10 -years old newspaper clipping from Borneo
Bulletin featured on Mdm Teresa Hsu Chih at 100-years-young. She
had a specially interview coverage by CNN and received an award
given by Her World magazine at the same year, for her lifetime work
with the poor. For her ,there is no retirement.
This is a short summery from that clipping. The Amazing Mdm Teresa
Hsu Chih always been my mentor.
The reporter found himself marvelling at her. She 's living proof
of how young a 100-year-old can be.
" Be good.Live with love in your heart,"said Hsu Chih " Avoid harsh
words and unhappy feelings." Simple words - do others dare live by
her example?"
Doing good has made her absolutely fearless.This is her ultimate
secret.
As she recieved her award , the reported thought."This woman has
only $39 in her bank account.Yet she 's completely fearless.She's
the most powerful person i 've ever met."
Later he asked ;" How do you start living a fearless life?"
Instead of giving an answer, she asked a question in turn."What are
you afraid of?That is the first question you must ask yourself.
Does fear help anybody?No,So why spend so much time on fear?"
"Fear is crippling. Fear takes all the joy out of living."
Mdm Hsu Chih begined each day at 4am. She credited her youth to a
simple lifestyle. She has been a vegetarian all her life. She takes
only one meal a day - mainly raw vegetables and fruits, which she
blends and drinks as a juice. She believes cooking spoils the
nutrition. Drinking this juice has been her daily habit since 1947.
In this , she was decades ahead of medical opinion. Recent
scientific research has discovered such a diet is rich
antioxidants,which are life-strengthening substances that prevent
diseases and slow down ageing.
Daily meditation is " as important as a healthy diet".A peaceful
mind is the foundation of good health,she says;" i never time
myself - i just meditate until i feel really drunk on peace"
Even when she was working and pressed for time, she always devoted
one hour each morning to meditation. Night is different. " Then ,
the time was mine. Once , I started at 11:30pm and discovered it
was 5 am when i finished. The deep quiet is very refreshing and
better than sleep."
Every morning and evening , one will find her with her feet in the
air, doing yoga.it has kept her body supply. She started when she
was 69 and is now a yoga teacher.
Lately , I received a forward mail featuring on this
amazing woman at 110 years from my sister , and it seems everything
about her still remained likes 10 years back.
She is 110 years old this year ( 2009 ). Small built and agile, she
has grey hair , excellent hearing , and eyesight. She is one
compassionate person who has helped others her entire life. For one
century , she has been dedicating herself to others selflessly,
unconditionally loving others, and especially caring for those who
are poor , sick , old and suffering. As she puts it:" I did not
come to this world alone. I have many companions and it is my
responsibility to help them. I love them without any terms and
conditions because we are a family. Even today , she still helps at
the old folk home.
Learning yoga at the age of
69
Everyday she wold meditate , read , exercise , do charity , and do
yoga. Her energy level and physical condition is comparable to the
young people. This is especially true when she demonstrates the
yoga movements with her soft and flexible limbs;seeing her moves
her body makes one hold one's breath and grasp in admiration. She
revealed the secret of her longevity as to work every day that she
wakes up , to work without hesitation, and to be the voluntary
worker of the society. At the same time she is careful not to speak
ill words, not to be unhappy , and not to eat food cooked with
strong fire; she refrain from meat , coffee , tea and alcoholic
drinks. That is how she remains serene and joyful all the time,
both physically and mentally.
She started learning yoga at the age of 69 and she talked about the
wonderful experience of how her 'dreams came true ' in learning
yoga.
one day , as she was reading ,something she loves to do very much ,
she read about the goodness of learning yoga.But what is yoga? she
was not quite sure." How i wish someone would explain what yoga is
to me and teach me yoga," she made a wish in her heart.
And the strangest thing happened. A few days after she made the
wish to learn yoga , a man came to visit her old folks' home. He
wore an orange long shirt and an orange hat.
" Are you a monk?" asked Hsu Chih
"Yes, i am." Said the man
" Do you teach yoga?"Hsu Chih asked
"Yes,My job is to teach yoga." Answer the man
As though the goddess has heard Hsu Chih's prayers and sent the
yoga teacher to her. Since then , she started to learn and
meditation from the teacher.
With yoga ,her body that was already healthy became even stronger
and her energy level also became better. Of course , the good
effort of dedicating herself to the poor and sick itself would
harvest her the good karma of having a healthy body and a long
life.
More :
By Siew, Sara written on
2009-10-26
National Library Board Singapore
Comments on article:
InfopediaTalk
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Teresa Hsu (b. 1898, Swatow, China - ), whose full name
is Teresa Hsu Chih, is one of Singapore's most prominent and oldest
social workers. The super-centenarian, who began devoting her life
to helping the poor and destitute in the 1930s, has remained
tireless in her humanitarian work even after turning 100. She is
recognised not only for her unstinting contribution to society but
also for her positive attitude towards life.
Early
Life
Hsu was born into dire straits. Besides
having to deal with extreme poverty, which sometimes meant that she
had only grass to eat, she lived with a physically abusive father.
After he abandoned the family for another woman, Hsu, along with
her grandmother, mother and three siblings, travelled to Penang,
Malaysia by boat.
Having had to work to survive since young, Hsu had no formal
education whatsoever, so she worked with her mother as a cleaner in
a convent. In 1925, at the age of 27, she convinced the convent
nuns to let her sit in on the children's classes - her first taste
of literacy and reading, which was to later burgeon into a lifelong
interest. Three and a half years later, she passed her Senior
Cambridge examinations. With this qualification, she left for Hong
Kong in 1933. There, she worked as a cleaner by day and learnt
English, shorthand and typing by night. These skills landed her the
job of stenographer.
In 1939, with the Japanese poised to enter Hong Kong, Hsu left for
Chongqing, China, where she worked as a secretary and bookkeeper at
a German news agency. Being close to the epicentre of the Second
Sino-Japanese War provoked her into a new consciousness. She quit
her high-paying job to volunteer with the Friends' Ambulance Unit,
and this experience of helping injured soldiers made her decide to
be a nurse.
Major
Accomplishments
Hsu went to London, England in
1945 and studied nursing at the London Nursing Council. Besides
working in hospitals during her eight years in England, she also
joined the International Voluntary Service for Peace, travelling
across Europe to help the needy and to promote peace. In 1953, she
left for Paraguay as a member of the German charity group
Bruderhof. She stayed there for eight years, helping to start
hospitals and homes for the aged. She returned to Penang in 1961 to
be with her mother. While back home, she assumed the position of
sister-in-charge at the Assunta Foundation in Petaling Jaya.
In 1963, Hsu came to Singapore and became the matron of Kwong Wai
Shiu Hospital. In 1965, she founded the Home for the Aged Sick, one
of the first homes for the elderly sick in Singapore. It was
established on a 0.6-ha plot of land at Jalan Payoh Lai that was
bought with money contributed by Hsu's elder sister Ursula. Hsu
also used some of the money to buy public flats for the homeless.
The sisters ran the home for five years, with Ursula in charge of
the finances and Hsu in charge of managing the home while also
supplementing the funds by selling home-grown fruits. However, they
soon found it increasingly difficult to cope with the rising number
of patients and approached the Rotary Club for assistance. Members
of the club agreed to fund the home, but on condition that the
sisters let them run the home as well.
Since retiring as matron of the home in 1983, Hsu has continued to
care for the poor in her own capacity, such as by collecting old
clothes for needy families. More notably, she has continued to
reach out to the needy through the Heart-to-Heart Service, a
non-profit, informal direct-help service that she had established.
Through this service, she visits those under her charge -
usually the single elderly and needy families - and provides them
with cash allowances and food. Hsu explains that this service is
called Heart-to-Heart because its work should inspire people to
help by appealing directly to their hearts. In 2000, it was
reported that Hsu had plans to start another home to care for the
aged sick and mentally unsound.
Philosophy
towards Charity and Life
Social work is,
doubtless, a natural extension of Hsu's life philosophy. She
describes her drive to help others as instinctive, a reaction that
wells up from her ability to empathise with the needy, having
herself been destitute once. Moved by the generosity and kindness
she has received from others, she is determined to extend her help
to the poor people that she meets, calling them her brothers and
sisters.
Hsu's philosophy towards life, especially one as long and fruitful
as hers, is simple; positive thoughts and laughter, she has said,
are her key sources of sustenance. Besides keeping her mind active
through volunteer work and visiting various countries to give
talks, she also keeps her body conditioned through yoga, something
that she learnt only at the age of 69 and now teaches to the
public. In addition to doing yoga twice a day, she meditates at 4
am daily, before taking a morning walk.
Awards
1988
: Guinness Stout Effort Award.
1994 : Life Insurance Association Award,
1993.
1997 : Chinese Reader's Digest Hero for Today
Award.
2000 : Her World 9th Woman of the Year
Award.
2002 : Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation 5th Love of Lives
Medal.
2003 : Honorary doctorate degree conferred by the
University of Southern Queensland, Australia.
2003 : Active Senior Citizen of the Year.
2004 : Sporting Singapore Inspiration Award.
2005 : National Volunteerism and Philanthropy
Special Recognition Award.
2009 : Public Service Star.
Family
Hsu
has never married, a conscious decision she attributes to the
emotional shadows her father left behind.
Her mother, Tan Sok Chan, died at age 104 in 1981. Hsu eventually
forgave her father; when he took ill in the early 1950s, she
brought him from China to Singapore and cared for him till his
death.
Hsu's elder sister Ursula and younger sister Lucy both became
school principals. Ursula was the principal of the Convent of the
Holy Infant Jesus in Bukit Timah. Hsu's younger brother Anthony
became a Roman Catholic priest. All of Hsu's siblings have passed
away. None ever married.
Author
Sara Siew
References
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The information in this article is valid as at 2009 and correct as
far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not
intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject.
Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the
topic.
Subject
Personalities>>Biographies
Hsu, Teresa, 1898-
Women social workers--Singapore--Biography
Women in charitable work--Singapore--Biography
Law and government>>Culture and community>>Social
services
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