The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.112)

2019 • 07 06 A senior on amission Recycling volunteer LeeYet May might not have a stellar educational background, but she is armed with a single-minded resolve to protect the environment and help impoverished families. She has proven that age is no obstacle to her commitment to environmental conservation. By Julie Yen Yu Chu Translated by Lee Hui Yieng U nder the scorching sun, an elderlywoman with a hunched back hobbles her way through the streets, vigilantly scanning her surroundings. She stops occasionally along the route, at times bending down to retrieve bottles littered on the ground, besides peering into garbage bins to seek out recyclables. Before long, she is deftly weaving her way into and out of the apartment blocks nearby. She enters one of the blocks, and starts sorting discarded paper, bottles and other recyclables stored in the space behind the staircase. Following that, she proceeds to another block, making her rounds along the corridors to gather any recyclables left on the residents’ doorsteps. The elderly woman in question is 74-year- old Lee Yet May. She is no longer as agile as she was in her youth as her mobility is limited by the chronic pain in her legs. Yet, she has dedicated herself to recycling work for the past decade or so by collecting recyclables from in and around her neighbourhood, nearby shops and her workplace. eature Lee Yet May eagerly collects recyclables along her designated route, unfazed by the scorching sun and her limited mobility. [Photograph by Julie Yen Yu Chu]