The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.113)

2019 • 08 16 eature stroke patient, passed away, followed by her older brother-in-law. Several months later, she lost her husband on the eve of Chinese NewYear in 2015. She was overwhelmed by the trauma of losing three close family members within a mere few months. “Every Chinese New Year, my family would gather at the family home to celebrate. In the year my husband passed away, I spent Chinese New Year at my son’s house, but I avoided everyone else and lost the motivation to do anything. The reunion dinner had become meaningless with my family members leaving one after another. I felt a gaping sense of loss,” she recounted. During her time with Tzu Chi, she has encountered many instances that testify to the fragility and impermanence of life. She is also familiar with Master Cheng Yen’s adage of “We do not have the right to own our life, only the privilege of using it.” However, when faced with the mortality of her loved ones, she could not help but dwell upon the void left behind by the dearly departed. She found consolation in fellow Tzu Chi volunteers, who reached out to her and invited her to volunteer for kitchen duties at the KL Tzu-Chi Jing Si Hall. By busying herself with various kitchen tasks, she felt revived and was reminded of the joy of living, as she valued the opportunity to prove her worth. The epiphany moved Tan Eng to tears. Flashes of regret Tan Eng has a track record of successfully managing many cases for the Support Group. Nevertheless, hits and misses were unavoidable. In the early days of the Support Group, the support team was short on volunteers, who were divided into sub-teams entrusted with the care of four to five cancer patients each. The disproportionate ratio of volunteers to cancer patients led to some instances of cancer patients being inadvertently neglected. Tan Eng recounted facing such a situation with a cancer patient in their care. Although she and her teammates visited her in her final moments, they were unaware of her demise and paid her another visit, only to be informed of her passing by her family. It soon came to light that the patient’s family refrained from breaking the news to the volunteers as they were hesitant to burden the latter. Tan Eng would sigh with regret whenever she recounted the incident,which taught her tobe more vigilant when caring for end-stage cancer patients by maintaining close communication with their families and responding promptly to a patient’s needs. Tan Eng has learnt many valuable lessons from administering care to terminal cancer patients. She recalled visiting a terminal cancer patient who was screaming loudly in pain. The Tan Eng is pictured here at a family gathering in 2014 with her late husband (seated) who succumbed to lung cancer. [Photograph courtesy of Tan Eng]