A 71-year-old girl and her grandson on the road together to find the proximity



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SINGAPORE: Mildred Chong and her granddaughter Emma Yoon lived together and were very close. But when Emma turned six, her family moved. And once the girl went to school, everything changed, lamented Mdm Chong.

"Sometimes I went to her house, and she was either on the laptop or in her room doing her job. We just said hello and asked, 'Had lunch?' That's all, "said the former staff sergeant of 71.

" I sometimes feel lonely because I'm far away from them . It's rather sad. I missed it. "

  (dp) Green OTRD generation gap 8

An old album photo.

Not only was there less connection, but also little common ground. [19659002] Emma, ​​now 15, is an avid ecologist who ripped meat and abandoned single-use plastics, while her grandmother's first thought on the issue is that waste reduction is "embarrassing" and recycling is a problem time wasted

"There is a generation gap between me and Emma. She likes … to save the Earth and all that, "admitted Mdm Chong. "But our generation does not do that kind of thing … I would just throw (waste) in the plastic bag and go down the chute."

  (dp) Green OTRD generation gap 9

Having resisted any attempt to make it live a greener life, what would it take to bring them closer now?

That was the challenge Emma and she had to face when they had to work together on the On The Red Dot program, in a series of about four pairs of grandmothers and grandchildren. teenagers hoped to fill their generational gap.

It meant facing their different attitudes, trying to find a common goal and making discoveries of each other. (Watch the episode here.)

A GREAT CHALLENGE

In the case of Emma, ​​one thing she was determined to change was the style his grandmother's non-green life, that is why she embarked Mdm Chong "

This implied that each of them had to limit his waste over a period of seven days to the next day. insert into a 500 ml glass jar, the teenager being inspired by the zero waste movement that she saw on YouTube.

She brings a lunch box and reusable cutlery to the school and has a recycling area at home where she encourages her family to do her part. So, she already sees such actions as a duty.

But even addressing the subject with Mdm Chong, on the other hand, was not easy. "How can all the waste get into the pot? Seven days is a lot," she said, "why do we do that?"

  (dp) OTRD generation gap 10 [19659013] "This is to make us aware of the amount of waste we produce," replied his granddaughter, who cited the eight million kilograms of waste produced Even though this figure surprises Mdm Chong, his response to Emma's next point, namely that at this rate, the Singapore landfill will no longer have space for cremated waste by 2035, has not been well spent with the girl ... says the elder: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>  It's still far away.I do not know if I'll be alive yet … So that's your problem, not my problem. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>  It was a "frustrating" conversation, admitted her granddaughter. "With each answer, she would have a reaction to that. Trying to convince her to do it was the hardest thing I ever had to do. </p>
<p>  "I felt really sad that she was not really disturbed." </p>
<p>  Nevertheless, her grandmother accepted the challenge. Mdm Chong: "It's a good opportunity for me to get closer to her.I hope to be able to understand what Emma wants." </p>
<p>  <strong> TRAINING A PROBLEM </strong> </p>
<p>  But the complaints started from the first day, when she started cooking for Emma and herself. </p>
<p> "Every day, I throw at least three bags of garbage, sometimes more than that, depending on how much I cook, all this waste in a small 500ml container I do not think I can do it," she says. </p>
<p>  When her granddaughter advised her to let the food rot, she replied, "We do not have any (plant) here … throw it in the trash is" </p>
<p>  Showing her full pot, she added, "What am I going to do with this now?" </p>
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  (dp) Green OTRD generation gap 7

Seeing that there was so much mess to make one "[19659002] But she found a solution: Singapore's first insect farm, Insectta, where black fly larvae are used to break up discarded food. . And the next day she took her grandmother to Margaret Drive's farm.

At first, Mdm Chong found the scary maggots. But then she was intrigued, wondering why the food waste that they ate was not smelly (they eat it before it breaks down), and how long it takes to become compost ( two weeks).

  (dp) green OTRD generation gap 5

She also asked Ng Jia Quan, 29, co-founder of Insectta, why he started in this business to "his very young age "(because, he says, food waste is a" very big problem "). And she realized that pigs were receiving food waste when Singapore had hog farms, while the younger generation let the insects do the work right now.

Another thing she's learned is that the larvae can feed on okara – soy bean residues – which caught her attention because she regularly helps the bean shop soybean of his son-in-law.

"We have been throwing it for at least 10 years," she said. "If you want, you can come and collect it."

  (dp) green OTRD generation gap 6

With Ng Jia Quan, co-founder of Insectta

A GROWTH REALIZATION

And so began his gradual awakening . When she met Emma the next day, she said, "Thankfully, we managed to recycle our food waste yesterday."

While her granddaughter recognized her receptivity to the issue as a "good step forward," wanted to do: Wean off single-use plastics. And looking at Mdm Chong's pot, she saw two straws.

"It's a lot of straws in such a short time," she remarked. "Perhaps you should consider using fewer straws … because they can not be recycled."

As part of her action plan, she had decided to take his grandmother to Unpackt, Sembawang Hills Estate's first zero-waste grocery store.

It meant bringing their own containers. And when Mdm Chong bought soy sauce, she was surprised that she only costs 45 cents, because the store's food is sold by weight, without packaging.

  (dp) Green OTRD generation gap 3

Filling of Mdm Chong container with soy sauce.

Emma was quick to point this out, saying, "See, so there are the positives of not using packaging."

Her grandmother was reminded of the past once more. She said:

A store like this is very interesting to me. It's like going back to the old days, when we bought things using our own containers.

She again asked the company's co-founder, Florence Tay, 36, why she was working in this field.

The answer – that packaging ends up as a waste and that "what we leave to the next generation is not wealth and health, but plastic pollution for them" – l & # 39;

Emma asked if she thought the waste issue was still not her problem, to which she said, "Now, I understand." A little.

What she also realized, is that young people like her granddaughter were really concerned about the state of the environment.

NEGLECTED, AND APPRECIATED AGAIN

For Emma made a discovery of her own after their visit. When she asked her grandmother how it had unfolded the garbage-free week, Mdm Chong said, "I'm happy because I've had the opportunity to spend some time there." with you. "

" That's why I took up the challenge. We used to have time together … Nowadays, sometimes I do not even see you. "

  (dp) Green OTRD generation gap 11

When they spent more time together.

This" really touched "the teenager, who had" no idea "that her Grandmother felt neglected. "She never shared these feelings with me," said Emma, ​​who tried to reciprocate by expressing her happiness at Mdm Chong's receptivity to the challenge.

"You strive to learn and you ask very good questions," she tells him. "What matters is that you have tried."

The week was not over yet and on the fifth day they went to the Love Life Carnival, which aimed to teach visitors how to live a sustainable life. [19659067] (dp) OTRD generation gap green 4 “/>

At Love Life Carnival last month, which also featured local businesses with sustainable products.

Emma hoped her grandmother would see that "it's not just the young people who are protecting This message flowed when Mdm Chong learned from exhibitions that Singapore's recycling rate was well below that of others country – and that the plastic could take between 100 and 1000 years.

"Now, I think the environment needs protection because there is a lot of waste, such as food wastage. and disposable items, "she said.

Just as clearly. And what made Emma" really proud "of her grandmother, it is the initiative of the latter the next day to display stainless straws and reusable cups for sale in his family's soybean shop

  When the week was up, they both managed to put their non-recyclable garbage in their jars. Chong, however, had one last surprise for his granddaughter </p>
<p>  Having noticed that the girl had put mostly cloth in her jar, she gave him a tissue to help him "further reduce" his garbage. </p>
<p>  Emma said, "I certainly did not expect so much enthusiasm and involvement from my grandmother … It's one of the best weeks we've had together." Now that I know that she wants to spend time with me, I will definitely make her more time because our time on this earth is limited. So we should make the most of what we have. </p>
<p>  <strong> Mildred and Emma are one of the four pairs of grandmothers and grandchildren featured on On The Red Dot. Watch the episode here. <strong> The next episode of the will air on Mediacorp Channel 5 on Friday, June 13 at 9:30 pm </strong></strong></p>
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