“When we eat with them, they feel they have a family”: 4 ways people are reaching out to the lonely this Chinese New Year

by Gracia Lee // January 27, 2025, 3:32 pm

During this festive season, some are being intentional about reaching out to those who may feel alone, like Dr Ong Woon Hong and his wife, Tan Lee Lee, who will invite some children from Singapore Christian Home for a Chinese New Year gathering at their home. Photo courtesy of Singapore Christian Home.

While Chinese New Year is traditionally a time for family reunions and get-togethers, some are stepping up to support those who are overlooked amid the celebrations.

From having a meal with those with no family to bringing gifts to those who are alone, here are four simple yet impactful ways people are making sure no one spends this festive season alone.

1. Giving vulnerable children a taste of home

This Chinese New Year, a couple will open their home to a handful of children living in Singapore Christian Home (SCH) to celebrate the season in a family setting.

Many of these children have grown up in institutions including SCH, which is the only nursing home in Singapore with a paediatric ward. Most have multiple chronic conditions that require round-the-clock and long-term medical care.

“Some of these kids have never set foot in a home before, so we thought it’d be good if they can see what it’s like,” said the husband, who only wanted to be known as Dr Ong.

During last year’s Chinese New Year, Dr Ong (left) opened up his home for some children from Singapore Christian Home to experience the season in a home setting. Photo courtesy of Singapore Christian Home.

The 64-year-old paediatrician and his wife, 58, are long-time volunteers at SCH. He closes his clinic early every Wednesday to spend time with the children there who have become “like friends”.

Last year was the first time that the Ongs opened their home to the children for Chinese New Year. In a video shared with Salt&Light by SCH, about five children – two in wheelchairs – were shown exploring their home, tossing lohei and playing around in Chinese New Year costumes.

“They liked it!” recalled Dr Ong with a laugh. “It was really something to see them enjoying themselves. It’s something different from being in the home all the time.”

This year, the couple hopes to allow the children to do the same. “If time permits, we’ll let them watch a movie,” added Dr Ong.

2. Eating with the homeless

Sometimes, time is the most valuable thing you can offer to a friend. This is why the volunteers at Homeless Hearts of Singapore (HHOS) will be taking the time to have a simple meal with their homeless friends this Chinese New Year.

“It’s bad during the holiday period when they feel that they are separated, estranged and alienated from their family. They spend the Chinese New Year period alone. So when people want to eat with them, that’s something that will really make a big difference,” said Abraham Yeo, co-founder of HHOS.

Every Chinese New Year, the volunteers at HHOS make it a point to have a meal with their homeless friends.

He and his wife will also be hosting some of their homeless friends at their home during the festive season, as they have done in previous years.

A HHOS volunteer who only wanted to be known as Enqi told Salt&Light that she and a group of other volunteers will be inviting about three to four homeless friends out for a Western meal.

Abraham (right, with child) and his wife (left) hosting a few of their homeless friends and fellow Christian friends during Chinese New Year last year. Photo courtesy of Abraham Yeo.

These are people they have befriended over the past six months. “They have different stories. A sad theme is often broken relationships – typically they are estranged from daughters, sons or siblings,” she shared.

“I admire their resilience a lot … I hope the meal will make them cheerier and more relaxed for a while. Life is often monotonous and a struggle, so I hope this brings them some joy.”

3. Being a family to foreign workers

Last week, Debbie Zhang bought 64kg of pig trotters, 40kg of chicken thighs, 40kg of rice and 9kg of bakwa (barbecued pork) – all to prepare just half of the 330 home-cooked bento meals that she will be giving out to red-light district workers on the eve of Chinese New Year.

With her husband and domestic helper, the founder of Geylang Ministry, which reaches out those in the sex trade, spent “the whole day and the whole night” of January 27 cooking rice, barbecued chicken and braised pig trotters. The other half of bento meals were cooked by another ministry volunteer.

The food was then packed with some bakwa and a slice of cake, and distributed on January 28.

Debbie and another volunteer prepared two types of meals – some sets with pig trotters (left) and some sets with barbecued chicken thigh (right). Photo courtesy of Debbie Zhang.

“They (the workers) surely have money to afford a meal, but especially during festivals, people’s hearts feel lonely. They can’t celebrate and they need to work on the eve of Chinese New Year, so we want them to feel loved, like someone cares for them, that God cares for them,” said Debbie, who has carried out the same initiative in previous Chinese New Year seasons.

Debbie (right, in red) with some volunteers distributing the home-cooked meals last Chinese New Year.

Similarly, those at Operation Honour, a ministry to foreign workers by Mercy Centre, are not forgetting their migrant friends this festive season.

On February 9, they will be holding a special dinner – complete with games, songs and a lohei – for about 70 Chinese migrant workers, many of whom are regulars at their weekly Thursday gatherings where food and friendship are shared.

Last Chinese New Year, Operation Honour held a similar hotpot dinner for Chinese migrant workers. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Aw.

“Not everybody will be able to go back to China, so while they are here, we want to be the second home for them. We’ll celebrate with them, we’ll treat them as our family members,” said Jimmy Aw, a volunteer and staff member at Youth With A Mission Singapore.

“Some of them have spent 10 to 15 years building Singapore, so it’s our way to honour them.”

4. Reminding lonely seniors they’re not forgotten

Receiving goodie bags and hongbaos may seem like a small thing, but to many elderly persons with no family, it helps them to feel less alone.

This is why the co-founder of Becos We Care, who wanted to be known only as L Tan, spent this week knocking on doors with simple gifts for some 40 single seniors.

A volunteer giving out Chinese New Year goodie bags to single seniors they have befriended over the years. Photo courtesy of L Tan.

The ministry, which started after L and her team of three others knocked on thousands of doors in Toa Payoh over two years, reaches out to these vulnerable elderly who have no one to care for them.

“We realised that there were so many who were dying without anybody knowing, and alone,” said L, who shows them God’s love by helping them to get support, buying them necessities, taking them to see the doctor and visiting them in hospital.

Each goodie bag contains some biscuits, Chinese New Year snacks, a red packet with supermarket vouchers and a message of hope. Photo courtesy of L Tan.

Sometime in early February, she and her team also plan to take a few seniors out for a zichar meal with lohei. “They have no family, so when we eat together with them, they will feel like they have a family,” she said.

Her only regret is that her team does not have enough manpower to allow more seniors to join. It is not easy to take more of them out as some of the elderly are in wheelchairs or blind and require more personal care and attention.

She told Salt&Light: “When Jesus comes back, He’s looking for those who are caring for the lonely, the suffering, the lost, so we’re hoping that there will be more people who are called to this work to join us.”

(Those interested to help Becos We Care can contact L at +65 8338 6063.)