113-year-old Teresa Hsu - wisdom for all ages | TEDxSingapore

Teresa Hsu was born second of four children to a poor family in Guangdon Province, China, in 1898. At 16, she left for Hong Kong where she studied to be a stenographer, a bookkeeper and later, a nurse in the UK. As a nurse, she joined the International Voluntary Service for Peace (IVSP) and traveled around Europe to help the needy. She has also worked in Paraguay. When she moved to Singapore, she set up the Home for the Aged Sick in 1930, where she was Matron up to the age of 85. Now over 100 years old, she continues to help the needy via her organization, Heart to Heart.

She joined with many women in Singapore who delivered TEDx Talks to share their stories and ideas joining with the voices of hundreds of others during Global TED Women over two days in December 2010.

http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/1191
http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/1287
http://www.hearttoheartservice.org/AboutFounder.htm
http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1590_2009-10-27.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Hsu_Chih

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This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Teresa Hsu has spent much of a life
dedicated to helping the poor.

More than 100 years old,

Teresa still spends her time reading,
learning, meeting people,

gathering and distributing food
and money to help the needy.

Her organization, "Heart to Heart,"

began in 1929 under the name
"Friends of the Needy."

Here's Teresa:

[Lessons my mother taught me]

Teresa: We were very poor,

and we took food from the earth:

sweet potato and bamboo shoots.

Then one day, we were sitting down

to a meal.

One woman came with her child

and said,

"We haven't eaten for two days,

please help us."

So my mother took things on the table,

things that we were sitting down to eat,

gave it all to them.

And she said,

"We ate yesterday.

They haven't eaten for two days.

They have more right to the food than we."

And it was a very good lesson to me.

All my life I think of people
who have less than we.

That has been guiding light all my life.

[Heart to Heart - How it All Started]

Oh, I started "Heart to Heart"
under a different name:

"Friends of the Needy" in 1923.

Wherever I go, I do the same thing:

put my bags down.

First thing I look for is people
who don't have enough to eat.

Then when I came to Singapore,

I called myself "Heart to Heart."

Heart to Heart is we give whatever we can:

food and money for their rental,

and help them see the doctor, whatever.

We -

Sometimes people hear my talk,

and they donate money.

We pass it on to those who need.

At the moment,

we have 15 old people in Singapore,

five families,

and 34 blind people in Ho Chi Minh City.

[Poverty, Hunger, and a Promise]

There was a time

when we were very, very poor.

I went to the river
to wash the family clothes.

And while the clothes
were drying on the low bush,

we went to look
for whatever food we can get.

I was so hungry,

I looked around, nobody was watching,

so I stooped down,

got a handful of grass

and shoved it in my mouth.

It didn't satisfy my hunger.

At least it satisfied
my thought of hunger.

So it did taste nice,

and didn't stop my hunger,

so I said to myself,

"As long as I am able to,
let nobody need to eat grass."

So this is my guideline now.

Whoever is hungry, I do my best
to see what I can get for them.

Till now I still do it.

I still go around
and see who is hungry ...

I will share my rice bowl,

my bowl of rice with you.

This is now my life -

is to share what I have
with those who are hungrier then I.

Even equally hungry,

we share half a bowl.

["HaHa" and Multiplying Joy]

One man asked me why.

"Why don't you stay at home enjoy yourself

instead of going around to 20 people?"

I said,

If I eat food by myself,

I alone (Chinese) laugh with mirth.

I will share with 20 people,

21 people (Chinese) laugh with mirth.

You see, my joy is multiplied 21 times.

So six months later,
we attended a meeting.

In the recess, tea time, tea break,

he came up to me, and he said to me,

"Thank you for teach me
how to smile 21 times."

I said, "Next time we meet,
we will smile 42 times."

But the 42 times hasn't come yet.

Still waiting for the time
to smile 42 times.

[In life there are always problems.]

In life there are always problems.

You solve your problems
to the best you can,

accept the rest.

Don't think of the problems all the time.

It's (Chinese) boo hoo.

Because when you (Chinese) boo hoo,

you need to pay money
to buy handkerchiefs.

(Male voice off-screen):
And then you "hahaha."

TH: Then we "haha."

No need to spend money,
no handkerchiefs.

"Haha" is better than (Chinese) boo hoo.