News l Singapore's oldest person, Teresa Hsu dies at age 113

Singapore's famed 'Mother Teresa', social worker Teresa Hsu Chih has died at age 113.The supercentenarian was Singapore's oldest person, she spends her days at Heart to Heart, an outreach unit she founded in Hong Kong in 1923.

According to an announcement on the Heart to Heart website, Hsu's welfare service, Hsu died peacefully at her home on 7 December. She was cremated on the same day," Hsu wanted to "depart quietly and peacefully" and left instructions not to make any announcement of her death in the news media, or perform any ceremonies that would "cause disturbance and inconvenience to others", said the notice.

Teresa Hsu born in a tiny village in the Guangdong province of China, Hsu traveled to various countries, such as Hong Kong and Paraguay, to help others, before settling down in Singapore.

At 47, she enrolled and was accepted into in a three-year nursing course in London meant for students under 25. At 67, she founded one of the first home for the aged sick in Singapore in the 1960s, where she worked until she was 85-years-old.

At Singapore, she served first as an unsalaried matron at Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital for about three years before opening an old folks home, called the "Home for the Aged Sick". After retirement, she turned her attention to her welfare service, Heart to Heart, where she reached out to needy elderly folks and families.

Hsu's philosophy towards life was simple. She said that positive thoughts and laughter were her key sources of sustenance. Her involvement in social work was a natural extension of her life philosophy. She described her drive to help others as an instinct that stemmed from her ability to empathise with the needy, having once been destitute herself. Moved by the generosity and kindness she had received from others, she saw the poor people that she met as brothers and sisters and was determined to extend her help to them.

Besides keeping her mind active through volunteer work and visiting various countries to give talks, she also kept her body conditioned through yoga, which she learnt at the age of 69 and later taught to the public. In addition to doing yoga twice a day, she meditated at 4am daily before going on a morning walk. Her message to young people today: "Go all out to help those who don't have the basic needs. See that nobody needs to go hungry."


Her passionate work and active lifestyle has won ex-nurse Teresa Hsu various accolades :-
1988 : Guinness Stout Effort Award.
1994 : Life Insurance Association Award, 1993.
1997 : Chinese Reader's Digest Hero for Today Award.
2000 : Her World 9th Woman of the Year Award.
2002 : Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation 5th Love of Lives Medal.
2003 : Honorary doctorate degree conferred by the University of Southern Queensland, Australia.
2003 : Active Senior Citizen of the Year.
2004 : Sporting Singapore Inspiration Award.
2005 : National Volunteerism and Philanthropy Special Recognition Award.
2009 : Public Service Star.