Spending time with our elderly can extend their lives and enrich ours

At 92, Doris Pillai is still the magnet that draws family to her home. Her grand daughters (fr right) Yvette Michael and Muna Mazlan, 33) and great granddaughter Aine Tuohy, 14 have come to her to learn how to make her almond cookies. RAJA FAISAL HISHAN/The Star

Doris Pillai keeps a close watch on her “students” as they roll small portions of cookie dough into evenly-sized balls, in her home in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. The 92-year-old woman is teaching her 14-year-old great-granddaughter Àine Tuohy and 33-year-old granddaughter Muna Mazlan how to make almond cookies, a family favourite.

Doris is the cook in the family, and keeper of the family’s recipes.