BUTTERWORTH: Around 10 to 12 elderly folk living with dementia get a “sense of mission” every time they get to operate their pop-up cafe.
Named the Forgotten Mutiara Cafe, they cook and serve simple meals to guests at a privately run care centre for the elderly here.
And should they forget the tasks at hand, there will always be someone watching over to prompt them back into the activity or cue them towards the next task.
They cook dishes like char bee hoon, red bean soup, steamed chick peas and capati with vegetable curry.
They greet visitors, serve tea and have dance and music sessions with everyone.
For May Phoon, 75, taking part in the Forgotten Mutiara Cafe is a happy accomplishment.
“When I first came here, I used a walker and couldn’t talk. Now I walk around and slowly chat with everyone,” said Phoon, who helps with the cooking.
Nora Yau Poh Yook, 86, was one of the busy ones last weekend, serving tea and food, chatting with visitors and even dancing with them.
“I love doing all these things,” she said, adding that she especially enjoyed chatting with the guests.
Dementia is a condition that affects memory, thinking and behaviour, often making it difficult for people to manage daily activities or communicate clearly.
Research proves that structured activities involving routines, social interaction and simple tasks can help people with dementia maintain cognitive function, confidence and emotional well-being.
Chuah Beng Si, who is the manager of the centre caring for seniors who have dementia, said the pop-up cafe was organised to help dementia patients stay active and connected with the community.
“This is the third time we’ve organised it,” she said, adding that the latest edition carried a Hari Raya theme, with participants and staff dressed in traditional Malay attire.
“The menu is planned earlier, and tasks are given based on each participant’s abilities.”
Guests joined simple activities such as movement mirroring and small group interactions that encouraged conversation with the participants.
Pop-up cafes like this are especially popular in Japan, which has a large population of senior citizens.
One of these cafes is the Restaurant of Mistaken Orders, which serves professionally prepared Japanese cuisine.
All the servers live with dementia, and diners sportingly expect to get the wrong dish, food meant for another table or have the same food delivered twice.
