Welcome Home Miss Norris !

Welcome Back Miss Norris !

After being warded in Tan Tock Seng Hospital for more than half a year, Miss Norris has finally been discharged. A Welcome Home party was organized by her recently appointed Deputy Panel.

Thanks to Mrs Carmee Lim and the rest panel who worked tirelessly to bring her home. They spent months working with the courts, hospital, relevant authorities and finally getting the house ready.

Here are some photos of the welcoming party and Miss Norris who was very glad to be home.

Miss Norris at her welcome back party

Tiny waiting eagerly for Miss Norris to get home

For those who would like to visit Miss Norris, visiting hours are 10AM – 12noon and 3pm – 6pm in the afternoon. Please call Marilou at 62889713.

As Friends of Miss Norris, if you’d like to contribute to her care, please make cheques out to “Evelyn Norris”. Send them to RGS, attention to May Kan. Address : 20 Anderson Road, Singapore 259978.

Update on Evergreen Lunch and the Fundraising Status

The protem DP team has been working hard to get estimates on the costs involved in getting Miss Norris’ home ready for her return. The numbers are still coming in, however we have some high level estimates that we’d like to share :

Startup costs which include minor renovations, and purchase of equipment eg hospital bed, wheelchair : S$40,000 – S$50,000
Monthly running costs which include medications, therapies, household expenses : S$8,000

The DP is working on obtaining a reverse mortgage on her existing property that will fund the monthly running costs. This is expected to come through in the next 3-6 months. In the meantime, the Protem DP together with RGS has been working to raise the amount needed through the alumni community.

Thanks to your generosity, we have S$62,000 pledged with S$17,000 raised during the Evergreen Lunch held at the Evelyn Norris Hall, RGS on May 1. This should take care of the startup costs plus the running costs for just over a month. The current target is to raise S$100,000 to cover the startup costs and 6 months of running costs until the reverse mortgage comes through. If you’d like to contribute, please make out cheques to “Raffles Girls School ( Secondary)” and write the following on the back of the cheque:

“FRIENDS OF MISS NORRIS”,
Your name,
Your class in RGS,
Your address/email/phone number.

Mail you cheque to :

Raffles Girls School

20 Anderson Road

Singapore 259978

Attention: Friends of Miss Norris / Ms Gina Soh

Funds will be administered by RGS and any unused portions of the money raised will be donated to the school.

Here are a few photos from the Evergreen Lunch, watch this space for more.

Entrance to Evelyn Norris Hall – Evergreen Lunch 2012

School Song – Evergreen Lunch 2012

Semi Solid Diet

Ley Kun, my classmate from Class of 1978 and I normally visit Miss Norris on Fridays. Here’s what she had to say after last Friday’s visit.

Hi Mad,

Hey – do you know that the Grand Dame is eating semi-solids now? She’s quite ‘tam-jiak’. Asking for western meals! She’s absolutely delighted to be eating again. We sure can learn a lot from her. What an inspiration!

An inspiration indeed! Since her stroke in November 2011, Miss Norris has been unable to swallow easily. The hospital has been feeding her via a tube. What good news that she is able to eat some semi-solid foods at long last. Those of us who used to regularly meet Miss Norris over lunch or tea would know that she does LOVE her food!(will attempt to get a photo of Miss Norris for the next blog – provided she says yes!)

An Email from Choi Fan, RGS Class of 1971

I am sharing with you an email from Choi Fun ( Class of 1971).

When she heard about Miss Norris from Peck Sim (Class of 1971, advisor (homecare) to Protem DP about Miss Norris’ stroke, she unilaterally rounded up a group of her RGS friends to raise funds for her. Last week, RGS received a cheque for SGD9,000 for Miss Norris from Choi Fun and friends.

When I wrote to thank her on behalf of the DP and MN, this is what she said.

Choi Fun has given me permission to reproduce her email.

—————————–

Sent: Friday, 16 March, 2012 11:02 AM
To: Madeleine Lee

Subject: Re: Miss Norris

Dear Madeline,

You are most welcome. The Donations come primarily from the Alumni of 1971 ( Secondary 4 different classes) with a few donations from ladies from other years. I know I speak for all when I say that we enjoyed our time at RGS ( secondary) and have benefitted from our education.

Two things that Miss Norris did sets her apart from other principals. She would personally go to all classes and give permission to the girls who live in flood prone areas to leave school early so that they can arrive home safely. And she managed to persuade the Ministry to let us have an English woman teach us English in School. You may wish to put this on the Blog about her.

As for the fund raising, I can only say that the undertaking was made easy because of the generosity of all who heard and responded. Special thanks to Olivia who connected me with Carmee and who spearheaded the collection from her own group. All the best to the Alumni in their Fund raising effort.

Best Regards,
Choi Fun

Originallly posted, Friday 23 March 2012

Fundraising for Miss Norris

In order for Miss Norris to be discharged and go back to her own home, the protem DP must put together a plan for homecare.

One of the items of this plan is the one-off expenditure in the form of :

1. Home Modifications ( eg ramps, anti-slip flooring etc); and

2. Home Equipment ( eg adjustable bed, wheelchair, day chair, physio therapy exercise equipment and supplies of medical equipment eg feeding tubes, catheters etc)

The protem DP estimates that items 1 and 2 will cost up to SGD50,000.00. Whilst our role is not primarily to go out publicly to raise funds for Miss Norris, these are the 2 items which need immediate solution.Th ere is also the on-going medical and home care which is still being estimated.

Many of you have generously offered financial assistance in your emails. Whilst the protem Deputy Panel is awaiting court appointment ( which will take 6 to 8 weeks) , Miss Julie Hoo, Principal RGS (Secondary) has kindly offered to assist in facilitating fund-raising. The school will set up a special sub account called “FREINDS OF MISS NORRIS” for this purpose. This account is kept within the school fund and is where all gifts for Miss Norris’ care will go.

We hope to have enough funds to allow us to get her house ready for her return, at the same time as the court application is underway. When appropriate, the DP will post a complete set of accounts detailing the receipt and expenditure. Utilisation of fund will be authorised by any 2 of the 3 authorised signatories from the DP and counter-signed by one of the Deputy Principals of RGS.

To contribute to the fund, cheques should be addressed to “Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary)“.

Please write on the back of the cheque:

“FRIENDS OF MISS NORRIS”,
Your name,
Your class in RGS,
Your address/email/phone number.

If you are in touch with your classmates, you could gather your class together to donate in a group. You may post this cheque to the school at:

Raffles Girls School

20 Anderson Road

Singapore 259978

Attention: Friends of Miss Norris / Ms Gina Soh

Originally posted Thursday, 22 March 2012

Thank You !

Thank you to everyone who has responded to the email blast sent on 6th March. Apologies for not responding singly to each and every email. But suffice it to say that the reponse has been overwhelming and most heartwarming.I have made copies of the emails for Miss Norris and will read them to her in the hospital.

Some of you have asked if you could visit. Miss Norris is at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Ward 13B Bed 17.

She loves visitors but on doctors’ advice is to confine visitors to visiting hours, which are 12noon to 2pm and 5pm to 8pm. Please remember to wash your hands thoroughly at the entrance of the ward. Her domestic helper, MaryLou, is with her in the day.

Originally posted Monday, 19 March 2012

Miss Norris

This note was first sent as email blast to RGS Alumni database on 6th March 2012:

Dear Friends of Miss Norris

As you may know, Miss Norris suffered a stroke late November last year. She has been warded in Tan Tock Seng Hospital ever since. Many of you have gone to see her. She has made steady progress and should ready for discharge but the doctors at TTSH, as well as the Medical Social Worker has said that she is not yet capable of taking decisions regarding her own care. Since Miss Norris has no next-of-kin in Singapore who has come forward to mind her affairs, the hospital has strongly recommended that a Deputy Panel (DP) be set up to do the same.

Serendipitously, a few of us had been discussing severally and informally how to help Miss Norris going forward. A first meeting was called by Dr Jean Ong, Chair ORA Woman’s Chapter, and held on 11 Feb 2012 in RGS. At this meeting, about half a dozen old girls and ex-principals came forward to volunteer. In addition, another half a dozen have agreed to be in an advisory/support group. Mrs Carmee and I chatted with Miss Norris when we visited her on 24 Feb and she is happy that a small group be formed to be empowered to handle her matters. This group,called the Deputy Panel, will have to be appointed by Court. This will take up to 3 months. In the meantime, we will function as the protem DP. At Miss Norris request, we have also asked two of her church friends to be on board. The protem DP comprises Mrs Carmee Lim, Mrs Deborah Tan, Ms Teo Mei Wan, Ms Koh Mui Keng, Ms Celine Chandy, Dr Stephanie Leonard and myself. The role of the DP is to look after all affairs including: Finance, Medical, Well Being, Home Care, etc. On the Advisory Panel are Dr Jean Ong (medical) , Ms Susan Leong ( legal) , Mrs Wong Peck Sim ( homecare). On behalf of the protem DP, I am writing this email to keep you in the loop. We understand that the care and concern for Miss Norris is over whelming and that various smaller groups have been galvanised to raise funds and make resources available for her. This is most heartwarming. We know that you, like us, have Miss Norris’ well-being and best interest at heart, and will certainly look to your support.

In order that we have a coordinated effort, the protem DP has registered an gmail address: friendsofmissnorris@gmail.com to which you can send all enquiries. Please reply to this address with your email address which will go into our database. We are looking also to start a blogsite/website/facebook, and will keep you informed regularly.

Sincerely,

Madeleine Lee

RGS Class of 1978