While most of us in Singapore are busy celebrating the Chinese New Year festivities with our family and friends, some folks do not have a home or family to celebrate with.

One such story of an elderly person was shared by Singaporean comedian, Sharul Channa, who took to her Facebook page to share a heartwarming story of an elderly Chinese man she encountered during this festive period.

Elderly man pushing his trishaw in Bugis

According to the post by the comedian, she encountered an elderly Chinese man in Bugis, who was pushing his trishaw filled with cardboard boxes.

To Channa, he looked about 70 years old and had unfortunately wet himself.

Channa hands a S$10 note to the elderly man and he starts singing in Hindi

In her post, she explained that she has been writing a show about the elderly and has become more aware about old folks around her, especially those without a place to call home.

She then passed the elderly man a S$10 note for Chinese New Year and wished him "Gong Xi Fa Cai, Uncle!".

The elderly man then surprised her by singing her a song in Hindi.

Meaning of the song is appropriate for Chinese New Year

In Channa's post, she mentions a line of the song and translates one of the lines:

‘Yaadon ki Baarat Nikli hai... dil ke dwaare... dil ke dwaare’ This translates to: There is a procession of memories from the door of my heart!

Originally from a 1973 movie, the song "Yaadon Ki Baaraat Nikli Hai" is sung in a scene where a family holds a birthday celebration.

The character singing the song hopes that the the joyous atmosphere will never change and that the family will never be separated.

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Channa's takeaway

While she was pleasantly surprised and slightly embarrassed, those who were passing by started to cheer the elderly man on as he sang and smiled.

She reflected in her post that she learnt two things.

First, it doesn't take a lot to put a smile on people's faces, just a little effort is needed.

Secondly, money is not the only thing you can give someone else. Sometimes, a friendly conversation and a smile is all that's needed.

She commented that the elderly man made her feel 'rich', not in terms of money but in terms of richness of the heart.

Channa ended her post with well wishes for the Chinese New Year.

You can check out her full post here:

Top photos by Lily Banse/Unsplash and Sharul Channa/Facebook