Love Has No Age Limits: 83-Year-Old Leads Knitting Group to Aid Cancer Fighters
Elsie Koh’s warmth and compassion radiate even through a phone call as she reminisces on her 50-year-long career in nursing.
“When people are sick or a bit stressed, they may talk a bit louder. You should let them express their feelings, so they don’t feel cooped up,” she passionately declares.
It was this patience and compassion for others that drew the 83-year-old, who is affectionately called Auntie Elsie, to begin volunteering with Singapore Cancer Society (SCS) when she was 70.
Her dedication over the 13 years and counting have earned her the SCS Aspiration Award 2024, an inaugural award that honoured 13 organisations and individuals for contributions spanning volunteers, donation, advocacy and partnerships in SCS initiatives.
Knitting for Good
Joining SCS happened quite by chance, Auntie Elsie shares. She was looking for activities to do when she came across an SCS flyer looking for volunteers for a monthly knitting course. She signed up to help and, upon retirement at the age of 71, became lead trainer for the group called Knit of Love.
Although Knit of Love was started to teach knitting, the group soon began knitting gifts, such as beanies and scarves, for cancer patients as well.
“When cancer patients have chemo, they slowly lose their hair and some become bald, so we wanted to make them happier by giving them beanies,” Aunty Elsie explains. “They also complained about being cold around the neck, so we started making neck warmers!”
Over time, the catalogue of products the team knitted expanded to include pouches, water bottle holders, stuffed animals—even Pokemon balls and more. Aunty Elsie and the team began selling these knitted goods at fairs and corporate events to raise funds for SCS.
“The customers are very kind. They always put more in the [payment] box than they need to,” she gratefully recounts.
The most memorable for Aunty Elsie was the Boon Tiong Knitting Fair in 2019, where she put her prized knitted bag up for sale.
“I was thinking if I could get $100 for it I would be very happy,” she shares. To her surprise, multiple attendees started bidding on the bag and it was eventually sold for $800!
Weaving Threads of Love in the Community
Today, Knit of Love takes place on the first Saturday of every month in the SCS and has around 30 active members. To accommodate the growing interest and to give newer members more opportunity to practise, Aunty Elsie and some members of the group also meet on Wednesdays at the Queenstown Community Centre to work on their needlework.
She reiterates that anyone is welcome to join—just let her know and she will prepare enough yarn.
It also doesn’t matter how good a knitter you are. “When the new ones come, the ones who know how to do it will help them,” she reassuringly shares, fondly adding that “her girls” are always willing to step in and help each other.
This is why although Aunty Elsie is unsure how long she can continue volunteering, she is confident that the existing team of volunteers will be able to keep Knit of Love going for years to come.
Reflecting on what it means to live a meaningful life, she muses that her philosophy is simple: “Keep on helping people, keep on loving, see the good in people.” That, she says, is what she will continue to do for as long as she can.