![]() Many business premises as well as households place the Pi Xiu images at their entrance or altars to ward off evil and to invited usher wealth luck.Īfter bringing the figurine of the Pi Xiu back home, it must be thoroughly cleansed first. Thus, it is helpful for those who are going through a bad year according to Chinese zodiac.This mytical creature is credited with being able to ward off evil forces and is most effective for countering the negative forces from the Five Yellow, White Tiger and bad energies emitting from living too close to a cemetary, temple or a haunted house. Therefore traditionally to the Chinese, Pixiu has always been regarded as an auspicious creature that possessed mystical power capable of drawing Cai Qi (財氣 wealth) from all directions. It is said to have a voracious appetite towards only gold and silver. Pixiu is an earth and sea variation, particularly an influential and auspicious creature for wealth. This Chinese mythical hybrid creature is considered to be very a powerful protector to practitioners of Feng Shui. “That is the hope we place in our girls when situations may seem hopeless,” she said.One of the most popular feng shui items in the market nowadays is the Pi Xiu or Pi Yao (pictured above). It is Tan’s belief that as long as she has done her best for each child, she would have planted the seeds for a different and better life in the girl’s future, even if it does not manifest at the moment. “Quoting from author Robert Louis Stevenson, I tell my staff: Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant,” she said. And if they have lived all their lives having to fend for themselves, what can we expect of them, except to patiently sow into them, helping them to re-learn functional ways of living and functional ways of responding,” she added. ![]() “Of course, try as we might, it’s not possible to replace their parents. “But I believe if a child doesn't have parents who can care for them at the moment, then someone else will have to step in and perform that role as best as we can,” she said. “I asked myself many times, what does success look like in my role? I still don't have an answer,” she admitted. But Tan believes the refuge is nonetheless important for these girls. Some continue to struggle and search for safety, security, love and their place in the world. However, not every girl leaves the system on such a positive note. Everybody – the staff and girls – would sit down at a big table and bond over a simple meal of steamed rice, braised chicken, omelette, stir-fried chye sim and watermelon. Knowing she could not take all the girls home, she decided then and there to transplant her own home into Gladiolus Place. In some cases, there is no food at home at all and they’ve had to steal or go to other people’s houses to beg for food,” she said. They occasionally go home to sleep or go to a friend’s house. “I’ve had girls who literally lived on the streets for nine years because their parents neglected them. But these girls just don’t have a home,” said Tan, tears welling up in her eyes. “As mums, we try to create a home that is conducive for children to grow up. This simple and earnest request broke Tan’s heart. ![]() One day, she followed me to my car and said, ‘Michelle jie, bring me home’,” recalled Tan. “She is the longest staying girl at our home – she has been with us for five years because she does not have a home she can return to. However, it was a girl at the home who gave Tan the idea of transforming Gladiolus Place into a home like the one she had built for her own kids. She took on the role of director to save the home. Then, in 2008, she left her career entirely to be a full-time mum to her three kids, now aged 16, 13 and 10.Īfter 10 happy years as a stay-at-home-mum, in 2018, she switched gears again when Gladiolus Place was in financial crisis and facing imminent closure. A scholar previously in public service, Tan left a well-charted career path to work directly with teenagers as a probation officer, and later as assistant director of Gladiolus Place (then known as Andrew and Grace Home). Tan’s perspective came from her own life experiences. ![]() And as a mother of three, she knew instinctively that what these girls need is not an institute but a home in the true sense of the word. Tan’s job: To pick up the pieces of their shattered girlhoods. Picked up by their school or the police, they have been placed at the home for their own safety by the Child Protective Service under the Ministry of Social and Family Development. ![]()
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