This is Us! Chit Chat with Annabella and Monica

When Annabella and Monica first walked into Tak Takut Kids Club (TTKC) in 2021, they weren’t sure what to expect. What they discovered was more than just a place to volunteer, it became a space where retired adults could find new purpose and routine, helping children develop life skills through cooking.

Three and a half years later, the two retirees have become a steady presence, shaping a weekly routine where kids learn to make flatbreads and pizza, handle hot pans safely, and practise talking things out when tempers flare.

For them, the kitchen is more than recipes, it’s a space to practice patience, confidence, and care. In this conversation, Annabella and Monica share what’s changed since they started, the joys (and chaos) of the TTKC kitchen, and why they keep showing up week after week.

Annabella (Left) and Monica (Right) in the original TTKC kitchen during a pita-making session in 2022.

How Annabella and Monica Found Their Way to the TTKC Kitchen

SY: When you first came in, there wasn’t even clear signage or communication about what TTKC was. What made you step in anyway?

Monica: We were very clear we wanted to work with children. Both of us had just completed our BATA food safety course, and we thought, why not start something with the kids here? At that time, we already knew they loved pizza.

[Editor’s note: BATA is a food safety certification course that prepared the volunteers for kitchen work with children.]

SY: So even before you discovered TTKC, you already knew you wanted to work with kids?

Annabella: Yes. Before this, I volunteered in a sick room. I’d worked with older people before, but never with children. Both of us are more action-oriented, we don’t want to just sit and listen to people talk about their issues again and again.

I also asked myself, if you’re retired, where do you want to contribute, to make your environment better? With older people, it’s hard to shift mindsets unless they themselves want to change. With children, there’s so much more we can do. 

Monica: And it’s true, it’s easier to move younger ones than older ones. There’s still a lot we can share with them. Over time, you can see the difference—the children who came in earlier, and the ones now. There’s real change.

Pizza Making Sessions by Annabella and Monica (Left: 2022, Right: 2025)

SY: What’s the change you see in TTKC, compared to when you first started in 2021?

Annabella: Back then, the children would cook all sorts of things—sometimes just fried eggs, or they’d bring in their own ingredients, lots of sweet things. I remember being shocked at how much sugar there was! In my house it would take six years to finish that amount (laughs). And the shelves were full of snacks people donated.

SY: You two were really the first “Better Eat Better” people, before BEB even officially existed!

Monica: Yes. What we have now is more quality, and that makes a big difference. It’s not just about healthier food—it helps regulate relationships here too. People walking past also begin to understand what we’re doing. In the early days, they’d ask 你们在做什么? (“What are you doing here?”). But once they saw, most agreed, healthy food matters, and it’s important for the kids, especially those whose parents aren’t home, to have better options.

[Editor’s note: Better Eat Better (BEB) is a community health movement launched in partnership with Cultivate Central. Learn more here: https://www.3pumpkins.co/bettereatbetter ] 

SY: What is the change you see TTKC bringing to a child?

Annabella: When you look at some of the kids, like C and S, you can see they’ve made a lot of progress. But sometimes there’s regression too. Maybe in certain areas, they conform more to the group dynamic, that can help them. But behaviour-wise, some of them still don’t stabilise. For others, I’ve seen huge improvement.

SY: Some children come from unstable families, sometimes even with violence at home. That’s not a grounding environment. So they might improve here, then regress again. But at least this remains a space they can always return to, a space to talk.

Annabella: Yes. If we can help with some of their challenges, and we see them improve, it’s very hard to explain the feeling. It’s just a joy inside you. When you see them doing better, it makes you very happy.

SY: What makes you happiest in the kitchen?

Monica: When you talk to the kids and see that they want to do more. Like today, I saw J playing around with the dough at first, but in the end he managed it. He kneaded well, followed the instructions. That’s very satisfying to see. Some of the others are harder to manage because they want to help but also want to play. I can only do so much to keep them on task, to keep the timeline. Most of the time they’re okay, but when two boys come together, wah—they start flying, attacking each other. When that happens, I want to send them out.

SY: Would you say conflict management is the most challenging part?

Annabella: Yes. They have to learn how to hold back—what things to say and what not to say, how not to react when provoked. If one says something, the other responds, and then it snowballs. When it happens, I’ll send them out to cool off, then try to resolve it. In three and a half years, we’ve never had to send a child home. But today, they really tested me (laughs).

SY: And what kind of behaviour do you usually have to correct in the kitchen?

Monica: A lot of it is about waiting their turn. Everyone wants to jump in straightaway, so we have to hold them back, make sure they go one by one. Some are very chatty, sometimes too much—they react to every little comment. That can get disruptive, so we remind them to focus.

SY: Do you feel like this year there’s been more of that kind of behaviour?

Annabella: Yes, definitely. This year we’ve seen more odd, dysregulated behaviour.

SY: Sometimes we wonder if it’s like a conveyor belt. The kids who stay with us for two years—they get used to the culture here, they settle down, they behave better. Then they grow up, move on, and a new group comes in. Our researcher said the “breaking point” is usually two years: that’s when kids start to really think and learn, rather than just come into play.

Y: You’ve been experimenting with different types of bread and kueh, right?

Annabella: Yes, we try to create something hands-on for the children, within the short time we have. You can’t do long fermentation, so we make things like flatbreads, popiah, prata.

SY: Do you think some kids picked up dough-making skills from you?

Annabella: At the beginning, yes. Children like G were very keen—she wanted to learn how to add colours into the dough, how to do it properly so she could try it at home. But not many children are like her. Now most kids aren’t that interested in making from scratch. They just want to help quickly prepare and then share the food. They’ll roll the flatbread, fry it, but skip the measuring and mixing.

Monica: Many kids don’t even know how to hold the dough properly at first. But they like doing it, so they practise. Some now can roll and knead quite well. Then they learn proportion—how much flour to add, how to make it round instead of long or odd-shaped. Today they learned a lot.

Monica instructing boys on how to measure the correct amount of dough for pizza-making (2025).

SY: That’s true—the kitchen is actually the number one activity here. Participation is very high this year.

SY: Do you plan out each session, talk about how to innovate for the next week?

Annabella: Every session we try to give them a real experience in the short one-and-a-half hours. Sometimes they’ll say, “I know, I know!” But when I ask them to show me, it turns out wrong. Then I’ll demonstrate, but afterwards they still want to do it their old way (laughs). Children are very smart—they’re not here just to help us. They come because there’s something they can’t do at home. For example, most parents won’t let their children cook or touch fire. But here they can. Touching fire is important, they learn to control the flame, to wait, to be patient. That’s why they must come consistently to practise.

SY: Can you tell me about the TTKC food challenges?

Annabella: We had a pizza challenge and also a pancake challenge. The children really enjoyed both, and they kept asking for it again. It showed us how engaged they were with making the food. They especially liked the pita, because you can see the oven, the bread rising—that magic transformation is very exciting for them.

SY: So the competition is actually more about teamwork, right?

Annabella: Yes, exactly. It’s a way for them to learn how to manage their own group of friends, to take responsibility for tasks together. It’s a good skill to practise at this age. Between the two, I think the pizza challenge was more fun, because they got to see something go in, and then come out transformed. Pancakes are nice, but not as magical (laughs).

Annabella and Monica attending a Community of Practice session on Child Safeguarding 

SY: You have a 100% attendance rate at TTKC’s COP sessions, what drives you to attend all of them?

Annabella: It’s good to have some adult time, where we share and hear about other people’s experiences with the children. Because in different spaces, children behave differently. So it helps us understand them better, and then support them more effectively when they’re in the kitchen. We also learn from how other adults handle situations in their own way. COP helps close the gap—it gives us a fuller picture of the children.

Monica: Yes, and also it lets us see how the full-time staff manage things in other areas we don’t usually touch. If not, our kitchen routine might just run on auto-pilot. Through these sessions, we learn about the challenges the children face in disadvantaged backgrounds, and that gives us more context. It helps us know how to support them better.

SY: I’m curious—how do you fit volunteering into your regular routine? How do you plan your days?

Annabella: Mornings are for exercise, we either go to the gym or take our grandnephews to school. At home, I spend time on my own interests. These days, I trade and invest, manage my own funds. I also learn more cooking skills, sometimes painting.

Monica: Same for me, I make time for my own activities. Then once a week, this kitchen session becomes part of the rhythm of life. It keeps us active and connected.

SY: What advice would you give to others who want to work with children?

Monica: Don’t come in with too much judgment about how children “should” behave. You need to listen and guide, but not be too rigid. If you’re overly judgmental, you’ll struggle. Children come here for a reason—they’re looking for a feeling, or for connection. Our role is to provide that experience. If they don’t like something, they’ll be the first to walk away. Like if you ask, “Who wants to help wash up?” (laughs).

Annabella: Yes, exactly. I always tell Monica, “If they don’t want, don’t insist. Otherwise they won’t come to the kitchen again!” You cannot force them. Just create the space and cook together.