Master Cook is a series of unique cooking programmes by caregivers and people living with dementia. The objective of this segment is to prepare nutritious and quick-fix meal for your loved ones and yourself to enjoy. Simple and easy recipe allows your loved ones to participate in the cooking process. Sharing a meal together encourages deep connection between people as eating the same food suggests that we are both bringing the same thing into our bodies.

Familiar food connects us to the past, to our memories, to our family, to an event or incident, a special moment or day, to friends, sometimes to strangers. It connects us to the mysterious lands never visited or places we have been. Familiar taste of the food connects our senses and triggers stories to be told.

Story

Hi my name is Emily.

My dementia journey began with the French Toast Incidence

It was 2017, a typical morning breakfast preparation – French Toast – the family’s favourite. Suddenly I found myself struggling to recall how to make French Toast. The only ingredient I knew was a loaf of bread and nothing else. I have no recollection that I have ever made it before despite I have been making since my children were small. That was how my dementia diagnosis started, and since then I have been a strong advocate to raise the awareness of Young-onset Dementia (YOD). I was blessed to meet Kate Swaffer, the co-founder and CEO of DAI, through Voices for Hope program. Under her mentorship I learned to speak up and continue to be heard at local, regional and global levels. Advocacy is about using one’s lived experience and story to call for social change and actions to improve the quality of life for people with dementia.

Emily Ong

Emily Ong, person living with dementia, is the current Board Member of Dementia Alliance International (DAI) and has been living with young-onset dementia since 2017.

• Alzheimer’s Disease International Accreditation Global Review Panel, member
• ADI Scientific Program Committee for ADI 2022 Conference, member
• World Health Organization (WHO)Global Dementia Observatory (GDO), Focus Group member
• Dementia Singapore Voices for Hope program, co-designer & co-facilitator