[Photo: Madam Priyanut is cook, housemother and cooking teacher at Andrew and Grace Home.]

By Genevieve Jiang

WHEN her 13-year-old daughter ended up in a shelter for troubled teens and juvenile delinquents eight years ago, Madam Priyanut Phasuk was determined to be by her side.

The day after the girl was sent to the Andrew and Grace Home, Madam Priyanut packed her bags and asked the shelter's staff for permission to stay with her.

Recalled the 51-year-old: 'When my girl was sentenced, I couldn't stop crying. The head of the shelter told me that if I wanted so badly to be with my daughter, he was willing to give me a small room there.

'I ended up at their doorstep with all my bags the very next day.'

It was the start of Madam Priyanut's long relationship with the shelter and its residents - from volunteer cook and housemother to full-time trainer.

Madam Priyanut in her bedroom at the girls' shelter. (Photo:TNP)

It even led her to a job as a chef at a five-star hotel.

She is the only parent who has requested to stay at the shelter in its 11-year history, said its founder and director, Pastor Andrew Choo.

Madam Priyanut felt she had to be there, especially because the girl, the youngest of her three children, kept getting into trouble.

The girl repeatedly ran away from home and skipped school, and was eventually declared beyond parental control.

Recalled Madam Priyanut, whose older children - another daughter and a son - were then 17 and 15 respectively: 'Back then, my husband and I were busy running our food business and had little time for our youngest girl.

'We had many disagreements running the business and fought a lot at home.

'When my daughter ran away from home yet again and I ended up at the police station for the 11th time, the officers advised me to take her to court.'

Madam Priyanut, a Thai who became a Singapore citizen more than 20 years ago, was then running two stalls at a food court in Bukit Panjang Plaza.

While she stayed at the shelter, she left the running of the business to her husband.

The older children could look after themselves, and she would occasionally go home to see them, or they would visit her and their sister at the shelter.

For the first six months, she volunteered to cook for the residents there.

After that, Mr Choo offered to pay for her services and she continued to work at the shelter for the next three years. Even when her daughter was discharged from the shelter after her two-year stint, Madam Priyanut stayed on.

She said: 'I grew attached to the girls at the home, and because I was cooking for them every day, I decided to stay.'

Over the years, she has become like a mother to some of the shelter's residents, who know her fondly as Aunty Noi.

She is particularly close to two sisters who came to the home about seven years ago, then aged 12 and 14. Their father had died and their mother was in jail for a drug offence. Their elder brother, then 17, physically abused them.

Said Madam Priyanut: 'When they came to the home, the elder girl immersed herself in her studies, while the younger girl was interested in cooking.

'I tried my best to teach her different recipes, with the hope that learning a new skill would help change her life.'

Job offer

In 2004, she decided to help the girl get a position as a kitchen assistant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel.

She recalled: 'I accompanied her there for the interview. But when the hotel's human resource manager found out that I had experience cooking and running a food business, she offered me a job too, as a chef at the hotel's Melt - The World Cafe.

'It was a bonus - two in one!'

Soon after she accepted the hotel job, she left the Andrew and Grace Home.

'As I wasn't working at the home any more, it wasn't right for me to keep staying there for free. I also wanted to spend more time with my family.'

But in 2007, her youngest daughter ended up in trouble with the law yet again.

Then 19, the girl was caught in the company of a group of boys who had run away from a boys' home.

She was also found in possession of a knife that had been used in an armed robbery earlier.

The girl was again sent to the Andrew and Grace Home, this time for a year.

Said Madam Priyanut: 'If my girl was not sent back to the home, I would probably not have returned as well.'

Madam Priyanut's daughter, now a sales assistant, told The New Paper: 'When I was younger, I resented my mother for not being at home enough.

'But now, I realise that she had her reasons, and when things got bad, she went the extra mile to be with me and see me through my most difficult days. Not every parent will come and stay with their child at the home.

'But she was always fair. She was strict with me the same way she was strict with the other girls. It was as if she didn't have just one daughter at the home, she had dozens.'

Mr Choo welcomed Madam Priyanut back, again offering her a room in the shelter while she continued to work at the Mandarin Oriental.

Service awards

During her time with the hotel, Madam Priyanut won several awards for exceptional service - once in 2006 and twice last year.

Yet, about two months ago, she decided to give up her hotel career to become a full-time trainer with the Andrew and Grace Home, for less than half of what she used to earn.

She declined to reveal how much she was getting.

Her daughter left the shelter more than a year ago, but Madam Priyanut stayed on.

Today, she is still in touch with the two sisters she had helped years ago.

The elder girl, Miss Devi Chandra, now 22, is a staff member at the home, while the younger girl, 20, is training to be a nurse.

Said Miss Devi: 'When we were down, Aunty Noi was always there to give us a hug. Through cooking, we learnt from her other life values as well, like discipline, hard work and not giving up.'

Madam Priyanut said it was fate that brought her back to the Andrew and Grace Home.

She said: 'The home has helped my daughter a lot, and it's time for me to help other girls.

'If I can look after one, why can't I look after 100?'

For the past two months, Madam Priyanut has been training the residents to cook and to run a professional kitchen.

Every morning, she guides them in preparing breakfast. Twice a week, she conducts cooking classes.

She also trains them in preparing food for public events, to raise funds for the home.

Said a 19-year-old resident, who is at the shelter for being beyond parental control: 'Aunty Noi's very patient and always has a listening ear for us. She's not only a teacher, she's a friend.'

Said Mr Choo: 'Not everyone can give up a high-paying hotel job to serve at a welfare organisation like ours.

'It takes a good heart like hers to make a difference in the girls' lives here.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.