PLAN FOR YOUR GOLDEN YEARS

THE Committee on Ageing Issues presented its five-year master plan to make Singapore elder-friendly in housing, access, healthcare and eldercare services. The recommendations are aimed at helping our baby boomers grow old yet live fun and fulfilling lives.

This calls to mind my grandfather’s life after he retired as a civil service clerk in the 1960s. Not contented with living a sedentary life, he applied for a licence to be a pasar malam hawker selling textiles. On three weekdays and during the weekends, he would go to rural areas to set up his stall. During the day, he took up a course in Tamil studies. My childhood was filled with memories of watching him write beautiful Tamil characters in recycled exercise books. Each morning, he would wake up at 5am and walk from North Bridge Road near the Sultan Mosque to the National Stadium and back.

In 1978, when all street hawkers were relocated to hawker centres, he decided to open a stall, above the Golden Mile hawker centre, selling toiletries to army boys. Noticing that many Thai workers visited his shop, he began to learn Thai at the age of 80. Every year, he would join the New Nation Big Walk and he would be one of the oldest participants to finish the race.

Every month, he would join activities organised by the National Library. They would go on excursions to factories, the airport and other places of interest.

At 86, he announced that he was going to Haadyai. I asked him what he intended to do there, and he deadpanned that he was going there for a Thai massage.

My grandfather did not wait for any government recommendation, handout or programme to lead an active and fulfilling life. He took matters into his own hands and decided that he was not going to wait for death. Instead, he continued to live an active life for another 40 years after he retired at 55.

We, the baby boomers, should reflect on how we should prepare ourselves for the next stage in our journey of life. Although the Government can come up with the best facilities to make Singapore the ideal place to retire in, only by taking individual responsibility can we prepare adequately for our old age.

There are many ways to do so, but I recommend the following activities.

Firstly, we have to keep abreast of current affairs and be aware of what is happening around us. I felt sad to know that some senior citizens who had taken up a course on the Internet were cheated of their life savings in the Nigerian email scam, which is well-known among Internet users.

Secondly, we should not wait for the proverbial apple to fall from the sky before we do anything. Too often, I see senior citizens waiting patiently at home for their children to return before they would do anything. I know many others who seek out activities to join, courses to take and skills to master. Doing so will keep our minds alive, and might even prevent the onset of dementia and other old-age diseases.

Lastly, we should change our mindset towards old age and how we handle ourselves as we push beyond 60. With better nutrition and medical services, we can keep ourselves healthy, and with
proper medical advice we should be able to manage a wide range of activities not normally associated with the elderly.

For example, when my sixth child turns 21 and I hit 63, I plan to travel around the world with a backpack. I am also saving up for a Harley Davidson and hope that I will be able to use it for another 15 to 20 years after I retire.

I also plan to continue studying, and make sure that I remain attractive for my husband. (I have learnt from some older ladies that an active sex life is the best way to keep our bodies in prime condition.) We baby boomers must grow up and take responsibility for our lives. While welcoming the active role that the Government has taken in looking after the ageing population, we have to take some steps of our own to ensure that we do not revert to our infancy.

This article first appeared in TODAY on 13th March 2006.