In this 21st century, when is a person 'çlassified' as old? Presently, life expectancies for males and females in Spore are 79 and 82 years respectively. So, if one were to retire at age 62 which is the present official age limit, one will still have about 17 to 20 more years. This is a very long time till death, too long to stay inactive. There is the saying that 60 is the new 40 - doing so, one can start a 2nd career where possible. In my view, it is only through staying busy, keeping healthy and maintaining an engaging social network that one can look forward to age happily and gracefully.
One constraint though is the oppurtunity to start a 2nd career, after 62 years old. Much has been said on this topic, by - the government, the employers, the employees and the citizen. And yet the move to re-engage the elderly for more productive work has been super slow. Once reason perhaps is that the government is rather slow in doing exactly what it 'preaches'. Should this situation continue, I fear that more health problems will afflict the current batch of elderly in their 60s - they will be bored and from boredom will spawn political dissatisfactions and worse still cause dementia. By 2030, the population that is above 65 years old will be 1million (about 20% of Spore's population) then. I fear to fathom that day IF 30% of the 1 million people are diagnosed with dementia. 300,000 of 'mindless' soul in the country will definitely put a heavy strain on the country's healthcare budget then.
The government's Healthcare Plan 2020 has focused quite extensively on the eldercare sector, by pushing for more resources and building more facilities. The plan also linked this to the current HPB effort for healthy living, eating healthily and exercising regularly to stay fit.
To me, these are passive steps and efforts. Can one really be healthy when bored? I doubt so. The solution, in my view lies in raising the retirement age. What age???
For me, after 1 exciting career of close to 30 years in the construction industry, I wish to pursue another career in community and social services which I hope will be equally rewarding. I will try hard to secure the employment and hope to play an active part helping the elderly as I myself ages. Irregardless of what the government's next move is, I want to be a solution and not a problem.
Tuesday 20 March 2012
Monday 12 March 2012
Attitudes of the MRT commuters
Spore has the distinction of excelling in many areas, from best airport, most busy seaport, strong government, clean country to having a very reliable and efficient infrastructures. Except for the humid weather, we are almost 'perfect'? Far from it - the peoples' basic human courtesies is so very shocking.
We have become a people that is so focussed on oneself and instant gratifications that I find so many Sporeans self-centred, selfish and rude. Classics examples of these can be seen daily on the MRT trains. We have:-
> commuters who will just stand at the entrance and refuse to move to the centre, hence preventing more people from boarding;
> commuters, young and able-bodied ones who do not give up their seats to the old and the frail standing around them in the train;
> commuters who will just occupy the seats reserved for the less-abled, and who will pretend to sleep so as not to notice others more in need around them. Miraculously, such commuters know when to wake up to disembark;
> commuters who only focussed on their phone (and other accessories) even when boarding and in the process obstruct others behind from getting into the train.
In addition, we have the litter bugs who seemed to be everywhere, the kiasu hoarders in the food courts, the ungratefuls who are always not satisfied with what the government has done, the rude and arrogant who have no qualms about 'running down' other countries and their people and the 'show-offs' who flaunt their possessions.
The behaviours of many Sporeans are very atrocious. I wonder when and whether we will ever become a more gracious in our everday life. As a people, we will evolve. But whether we will be more gracious or less will depend very much on all of us, you and me. Lets each do our part......
Spore has the distinction of excelling in many areas, from best airport, most busy seaport, strong government, clean country to having a very reliable and efficient infrastructures. Except for the humid weather, we are almost 'perfect'? Far from it - the peoples' basic human courtesies is so very shocking.
We have become a people that is so focussed on oneself and instant gratifications that I find so many Sporeans self-centred, selfish and rude. Classics examples of these can be seen daily on the MRT trains. We have:-
> commuters who will just stand at the entrance and refuse to move to the centre, hence preventing more people from boarding;
> commuters, young and able-bodied ones who do not give up their seats to the old and the frail standing around them in the train;
> commuters who will just occupy the seats reserved for the less-abled, and who will pretend to sleep so as not to notice others more in need around them. Miraculously, such commuters know when to wake up to disembark;
> commuters who only focussed on their phone (and other accessories) even when boarding and in the process obstruct others behind from getting into the train.
In addition, we have the litter bugs who seemed to be everywhere, the kiasu hoarders in the food courts, the ungratefuls who are always not satisfied with what the government has done, the rude and arrogant who have no qualms about 'running down' other countries and their people and the 'show-offs' who flaunt their possessions.
The behaviours of many Sporeans are very atrocious. I wonder when and whether we will ever become a more gracious in our everday life. As a people, we will evolve. But whether we will be more gracious or less will depend very much on all of us, you and me. Lets each do our part......
Saturday 10 March 2012
Hypertension.
Attended a training course by Dr Koh Y H (HPB) on hypertension today (together with Siew Eng) at the Jalan Besar Community Club. Course was educational, Dr Koh was very engaging and food served (during the break) was just marvellous. Attendees were given 2 sets of questionaires (identical) to complete - 1 before the training course and the other after the course. The 2 sets of completed questionaires were then collected and later 'randomly' distributed back to the attendees for marking against the given set of answers. Marks were then tallied and the scores of each attendees (pre and post) were recorded. These 2 sets were then returned to each of the attendee.
Had a look at my sets returned - and was quite surprised to note arithmatic errors and incorrectly marked questions. Perhaps, considering the diverse background of the attendees, such is expected. However, as HPB expected that each of the attendees be able to perform the SHA role adequately when engaging the residents in the coming health events at the neighbourhoods, I just wonder whether such an expectation is realistic. As lives (health of the individual) are involved, it is prudent that the SHAs who volunteer for the events intended be 'validated' against a certain minimum base competency standard (for communications, CPR and.for the use of the Blood Pressure monitorng equipment). If not, HPB's reputation and lives (of the target clients) could be badly affected.
So, has the HPB's trust in each of the volunteers capabilities been over-simplified? I thinks so, but others could argue otherwise. Time will tell......we wait.
Attended a training course by Dr Koh Y H (HPB) on hypertension today (together with Siew Eng) at the Jalan Besar Community Club. Course was educational, Dr Koh was very engaging and food served (during the break) was just marvellous. Attendees were given 2 sets of questionaires (identical) to complete - 1 before the training course and the other after the course. The 2 sets of completed questionaires were then collected and later 'randomly' distributed back to the attendees for marking against the given set of answers. Marks were then tallied and the scores of each attendees (pre and post) were recorded. These 2 sets were then returned to each of the attendee.
Had a look at my sets returned - and was quite surprised to note arithmatic errors and incorrectly marked questions. Perhaps, considering the diverse background of the attendees, such is expected. However, as HPB expected that each of the attendees be able to perform the SHA role adequately when engaging the residents in the coming health events at the neighbourhoods, I just wonder whether such an expectation is realistic. As lives (health of the individual) are involved, it is prudent that the SHAs who volunteer for the events intended be 'validated' against a certain minimum base competency standard (for communications, CPR and.for the use of the Blood Pressure monitorng equipment). If not, HPB's reputation and lives (of the target clients) could be badly affected.
So, has the HPB's trust in each of the volunteers capabilities been over-simplified? I thinks so, but others could argue otherwise. Time will tell......we wait.
Friday 9 March 2012
If only I had known better.
I have just completed a 3 days short course on Dementia by Tsao Foundation. It is said that 1 person around the world is stricken by this disease every 7 seconds. In Singapore, the estimate is that the population afflicted by dementia will be trebled in 20 years time (from some 15,000 now to abt 45,000 then).
People afflicted by dementia appear physically normal - just that their brains are progressively wasting away. They are literally 'handicapped' in their brains, something that cannot be seen. Hence, there have been much misunderstanding about the elderly afflicted with this disease, with others treating them as mad, crazy, abusive, violent, et cetra. There is just so little education and publicity about the disease to the general public. This dreaded disease strikes at random and at present cannot be cured, though the deterioration of the brain function can be delayed through medication if detected early.
My mother is a dementia sufferer, for the past 6 years. I have seen the deterioration of her mental functions through this period from early stage dementia to present, where she is literally in her own world oblivious of the surrounding and people (all her family members). It's so sad to see her slowly losing her own identity and self..
I have a much better understanding of dementia now, and IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN BETTER before the onset of this disease, I would have done things differently. What? How? ???????? Too late to regret.
With a better understanding of the disease, I will share the knowledge with all my siblings especially my 2 brothers who are staying with her. We will put in more effort to improve her quality of life, through more interactions, attention and much much more love. I always treasure the times I spend with her, every 3 weeks in PJ. I look forward to seeing her again on my next trip in 2 weeks time.
I have just completed a 3 days short course on Dementia by Tsao Foundation. It is said that 1 person around the world is stricken by this disease every 7 seconds. In Singapore, the estimate is that the population afflicted by dementia will be trebled in 20 years time (from some 15,000 now to abt 45,000 then).
People afflicted by dementia appear physically normal - just that their brains are progressively wasting away. They are literally 'handicapped' in their brains, something that cannot be seen. Hence, there have been much misunderstanding about the elderly afflicted with this disease, with others treating them as mad, crazy, abusive, violent, et cetra. There is just so little education and publicity about the disease to the general public. This dreaded disease strikes at random and at present cannot be cured, though the deterioration of the brain function can be delayed through medication if detected early.
My mother is a dementia sufferer, for the past 6 years. I have seen the deterioration of her mental functions through this period from early stage dementia to present, where she is literally in her own world oblivious of the surrounding and people (all her family members). It's so sad to see her slowly losing her own identity and self..
I have a much better understanding of dementia now, and IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN BETTER before the onset of this disease, I would have done things differently. What? How? ???????? Too late to regret.
With a better understanding of the disease, I will share the knowledge with all my siblings especially my 2 brothers who are staying with her. We will put in more effort to improve her quality of life, through more interactions, attention and much much more love. I always treasure the times I spend with her, every 3 weeks in PJ. I look forward to seeing her again on my next trip in 2 weeks time.
Wednesday 7 March 2012
My very first blog
Well, after so much procrastination I have overcomed the inertial and am now writing this very first blog.
Since my retirement from a engineering consultancy company some 2 and a half years back, I have explored the many options of life, of how I want to spend my remaining time. Whether to continue with the pursuit of material gains or to seek a 'higher' sense of self satisfaction. The former is an endless pursuit, whilst the latter allows one to achieve the higher hiearchachy of satisfaction. To reach this, my innate self tells me to seek ways to contribute back to the community. After much soul searching, I have enrolled in a Community and Social Services (Elder Care) course in which I hope to play a positive role (and not a burden) in theageing population of Singapore. Its real scary to look at the statistics of how quickly the population ages, made worse by the numerous chronic diseases that can inflict all.
I am a 'newbie' in this field and have much to learn, and I do look forward to how I can contribute better after the course.
Since my retirement from a engineering consultancy company some 2 and a half years back, I have explored the many options of life, of how I want to spend my remaining time. Whether to continue with the pursuit of material gains or to seek a 'higher' sense of self satisfaction. The former is an endless pursuit, whilst the latter allows one to achieve the higher hiearchachy of satisfaction. To reach this, my innate self tells me to seek ways to contribute back to the community. After much soul searching, I have enrolled in a Community and Social Services (Elder Care) course in which I hope to play a positive role (and not a burden) in theageing population of Singapore. Its real scary to look at the statistics of how quickly the population ages, made worse by the numerous chronic diseases that can inflict all.
I am a 'newbie' in this field and have much to learn, and I do look forward to how I can contribute better after the course.
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