Engaging the Elderly

        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.