To give you an idea of how the island nation appreciates its seniors, an active ageing festival, organized and funded by the Council for Third Age (C3A), is held every year from August to November. That’s FOUR months of the year, not a 2-day weekend one-off obligatory programme as is the case in most places. 
Public events aside, there are several NPOs (non-profit organizations) in Singapore that were set up to help senior citizens in areas like health, employment, life-long education, community service and counselling. Besides C3A and RSVP, there is the Singapore Action Group of Elders (SAGE), Tsao Foundation, Healthy Ageing Association, Centre for Seniors, Women’s Initiative for Ageing Successfully (Wings) and the Gerontological Society of Singapore.
The government, on their part, has set up the Senior Citizen Network. It has 339 Senior Citizens’ Executive Committees with more than 5,000 volunteers who organise wholesome activities for senior residents. Other initiatives aimed at helping the elderly with their problems include the Committee on Ageing Issues, and the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents. It has also passed into law the Maintenance of Parents Act and the Retirement Act. In 2004, the government introduced a grandparent caregiver tax relief of S$3,000 if an unemployed grandparent looks after a grandchild on a regular basis.
In January 2008 the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) launched the Silver Community Test-Bed Programme to encourage companies to develop elderly-friendly products based on functionality, viability and affordability. In August 5 companies were awarded grants of S$500,000 to develop the prototype of their winning inventions for testing over the next 6-12 months.
Recognizing that the silver (grey-haired) tsunami will soon hit every country, academic institutions here in Singapore are eager to get involved. The Singapore Management University recently kicked off their new Centre for Silver Securities with a seminar on “The Future of Silver Security: Coping with Crisis and Uncertainty”. Believe it or not, there’s even a bona fide college for seniors. More than 800 seniors have graduated from the YAH! Community College. YAH stands for Young-At-Heart. Electives include singing, yoga and traditional medicine.
And that’s not all. There’s a magazine “PRIME” targeted at those over 45, a social club for seniors called the Silverhairs Club, a seniors’ drama group called The Glowers and a matchmaking club for singles over 40! A few weeks ago, the country held its first job fair for over-40s. More than 600 vacancies were available in the retail, food and beverage, services and healthcare sectors, among others.
Every year, C3A honours seniors over 60 who are an inspiration to fellow seniors by awarding them the title of Active Ageing Ambassadors. This year’s seven winners include 61-year old Chua Chye Hong, an avid environmentalist and advocate of recycling; 70-year old Mdm Krishnavani, founder of the dance group Golden Gals for women over 40, and 69-year old Tang Wing Kee, community leader and certified inline skating coach.
It helps that Singapore’s Minister Mentor and first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, 85, is a strong advocate of active ageing. With him as a role model, it is no wonder that the country places such a premium on active ageing.
Our folks in Putrajaya, I hope you are taking notes.
Your surname FU hints at dialect group -Hainanese. Mine is spelled POH but in Chinese it’s FU too.
There are many seniors in Singapore who are toiling away in menial jobs. What are their children doing to ease their parents’ lives in their golden years?
Thank you for your comment, Roger. This is a problem that needs to be tackled from all angles. There’s just not enough focus on senior issues, more so in Malaysia than in Singapore. That is why we seniors should look out for each other. It is not easy to find resources and people who will take up the cause. But I’m optimistic. Perhaps you would like to put in some recommendations for consideration?
Recently HDB introduced Wilson Parking next to AMK Library. In the process a few public lots near the Library were reassigned for parking taxis.As a result elderly hv to walk further to visit. I think there should be some thoughts to the aged when introducing new systems.
I would further suggest that as far as possible some pay lots to be allocated to the aged near public institutions.
I wrote to HDB and the reply is disappointing