About one in four Singaporeans will be aged 65 and above by 2030. This group of seniors is expected to live healthier and longer. Efforts are being enhanced with active ageing being a key pillar in Singapore’s Healthier SG strategy of preventive care so that seniors are able to age gracefully and live well in their communities, stated Tan Kwang Cheak, Chief Executive of the Agency for Integrated Care.
Residents are used to seeing 72-year-old Shue Teng Lee ride his bicycle along quiet Pipit Road in MacPherson twice a day during lunch and dinner, around the neighbourhood with packets of food for 10 to 15 families hung on his bicycle handles.
Mr. Shue stated that delivering food to seniors provided him with the opportunity to check on their well-being and safety as he recalled instances where he would go to deliver dinner to a household and see that the lunch packet was still hanging uneaten on the door handle. He would then check to see if everything was ok or alert the centre to send a staff member there. Mr. Shue said that he took on this micro job since he feels that he is so fortunate to be able-bodied, and has a happy life, so he feels that he should help others.
Mr. Shue is one of the forty-seven seniors who took advantage of the micro-jobs offered at active ageing centres by Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities. It is a project that recruits healthy and active seniors to take on simple community-based tasks such as medication reminders to other seniors and delivering meals and the seniors are given a small allowance of $1 for each medicine reminder or food delivery. Active ageing centres that provide a range of services such as activities to support seniors and keep them engaged within the community are located in residential estates around Singapore.
By 2025, the number of active ageing centres is set to increase from the present 119 to 220, with some centres coming up with more activities for seniors to spend their days meaningfully, reducing social isolation.
The micro jobs project was launched by THKMC in January 2023 with the aim of empowering seniors to continue earning some income, doing some form of work and retaining their sense of purpose after retiring.
TEO Wen Yao, Human Resources business partner for THKMC said that as we move into becoming a super-aged society, this permits us to supply additional manpower for senior care services in the silver economy, and it will increase the capacity of what can do with the involvement of the seniors.
The project plans to add more micro jobs for seniors such as planning activities in the active ageing centres or being a medical escort to those who need to travel for appointments.
Madam Green Lilian Janet, another senior aged 83 delivers meals to stay active. Although apprehensive at first she plucked up the courage to try, and now delivers food thrice a week, preferring to hand carry the packets as she finds using a trolley troublesome when she has to use the stairs. She also enjoys chatting with the seniors and making new friends she comes across during her deliveries and finds most of them very kind and appreciative of what she does.
Singapore is ageing, and the public must take a stake in the plan for successful ageing by participating in it along with the government, community partners and corporates working hand in hand.
