Does Singapore have what it takes to look after the elderly?
Published on
13 Apr 2024
Published by
The Straits Times
The demand for suitable care solutions for seniors has become more pressing as the Singapore population ages and familial dynamics change.
Beyond housing and healthcare, there is a growing recognition of the need for holistic support that addresses the physical, emotional and social well-being of seniors, as ST’s Jessica Novia finds out.
From family care to future care: Do we have what it takes to look after older S’poreans?
The narrative of growing old in Singapore goes something like this: marrying and having children who will then take care of you when you can no longer take care of yourself.
If and when that is not possible, they will check you into a nursing home or hospice where you will stay until you die.
This “traditional” approach to eldercare in Singapore is called “ageing in place”. This philosophy emphasises enabling seniors to remain in their own homes and communities as they age, and delay moving them into institutional care facilities for as long as possible.
What seniors want: I don’t want to die alone
I have five children – three sons and two daughters. One son died in 2020. My husband, who died in 1981, was a civil servant. When my children were young, we lived in an attap house in Jalan Afifi at Paya Lebar.
When I was younger, I worked as a confinement nanny for the female employees of Ban Hin Lee Bank (which went on to merge with other banks to form CIMB). I was also a babysitter.
In my 50s, I moved out of the attap house to a four-room flat in Sims Drive. That house is under my son’s name.
What seniors want: I want caregivers who care
I used to work in advertising and was Italian luxury giant Salvatore Ferragamo’s first Asian retail director for all its European stores. I was based in Florence.
I live with my domestic helper of 10 years in a three-bedroom apartment along Jervois Road, bought with my husband – an English film-maker – who suddenly died in 2011. It is full of memorabilia and furniture collected from living abroad over the years.
I have three children in their 50s: a son living in Australia, a daughter in the United Kingdom and another son living in the United States.
What seniors want: I want to go back to my own home
I moved into my one-bedroom flat at Kampung Admiralty in 2019. Previously, I lived in Pandan Gardens in a two-bedroom apartment. I was a clinic assistant at Singapore General Hospital and I retired in my 60s.
My late husband, who died 26 years ago, was a corporal in the Singapore Army. I have two daughters, aged 54 and 60. One of my daughters is staying close by. I have five grandchildren, and a two-year-old great-grandchild.
I prefer staying by myself because there is more freedom. I am quite a fussy person. Even if I do stay with my children, I would keep to myself. I want to watch television in my own room.
What seniors want: I want to be looked after
I am the youngest of four siblings. I am single. I was living in an executive maisonette in Tampines with my siblings. When my siblings passed on one by one, I lived alone for 2½ years.
When they were alive, my siblings and my mother cared for me. They did all the paperwork, and bought food for me. I’ve never even had to handle cash. Living alone was like doing national service, I had to learn how to cook and really take care of myself.
I used to work as a sales assistant. Due to health issues, I decided to retire in my early 30s and recuperate at home. My room was on the second floor, and I had to climb up and down the stairs every single day. I had the tendency to fall off the stairs. It happened four to five times. My friends told me it was dangerous.
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Reproduced with permission.
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