Ageing is a blessing, says chief of S’pore’s Silver Generation Office

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SINGAPORE – Stereotypes about military men abound, and they are often not very flattering. Rigid, bureaucratic, unimaginative, boring and humourless are but some words that come to mind.

 

These adjectives, however, do not apply to Mr Sng Hock Lin, who spent almost three decades in the army. The former colonel is anything but stiff; he is self-deprecating, quick to laugh and has a knack for making people – especially seniors – feel comfortable.

 

It probably explains why he is chief of the Silver Generation Office (SGO). The outreach arm of the Agency for Integrated Care, it is responsible for engaging seniors on government policies, active ageing programmes, befriending, care and support services.

 

The 54-year-old has the chops for the job, too.

 

In May, he completed his PhD in gerontology – the multidisciplinary study of ageing and older adults – at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), following his master’s degree in gerontology from the same university in 2015.

 

The doctorate, which looks at ways to help seniors adhere to exercise, took him nearly six years to complete and is the latest in a string of degrees he has obtained over the years. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from NTU, a master’s in transportation systems from NUS, as well as a master’s in training and development from Australia’s Griffith University.

 

Mr Sng has also attended various courses in leadership and logistics at the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College and SAF Military Institute as well as the Army Logistics University in Virginia, US.

 

Interestingly, he paid for most of the non-military-related courses out of his own pocket.

 

“I did them because I didn’t want to be a frog in the well, knowing only army stuff. Also, I like to study,” he says.

 

His background is as fascinating as his personality. He is the eldest of four children, and his parents eked a living selling vegetables at the former Ellenborough Market.

 

“They worked every day except for the first day of Chinese New Year,” he recalls.

 

Together with his paternal grandmother and two uncles, the family lived in a rental flat in Jalan Minyak. Mr Sng slept on a mattress in the living room. To save space, they would fill biscuit tins with cement and position a foldable canvas bed on top.

 

“It became a double bunk bed because you could use the space below for sleeping,” he says with a chortle.

 

He adored his grandmother, who looked after him and his siblings while his parents worked. The two became closer when she fell ill.

 

“I was only 10 or 11 then, but because the adults were working, and I was the eldest grandson, I became her walking stick. I was always the one who took her to hospital,” he recalls.

 

“I didn’t know it then, but it was caregiving. I learnt to navigate the hospital system – which doctor to see, how to pay, how to get medication from the pharmacy.”

 

His love for his grandmother led him to develop empathy and a deep affection for the elderly, and was instrumental in making him study gerontology while he was still in the army. More about that later.

 

After she died when he was 14, the former student of Pearl’s Hill School and Tanglin Technical School fell into bad company. He’d play hooky, hang out at Far East Plaza and get involved in fights. He recalls a scuffle where several gang members kept kicking a man even after he was down on the ground.

 

“I was thinking to myself, ‘One day, it will be my turn.’ I also felt that if I continued to hang out with these people, my late grandmother would have been so heartbroken,” he says.

 

After completing his A levels at Anglo-Chinese Junior College, he applied for the Singapore Armed Forces’ Academic Training Award, which paid for his mechanical engineering course at NTU in 1990 and gave him a monthly salary. A university education would not have been possible otherwise, as his father was diagnosed with throat cancer then.

 

“He was a heavy smoker and didn’t rest much,” Mr Sng says, adding that his father died three months after the diagnosis.

 

His mother took over the vegetable stall the very next day. “Before that, she was just helping him at the stall. She knew nothing about finance then, but she learnt day by day and just continued the business.”

 

During his undergraduate days, he would help out at the stall on weekends, cleaning vegetables that they supplied to zi char stalls.

 

“If you don’t store them properly, the veggies would turn black. My strongest memory of my father is of me applying ointment to the holes on his hands because he touched a lot of soil and pesticide.”

 

His mother finally stopped working when Ellenborough Market was demolished to make way for redevelopment in the 1990s.

 

Mr Sng started out as an infantry officer in the army before joining the artillery division, where he stayed for 10 years. One highlight was leading the trial team for the Pegasus, a lightweight, helicopter-transportable howitzer jointly developed by the Singapore Armed Forces, Defence Science and Technology Agency and ST Kinetics in the mid-2000s.

 

He switched to military logistics in 2005 as it was evolving rapidly at that time, transforming processes such as troop movement and resource coordination to enhance the capability and sustainability of military operations.

 

Over the next decade, he made his mark in the field. Among other things, he was involved in large-scale international events such as the International Monetary Fund-World Bank meetings held in Singapore in 2006. He was also the director of logistics and finance for the inaugural Singapore Youth Olympic Games in 2010, which involved 3,600 athletes and 16,000 participants as well as diverse stakeholders.

 

He also played a key role in setting up the army’s Supply Hub, centralising inventory management for military equipment and vehicles to boost efficiency and operational readiness.

 

In 2015, he became commander of the Army Logistics Training Institute, which he revamped with modern adult learning techniques, a refreshed curriculum and the latest training technology. 

 

Notably, he forged partnerships with the Institute of Technical Education, polytechnics and SUSS to offer courses such as logistics, building a network to equip soldiers with future-ready skills. His dedication and innovative efforts earned him the Public Sector Transformation Award in 2019.

 

Once, he drove to a construction site and recognised the security guard as his former encik, or warrant officer, who had medical issues and was earning just $800 a month. The encounter left him feeling sad but motivated to introduce workplace learning for soldiers.

 

“Enciks have a lot of skills but not certificates,” he says.

 

By that time, Mr Sng had also developed an interest in gerontology, which led him to study for a master’s degree in the subject in 2015. This passion was sparked during a six-month course at the Army Logistics University in Virginia. 

 

“When I was there, I really missed my grandma’s food. I asked myself why I felt that way and realised that I still missed her very much. That was when I started thinking about how else I could contribute. I’ve served the nation and defended the country, so maybe I should help our ageing population.”

 

The timing was perfect, as SUSS had just started a course in gerontology. As part of his coursework, he volunteered at active ageing centres, conducting exercises for seniors and coordinating trips to places like the Botanic Gardens.

 

“My logistics experience came in handy because we had to cater to so many different needs,” says Mr Sng, who bagged the Alice Lim Memorial Fund Gold Award for graduating top of his cohort.

 

In 2019, he left the army and took on the role of deputy and later chief of ActiveSG, a free sports membership programme for Singaporeans and permanent residents.

 

He co-created and launched the Active Ageing initiative, focusing on collaborations and technology to promote ways for people to stay physically, mentally and socially engaged as they grow older. To encourage seniors to exercise, he proposed free entry to swimming pools and gyms for elderly Singaporeans, and also proposed incentive schemes, including stipends, to boost senior volunteerism.

 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, he led “Operation Sayang” to convert ActiveSG sports centres into dormitories to provide accommodation and community support for migrant workers. Although it took some deliberation, he was glad he agreed when he was approached to head the SGO in January 2023.

 

“Seniors and ageing is a subject close to my heart. Maybe it was also the right time,” Mr Sng says.

 

Indeed, Singapore’s population is ageing rapidly. One in four citizens will be aged 65 and above by 2030. To empower seniors and improve their quality of life in their golden years, the Ministry of Health is allocating $800 million over five years for active ageing centres to expand their outreach and increase the range and quality of programmes.

 

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung recently announced that $100 million will be allocated to more than 200 active ageing centres in the 2024 fiscal year, up from the $60 million disbursed to 157 centres in FY2023.

 

Mr Sng finds deep meaning in his work at the agency, where he engages seniors to assess their social, financial and psychological well-being, recommending interventions when necessary.

 

“It’s a privilege because we’re the only organisation allowed into a senior’s home to hear their stories. Visiting three homes a night makes me 200 years wiser,” he quips, noting that the SGO connects face-to-face with about 250,000 seniors each year.

 

“The thing about ageing is losing your roles,” he explains. “When you retire, you lose your work role. When your kids grow up, you face an empty nest. Then you start losing friends, your spouse, and you find yourself alone,” says the father of 23-year-old twins.

 

The challenge is to give seniors purpose, like serving and helping others.

 

“It’s about what matters to you, not what’s the matter with you,” Mr Sng says.

 

One of his goals is to promote volunteerism across different segments of the population, from seniors to youth and medical students.

 

“The target is to increase the number of Silver Guardians from 200 now to 2,400 by 2028,” he says, referring to the new volunteer programme launched in April 2024 to help seniors age actively.

 

Ageing is a blessing, says Mr Sng, who sits on the advisory boards of Singapore Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic and SUSS.

 

“Not everyone gets to age. It’s not a liability; it spells possibility. Much of it is mindset, so the right mindset must be instilled from a young age.” 

 

He strongly believes in the continuity theory, which states that older adults maintain the same behaviours and personalities as they did in the past. 

 

“If you’re positive when you’re young, you’ll stay positive when you’re old.”

 

The one lesson he will carry with him through the years?

 

“Untie your knots as you grow old: Forgive and forget. If you tie too many knots, you may not have time to untie them when you’re older.”

 

 

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Reproduced with permission.

 

 

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