Speech by Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Parliamentary Secretary for Health, at the AWWA 4th Silver Sports Day 2013, 27 September 2013

Mr Tim Oei,
CEO, AWWA

Dr Ang Kiam Wee,
ITE College Central Principal

Mr Keith Lee,
Director, AWWA Elderly Services

Senior athletes, family and friends

            Good morning!

2.            I am happy and excited to be here today at the AWWA 4^th Silver Sports Day 2013. It is heartening to see so many senior athletes here this morning. This is a positive sign that active ageing is taking root. I have been told that the number of senior participants has doubled from 200 in 2010 to 400 this year and that today’s event has been planned and organised by seniors from AWWA Elderly Services. This is commendable and I would like to encourage you to keep up the good work.

3.            Indeed, it is important to keep healthy while we age. Even as we age, we can maintain our functionality by leading a healthy lifestyle I would like to suggest three easy ways we can lead a healthy lifestyle.

4.            First, exercise. The fact that you are here this morning shows that you already recognise the benefits of exercising. Exercising helps us to keep fit and we can start by finding simple exercises that we enjoy doing. Just take our emcee for today, Mdm Ho Sau Lain, as an example. She is in her early eighties but still leads an active lifestyle. She exercises and dances twice a week at the local community facilities. It is indeed inspiring to see her so energetic, even taking on the role of emcee for today’s event. We can all learn from Mdm Ho.

5.            The Government recognises the benefits of exercising for our seniors and has various programmes to support this. Exercising is one of the key pillars of the Wellness Programme promoted by the People’s Association since 2008. Singapore Sports Council is also building Super Sports Clubs across Singapore to make it easier for everyone, including seniors, to enjoy sports. The Club is now being piloted in the Western region of Singapore and will be progressively implemented in the remaining parts of the island.

6.            Secondly, eat healthy. It is certainly difficult to eat healthy when there is so much good food around us. But we can start slow and change our dietary preferences bit by bit. The Health Promotion Board is trying to make this easy for us when we eat out by getting food stalls in hawker centres, food court and even schools to serve healthier food choices.  So start by taking less sugar with your kopi and choose brown rice instead of white rice.

7.            Thirdly, go for health screening early. Early health screening helps to pick up illnesses early when they are easier to manage. Screening can also pick up individuals who have a high risk of developing a condition. With proper management, many high-risk individuals can turn their lives around and prevent the onset of sickness. There are many available screening resources now. For example, People’s Association conducts health screening sessions for seniors under the Wellness programme where the cost can be as low as $2.

8.            However, screening in itself is not sufficient. We also need to follow up with our doctors if the screening results show a high risk or condition that we need to pay attention to. So if you have not been screened already, do plan to go for one soon and remember to follow up.

9.            So if we exercise, eat healthy and get screened early, I am sure that we can stay healthy and age gracefully. We can avoid sickness and spend more quality time with our loved ones. The senior athletes here today have set an example for us. Let us continue to make active ageing part of our lives like them.

10.         Before I end, I want to take this opportunity to thank the organisers – AWWA Elderly Services and ITE College Central – for providing a platform like this to encourage our seniors to maintain an active lifestyle, and also the various organizations and volunteers who supported this event. Most importantly, I want to thank the senior athletes for your participation.

11.         Without further ado, let the games begin! Have a great time, everyone!