Speech by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Health, at C3A’s Inaugural Positive Ageing Conference, 30 September 2015

Mdm Chua Foo Yong, Chairman, Council for Third Age

Ladies and Gentlemen

1.            A very good afternoon to all. I am happy to join you here today for this inaugural Positive Ageing Conference, and the launch of your latest initiative - the Positive Ageing Toolkit.

Introduction

2.            As we celebrate Singapore’s Golden Jubilee this year, we can be thankful for the many achievements we have attained as a nation over the past 50 years. Public health is one of them. 50 years ago, Singaporeans’ life expectancy was just over 60 years; today, Singaporeans can expect to live on average to over 80 years old. The good news is, even as our life span has increased, Singaporeans are enjoying more years of their lives in good health.

3.         So ageing need not be feared. Instead of worrying about ageing, we should all celebrate longevity and plan ahead to enjoy life and pursue our aspirations within our longer years of life.

Action Plan for Successful Ageing

4.         For over a year, the Ministerial Committee on Ageing has engaged thousands of Singaporeans to hear their aspirations and ideas on successful ageing. The numerous ideas and suggestions have culminated in a new Action Plan for Successful Ageing for Singapore. The Action Plan includes 60 initiatives spanning 12 areas to develop Singapore into a Nation for All Ages, and a model for successful ageing in Asia.

5.         Our Plan aims to achieve three key objectives.  First, we want to create Opportunities for All Ages. A set of initiatives will be launched to open up new opportunities for seniors to learn, work and seek new meaning in life through being involved in community development. For instance, we are launching a National Silver Academy to offer a wider range of learning opportunities than what is available now. Through our network of education institutions and voluntary welfare organisations, as well as community organisations, we aim to offer more than 30,000 learning places for seniors by 2030. I understand that C3A launched some free courses earlier this year. Since then, they have more than 5,400 seniors taking up the learning places. We are very encouraged by this and we look forward to seniors coming on board when we launch the National Silver Academy.  We are also starting a national movement of senior volunteerism to enable another 50,000 seniors to give back to society through volunteerism.

6.         Next, we want to create a Kampong for All Ages. We want Singapore to be a society where the young loves and respects our older members. We want to develop communities of care to support our seniors to age in place. Together with the People’s Association, we plan to provide a free PAssion Silver Card to honour all Singaporeans aged 60 and above with privileges at participating companies and organisations. We will also co-locate some of our eldercare and childcare facilities in the new HDB towns to provide more opportunities for young and old to interact.

7.         Lastly, we plan to make hardware improvements in our housing estates, parks and transport networks so as to transform our island into a senior-friendly City for All Ages, where Singaporeans can age confidently in place. We are making our transport system safer and more accessible for seniors through features like intuitive signage. We will also build new Active Ageing Hubs to provide active ageing programmes for active and ambulant seniors, as well as assisted living services like housekeeping and day rehabilitation for seniors who may require more support and care. 

Positive Ageing and Personal Choice

8.         A Nation for All Ages needs to be built by everyone. Our seniors are the best ambassadors of what we aspire for.  Let me cite an example - Ms Lim Kim Eng, who is 64 and a retired accountant. She is still actively engaged in learning, and is currently participating in several courses coordinated by C3A. She picked up yoga two years ago on her own and now wants to take up a formal course to learn advanced yoga techniques. In the process, she has also learned new IT skills. Ms Lim is also an active volunteer in the community and intends to use the handicraft skills she acquired to teach others, especially the less fortunate.  And we have seen many other seniors just like Ms Lim.

Positive Ageing Toolkit

9.         We need to continue our efforts to grow active and positive ageing into a larger movement in every community.  In this regard, I am pleased that C3A has developed a Positive Ageing toolkit to help seniors or third agers discover themselves and make their own choices for their positive ageing journey. I understand this Do-It-Yourself toolkit covers the 7 important dimensions of wellness which are the physical, intellectual, social, emotional, financial, vocational, and spiritual aspects. Through the exercises, we can discover our wellness level across these 7 aspects of ageing, and also explore ways to strengthen areas of weaknesses. The more we understand ourselves, the better we are able to seek out opportunities available to help us age well and meaningfully.

10.         The joint effort of individuals, the community and government is necessary to foster a society that enables seniors to age confidently, gracefully and positively. So let us all work together to achieve this. 

11.         I wish you a fruitful and enjoyable conference.

12.         Thank you.