Speech By Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister For Health & Chairman, Ministerial Committee For Ageing, At The Launch Of The Passion Silver Concession Card

Invited Guests and Residents,

          Good evening. I am very happy to join all of you this evening at this PAssion Silver Night, and the launch of the PAssion Silver Concession Card.

Celebrating Ageing

2.      Singaporeans are living longer and longer. It is important that we help our seniors enjoy their longevity.  Living longer is a good thing, if we can stay healthy and active, and have things to look forward to every day. Therefore, earlier this year, the government launched the Action Plan for Successful Ageing to help all our citizens age well. This Action Plan, with over 70 initiatives across 12 areas, aims to give our seniors more learning and work opportunities, to build a more cohesive and caring community to support our seniors, and to create a more senior friendly city that can enable our seniors to stay active and age well in place.

PAssion Silver

3.      This new PAssion Silver Concession Card is one of the key initiatives under the Action Plan. This Card is specially created for our seniors. It is a 2-in-1 card – with this card, eligible seniors will be able to enjoy senior citizen concessionary fares on public transport, as well as discounts and privileges at participating merchants. So with just one card, it is easy to go “jalan-jalan” and you can also come to our community centres to learn new things with friends too.

4.      The Card not only supports active ageing, it also rallies our community to show respect, love and support for our seniors. There are over 1,000 PAssion merchant outlets offering discounts in dining, wellness, travel and more for seniors who hold this Passion Silver card. Many of them are also offering additional benefits for seniors. I encourage you to take advantage of the offers, stay active, and enjoy with your friends and loved ones.

5.      All Singaporeans age 60 years and above will be eligible for this card. For those who are already above 60 years old and already using the purple travel concession card, you will get the new Passion Silver Concession Card mailed to you – no need to apply. You can then activate this new PAssion Silver Concession Card at selected MRT stations, bus interchanges and Community Centres (CCs) – just bring along your old purple card and NRIC. For those who are turning 60 years old, you will get a letter to ask you to apply for the card. So, there is no need to rush.

6.      I would like to thank all the merchants that have participated in this, as well as the Singapore Business Federation for their support in helping us reach out to businesses and trade associations. It is great to see so many different organisations coming together to show respect and love to our seniors, each in their own way.

7.      I hope that with this Card, more seniors can be encouraged to go out, have fun, learn new things and enjoy life. I also hope that over time, more and more businesses and organisations can come onboard this movement. Together, we can be a Nation of All Ages where our seniors can age happily and positively.   

8.      To end off, I’d like to say a few words in Mandarin:  

大家晚上好！吃饱没 ? (Hokkien)

我很高兴能够出席今晚的百盛之夜。今天在场我看到很多年轻人 - 有小孩子，也有上了年纪的朋友。他们虽然年纪大，可是心境还是很年轻的。的确，我们的人民的寿命越来越长。长寿是件好事。 我们也不要担心变老。只要日子过得健康，过得快乐，那年龄只是一个数字。今天政府特地推出一张新的百盛乐龄优惠车资卡。 有了这张卡，乐龄朋友不单能享有公共交通优惠车资，同时又可享有一千多家商店所提供的一系列特惠和优惠折扣。我们希望更多乐龄朋友可以保持活跃， 健康，快乐。 总之，欢喜就好 (Hokkien)!