Speech by Mr Chee Hong Tat, Minister of State for Health, at the Singapore-Finland “Creating Solutions for Active Ageing Together” Seminar, 27 April 2017

Ms Pirkko Mattila, Minister of Social Affairs and Health of Finland,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Good morning.

1.         I am pleased to join all of you for this morning’s Singapore-Finland “Creating Solutions for Active Ageing Together” seminar.

SINGAPORE-FINLAND RELATIONS

2.         Singapore enjoys friendly relations with Finland and we have regular exchanges, including health. I believe today’s seminar will see a fruitful discussion and exchange of ideas on some of the common challenges that our two countries face and how these can be addressed, as our healthcare companies and professionals collaborate to find joint solutions in these areas.

AGEING IN SINGAPORE

3.         As Minister Mattila mentioned earlier, both Singapore and Finland face rapidly ageing populations. Indeed, in Singapore, today we have about 470,000 seniors aged 65 years and above. By 2030, we anticipate that this will increase to 900,000 seniors. In other words, 1 out of 4 will be aged 65 years or older. Though our geography are different, I believe that there are many common challenges faced by both.

4.          In our preparation for an ageing population, what is important is not to view ageing in a pessimistic way. Ageing is inevitable, but how do we age? Do we age actively and happily, or do we age in a depressing way? It makes a difference. One of the things that we want to do, is to help our citizens achieve purposeful longevity. We want ageing to be viewed positively. We want Singaporeans to know that they can continue to be active and as we advance in age, we can still lead healthy and active lives. It is also a time when you can pursue your passion and learn new things.

5.          With this in mind, our Ministerial Committee on Ageing launched a $3 billion Action Plan for Successful Ageing in August 2015. This Action Plan is a comprehensive national blueprint to plan for our ageing population in a holistic manner that covers more than 70 initiatives across 12 areas. The core goal of the Action Plan is to promote ageing in three strategic thrusts.

AN ACTIVE NATION

6.         The first is to have an active nation. We want Singaporeans to stay active and socially engaged as they age.

7.         At the workplace, we will gradually raise our re-employment age. I remembered when I first started work, people were retiring at the age of 55. That is too young. We have raised the re-employment age, first to 65 then recently to 67. We discussed with unions and employers to see how we can enable seniors to continue working. Work is not just about income but also about the sense of purpose. This is what we want to help seniors to achieve, whether it is doing part time or full time work, or whether it is in the corporate or public sector. It could also be volunteer work, when they volunteer their time and expertise.

8.          Another area is picking up new skills. Many seniors tell us that they did not have a chance when they were young to learn a third language, pick up drawing or music etc. You are never too old to pick up a new skill. Learning also brings about active engagement, thus it is a very good way to stay healthy and active. We have launched the National Silver Academy (NSA) to help seniors sign up for courses. There are over 900 courses in different areas. We also want to encourage Inter-generational Learning under the NSA, where seniors and students of different age groups come together to learn.

9.         Health is another area. We want to promote health amongst the seniors. This includes falls prevention and going for early heath screening. We are also launching various schemes to reach out to them, such as tapping on Pioneer Generation ambassadors and grassroots leaders and setting up community health posts, so that seniors do not have to travel far. There are also centres in the communities where seniors can go for health screening and talks.

ACTIVE AGEING IN THE COMMUNITY

10.       Secondly, we want to encourage seniors to stay healthy and active and age well in the community. Earlier Janice Chia mentioned her vision of not having people go to nursing homes. I agree with her, that nursing homes should not be the solution for the majority. We do need nursing homes for some who are not so mobile or do not have home support etc. For most people, if they can age well in the community, that is the better way. We are also trying to help them in this. To do this, we need to step up on community services and have volunteers and VWOs work with us to strengthen community networks for ageing.

A CITY FOR ALL AGES

11.       Lastly, we want to make this a City for All Ages, where the infrastructure is conducive for seniors to move around. For example, in my own constituency Toa Payoh, which is a more mature estate with many seniors, many of them have been staying there for 40 to 50 years. When they first moved in, they were young couples. Some of their children have moved out while others prefer to stay there as that is where their friends are. When we first built our towns, we did not expect to have to make them senior friendly. There are things which we have to look into, such as having ramps instead of steps and overhead bridges with safety indicators so that seniors would not trip on the steps. Newer towns might already have the features but it is important for older towns to have this exercise. I have set up different groups of volunteers to go around and do town audits. They work with seniors to see if there are any gaps in the neighbourhood. From there, we improve the infrastructures to make them senior friendly. We also have barrier free designs and set up an Accessibility Fund to work with the private sector to retrofit their buildings.

12.       In terms of transport, we are trialling in some areas, a system whereby seniors can tap their card on sensors and it will lengthen the time for pedestrian crossing. This will require drivers to accept that the light will stay red longer. Those things are important, for us to be more tolerant, knowing that seniors need a bit more help. This is not something that the government can do alone. How can we raise awareness so that the society knows that seniors have a different set of needs? We have to be prepared to make changes and trade-offs so that as a society, we can help our seniors to age.

CONCLUSION

13.       As there are so many areas of common challenges we face, there is scope for collaboration. Solutions in Singapore will not be just useful to solving our ageing problems, they can benefit other countries. Likewise, what is developed in Finland can also benefit Singapore and other countries. I hope that our companies and organisations can have close collaborations and after developing the solutions, take it to other countries, whether in Europe or Southeast Asia. We welcome Finnish companies to establish branches and start-ups in Singapore. Likewise, I am sure the Finland will welcome us to set up offices and start research there. I believe that it is through such interactions that we can come up with solutions to solve our common challenges. Ageing is not unique to Singapore or Finland. It is actually a global issue.

14.       With that, I wish you a fruitful session ahead. Thank you.