Speech by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health, at Ain Society's 15th Anniversary Charity Dinner

Mr Malek Bin Osman, President of Ain Society

Mr Haji Mohd Yusof Ismail, CEO Ain Society

Sponsors and Donors

Volunteers

Distinguished Guests

Friends

Ladies and Gentlemen

          A very good evening to all of you and I am happy to be able to join you tonight.

2    This charity dinner commemorates Ain Society’s 15 years of serving the community. It is also an occasion to recognise the efforts of the long-serving volunteers of Ain Society who have worked tirelessly to serve the elderly, cancer patients and their families. Tonight, beneficiaries of Ain Society's good work, both old and young, who are also brave and strong cancer survivors, will showcase their talents. Their efforts, and your generosity, will enable us to reach the target of raising $300,000 tonight to benefit the needy.

Appreciation to the Ain Society Contributions 

3    Ain Society started out with a group of 12 retired volunteers, who, reached out to make a difference by helping displaced youths. Today, 15 years later, Ain Society has a committed team of 18 full-time staff and 300 volunteers helping cancer-stricken, the elderly and their families from all backgrounds, races and religions.

4    Notably, Ain Society set up the Serenity Social Service Centre. The Centre aims to empower cancer-stricken patients including school-going children and their families to be self-resilient, by providing them with emotional, financial and spiritual skills, and support through activities such as music therapy. Indeed, I understand that some of them will be performing the kolintang, an Indonesian musical instrument for us tonight.

5    On top of that, the volunteer tutors provide free tuition at the Centre for these school going children to help them stay on track in their schoolwork. They even went the extra mile to visit the child’s home or hospital if the child has mobility challenges. As of October 2015, 27 cancer-stricken children and over 100 children whose parents are suffering from cancer have benefitted from these efforts.

6    Tonight’s donations will enable Ain Society to do even more. For instance, Ain Society, along with the National Cancer Centre, has launched the first Cancer Education Bus. Its mission is to spread the news of managing our risks against cancer through healthier living and regular screening. I understand that this bus is already parked outside. Your generous contributions will go towards its maintenance, and keep it running to reach out and encourage members of the public to take action to reduce their own cancer risks.

Action Plan for Successful Ageing

7    The founders of Ain Society embody the spirit of active ageing. They show that life after retirement can be just as exciting, meaningful and fulfilling. They show that older persons can make a positive difference to society.

8    So, instead of worrying about ageing, we should really all see the opportunity in longevity, as individuals and as a society. The Ministerial Committee on Ageing, which I chair, has just released the Action Plan for Successful Ageing. 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. The Action Plan contains many ideas suggested by Singaporeans in our series of public consultations, which involved over 4,000 Singaporeans and grassroots leaders.

9    The 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, remain healthy 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 for seniors. A National Seniors’ Health Programme including healthy lifestyle campaigns and activities in the community and workplaces will be launched to empower seniors to age more healthily. We are also starting a national movement of senior volunteerism, and will be supporting community organisations to better recruit, develop and deploy senior volunteers with a targeted $40 million Silver Volunteerism Fund.

10    Second, we want to create a Kampong for All Ages. We want Singapore to be a society where the young honours 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 years 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 the young and old to interact.

11    Third, we plan to create a City for All Ages where seniors can age confidently in place. We have planned for facility and infrastructure improvements in our housing estates, parks and transport networks to make Singapore a senior friendly city.

12    To achieve our vision of successful ageing in Singapore, we need to work with more community partners such as Ain Society.  For instance, Ain has been engaging the lively silver-haired elderly who live in the vicinity of its Eunos Social Service Centre. Ain has programmes such as morning exercises, line dancing, computer learning and regular outings to sports and cultural events. These activities help keep over 200 of Ain’s retired friends active and connected to the society, enabling them to live long, and live well. There are also opportunities for them to volunteer their time to help the cancer-stricken beneficiaries of Ain. We hope to partner more Voluntary Welfare Orgaisations (VWOs) to expand active ageing programmes to seniors.

Conclusion

13    Let me end by applauding the good work of Ain Society. Keep up the good work you have been doing and may the next 15 years be as fulfilling as the last 15 years have been!

Thank you.