SPEECH BY MR TAN KIAT HOW, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, MDDI & MOH, AT THE LAUNCH OF AAC-ON-WHEELS

Mr Jonathan Kok, Presbyterian Community Social Services (PCS) Chairman,

Dr Andrew Lim, PCS CEO,

Distinguished guests, community partners,

1.            Congratulations to PCS for your 50^th anniversary, please give them a round of applause for serving the community, making an impact for the last 50 years. This morning, we are here to also celebrate another milestone by PCS, launching a very innovative service called AAC-on-Wheels. This is very much aligned with our national effort to reach out to our seniors.

2.            As Dr Andrew mentioned earlier, we want every senior in Singapore to feel that they are treasured, they are valued. There is a Chinese saying, “家有一老, 如有一宝”, so when translated it means that every senior in a home is someone to be treasured and valued. And certainly, it means the same in a community, and many seniors, especially our Pioneer Generation, Merdeka Generation, they have given so much to Singapore. We wouldn’t have Singapore today without our pioneers, without our Merdeka Generation, seniors who have contributed, who have put their effort to building Singapore – to the society that we are now living in.

3.            And it’s not just about the infrastructure, the parks, the roads, connectivity, transportation or structures that we are so proud of, like Jewel or Marina Bay Sands. Yes, these are infrastructure, but more importantly is this kind of society that we have evolved and grown. Society that we are one people, one nation, all fellow Singaporeans, regardless of age, regardless of race, language or religion, and also a society where we take care of one another. And this is important because it’s not just about our generation, it’s about the legacy that we want to leave behind for our children, our grandchildren. We want our children and grandchildren to grow up in a society of opportunities, but also a society that values each individual and cares for each individual, and importantly, also cares for our seniors. So, whatever we do here is not just about caring for seniors, but also leading by example, showing by example, to our children, the next generation, so that for many generations to come, this is the kind of society, kind of country, kind of nation that we are proud to be.

4.            So, this is really part of our effort to grow the kind of inclusive, caring, compassionate society. And as part of that, the Ministry of Health (MOH) wants to reach out to every senior, so that every senior is socially connected, able to be active, able to enjoy their golden years, but as shared earlier sometimes there are some challenges. Some seniors may not be able to come out as easily. Firstly, some of them might not be so physically mobile. Secondly, because of the location, it might be a bit more inconvenient for them to come out, but we want to reach out to them, and the Active Ageing Centres (AACs) play such an important role.

5.            Today, we are actually increasing the number of AACs since the launch of the Age Well SG initiative in Singapore. We’ve increased the number of AACs by 50%, from about 150 to 226 AACs across Singapore today. I was asking my colleagues to share some numbers with me, today eight in ten of our seniors are served by an AAC, that’s 80%. So, with the almost doubling of the AACs in Singapore, about eight in ten of our seniors are already served by an AAC, which is good, but for us we want to do more.

6.            I mentioned earlier some of the challenges that some of our seniors face, about being able to go out. So together, AIC and PCS and our partners, we have an innovative solution, or AAC-on-Wheels. So if the seniors can’t come out to us, let’s go to them. I’m glad the seniors can participate in various activities. For example, gentle aerobics, perhaps the dancing like the ladies just now, we have different sports activities, pickleball, floor curling, and many other activities. But also information about the different programmes that are in the estate, in the community they can benefit from.

7.            So, it’s not just about organising activities where we bring the van or AAC-on-Wheels to our seniors, but also sharing with them some of the programs and initiatives that they can benefit from in the vicinity. And hopefully, more seniors will come out, join the programmes, stay active. But importantly, also form that social connections, make new friends, be able to get to know new people, especially fellow neighbours living in the estate. And that’s so important, right? I hope more of our seniors benefit from this programme, this innovative AAC-on-Wheels, and it’s really part of our effort to try to reach out to every senior.

8.            I end my comments by saying that today, the gap between healthspan and lifespan is about 11 years in Singapore. What do I mean? That means lifespan is how long you live, and on average, you live for around 85 years in Singapore. But there’s a gap between healthspan and lifespan. Healthspan is of that life you live, how much of it you’re happy, healthy, and can live independently. And what we want to do is reduce the gap between the healthspan and lifespan. That means we live longer, our lifespan becomes longer, but we want you to live as healthily and happily and independently as possible, and that really makes a real difference to your quality of life, and especially also to your family and caregivers.

9.            But to reduce the gap between the healthspan and lifespan, there are many determinants. Of course, good genes play a part, lifestyle plays a part. And lifestyle not right towards your golden years, that’s why we have Healthier SG. As you be more active, eat more healthily, live more healthily in the early part of years, the better it is. So, lifestyle plays a part, genes play a part, but a large part of it is actually social connections – you feel that you are valued, you feel that you have friends, and that affects not just your emotional, psychological wellbeing, but that translates to physical wellbeing as well.

10.            So, I commend the initiative of AAC-on-Wheels and encourage more of seniors to make full use of it, make full use of the services, make full use of the services at AACs, and continue to be happy. Make new friends, learn new things, including being able to dance like our wonderful ladies just now. Thank you very much and have a wonderful week ahead.