Marine Parade: pilot 5-yr study on ageing community's needs
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By Sharon See | Posted: 12 December 2010 2044 hrs
SINGAPORE : The government is carrying out a five-year study in Marine Parade to assess the implications and needs of an ageing community.
Speaking at St Hilda's Community Services Centre's Christmas High Tea on Sunday, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said the findings will then be applied to the rest of Singapore.
75-year-old Abdul Rahman Karidin suffered a stroke eight years ago and became depressed over time.
But the rehabilitative activities at St Hilda's have cheered him up, bringing new meaning to "active ageing".
He said: "Once you go there and exercise, you got friends. I meet Malay, Chinese...and even elderly men like me."
Mr Goh commended organisations like St Hilda's for reaching out to vulnerable groups in society.
He said the elderly are a special group, and Singapore would need more young people to engage older Singaporeans to help them grow old graciously.
He noted that one in five Singaporeans will be aged 65 and above by 2030.
But Marine Parade is 20 years ahead, with one in five residents currently aged 65 and above.
That is why the government is conducting a five-year study there to understand the needs of the ageing community.
The findings would then be applied to the rest of Singapore.
MediaCorp understands that the Community Development, Youth and Sports Ministry and other government agencies will partner grassroots organisations in Marine Parade to carry out the study.
The study will look at what Singaporeans aged 60 and above would need, such as physical amenities and other services.
Mr Goh said: "By 'old', I do not mean those that are frail, unable to move on their own alone. It is 65 and above, and hopefully, it is to help them age actively. So if you regard Marine Parade as an ageing community, it is in fact a community of retirees in fact to come, people getting older, retiring in place."
He added: "We hope that a survey of their needs will be able to help us identify the gaps that we must put in place to support an ageing population. After the needs are identified, we would then have to work out measures which may include national policies to serve the older population, and of course later on, we got to do an evaluation as to whether what we try to do will be done in a most cost-effective way."
Details of the study are expected to be announced on Monday.
- CNA/ms -
Haiz... 5 yrs elderly become older.... or gone.
