My personal response to the article: Active ageing: Time to step it up
Summary
The government has stepped up boldly to serve more love to older Singaporeans. The government is paying back that population now grown old. The government has taken giant steps for senior citizens but there are still other steps, including some which the people have to take themselves. First the government has to consolidate the gains of our first 50 years. What is needed is the "whole of government" approach, led by the Housing Board and the Ministry Of Health to tackle this problem. Healthcare and eldercare as such, should be community-base and decentralized. The government is also promoting values over people. For example, with a large older population will come a large number of dementia cases. Older people who stay active and engage through participations in programmes organized by the People's Assosciation, voluntary welfare organizations, and faith groups, have a better chance of remaining mentally healthy. Another example would be after helping Singaporeans meet the challenge of the first of "life's knowns", namely change, the government should help older Singaporeans meet that of another of life's knowns, namely death.
Response
After reading this article, I feel happy that the government is finally paying more attention to the older generation. I personally feel that the elderly are a very important part of our society, they are like the roots of our nation, binding us all together, giving us knowledge and wisdom to aid the society in growth to be a better country.The elderly are the one's that contributed in nation building. These elderly served us during the early years of Singapore’s nationhood in the uniformed services, unions and the community, former political leaders, and others contributed in many other ways and raised the next generation of Singaporeans. Without the older generation, Singapore would not have grown from a third world country to a first world country. In addition, Singapore is currently facing an aging population. Hence, the government, helping to subsidies healthcare can reduce the stress on the current generation that might be struggling to pay for their parents healthcare. As we progress on to be a higher standard of society, we must not forget about the people that help us build our nation. Therefore, I feel that it is a good move for the government to serve more love to older Singaporeans.
I agree with your view that the older generations of a society hold the treasures of wisdom. THough they may be physically weaker than their younger counterparts, they possess the life experience and wisdom that could help cahrt the future directions of society. You point on the need to take care of the pioneers who have contributed in some way to the present Singapore indeed deserves the gratitude from society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion that the elderly is a significant part of Singapore's society. They have seen Singapore go through such drastic changes and have been through much more than any of the future generations. I am too, pleased that the government is sparing a thought for them. Not all of the older citizens have people to support them and I thus think that the government is indeed helping a lot of people when they subsidies healthcare and provide more services that are mainly to aid the elderly. After all, they have worked hard in the past, it is due that we show them our appreciation.
ReplyDelete