Subliminal message: You die is your own biz?
http://mypaper.sg/top-stories/widow-107-treasures-her-independence-20150812
[h=3][/h]KEEPING ACTIVE: Madam Lim lives alone in her one-room flat in Ang Mo Kio, cooking for herself and venturing downstairs to the Thye Hua Kwan Senior Activities Centre for exercise and companionship. PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER
Published on Aug 12, 2015
[h=2]Widow, 107, treasures her independence[/h]
JUDITH TAN
SHE is more than twice as old as modern Singapore.
Lim Beak is 107 - but if you asked her, she would say: "I'm 108, if you go according to my Chinese age."
Unlike many other centenarians, the widow lives alone in her one-room flat in Ang Mo Kio and is proud of it. "I treasure my independence," Madam Lim told The New Paper.
It's not that the soft-spoken Madam Lim has no family - she has 10 children and more than 40 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
"I don't want to burden them. They are all grown up and have their own lives," she proudly said in Hokkien.
Granddaughter Toh Lay Hong, 46, said the number of Madam Lim's descendants includes only those from her five sons, two of whom have died. The families of her five daughters have not been accounted for.
"My aunts' families are all over Malaysia. One's in China and one was given up for adoption. We lost touch with them," she said.
Madam Lim, who is about 1.52m tall, collected newspapers for pocket money but stopped in January after she was weakened by a serious bout of flu. She is now slower in her steps and needs a walking stick to steady her gait.
"I went out to collect newspapers to sell because I got bored sitting alone at home. At least the $20 to $30 a month from that gave me a little more pocket money," she said.
Her utilities of $46 a month are paid for by a grandson.
Madam Lim keeps herself active by taking care of the daily chores in her one-room flat in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4, cooking porridge for her lunch and dinner, and venturing downstairs to the Thye Hua Kwan Senior Activities Centre for exercise and companionship.
She even attended the appreciation night for Pioneer Generation Ambassadors at Gardens by the Bay last month, where she was photographed with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and wife Ho Ching.
"The grassroots leaders were kind enough to pick me up from my home, put me in a wheelchair and take me to the party. They even accompanied me back to my doorstep after the event," said Madam Lim.
Ms Toh, who is in the construction business, said her uncles take turns to visit her grandmother every other day, bringing her food and daily necessities.
Other than the occasional aches and pains, Madam Lim does not have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, much to the amazement of senior staff nurse Neo Yu Shan, who is part of Tan Tock Seng Hospital's Post Acute Care At Home team.
She visited Madam Lim twice after her recent bout of flu to check on her.
Madam Lim is one of the 1,053 centenarians in Singapore but unlike most of them, she still has her physical and mental health.
Born in 1908, Madam Lim left Fujian in China to join her husband in Singapore when she was 34. Her husband had fled China in 1939 to avoid conscription.
After arriving in Singapore, Madam Lim worked on her husband's farm in Jalan Ulu Sembawang until she was in her 70s.
"It was at the 13th mile of Ulu Sembawang. We called it 'jia zui gang' (Hokkien for freshwater harbour). We grew vegetables such as bittergourd, tapioca and brinjal," she said.
The family managed to save enough to buy pigs and started rearing them until the Government phased out pig farming across Singapore. They then moved into a Housing Board flat in Yishun.
Madam Lim said that when her husband died in 2001, she moved in with her second son's family.
She moved to her current flat only after her second son and daughter-in-law died in 2005.
Wong Sweet Fun, senior consultant at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital's Department of Geriatrics, said living to a very old age with a good quality of life is uncommon because of the physical, mental and social challenges.
"Chronic diseases, disability, incontinence, dementia and falls become increasingly common with old age and can make it difficult for the very elderly to lead independent lives," she said.
"Helping them keep to their routines and do things that bring them pleasure, such as going for daily walks in the neighbourhood, greatly improve the quality of life of the very elderly, but they require the commitment and support of family members."
Said RSVP Singapore's executive director Edmund Song, 61: "We have seen an emerging trend among seniors choosing active lifestyles.
"They have close family and community ties but are not overly reliant on them."
A non-profit organisation of senior volunteers, RSVP Singapore was launched by then prime minister Goh Chok Tong in 1998.
Agreeing, Council for Third Age's former chairman Gerard Ee said: "It is the senior citizen's own commitment and accountability to himself or herself.
"There are the ecosystem and facilities in place in Singapore but if the individual doesn't choose to live healthily or believe in himself, then it is not going to work.
"It would be interesting to know how Madam Lim keeps herself hale and hearty to live to such a ripe old age."
THE NEW PAPER
http://mypaper.sg/top-stories/widow-107-treasures-her-independence-20150812
Published on Aug 12, 2015
[h=2]Widow, 107, treasures her independence[/h]
JUDITH TAN
SHE is more than twice as old as modern Singapore.
Lim Beak is 107 - but if you asked her, she would say: "I'm 108, if you go according to my Chinese age."
Unlike many other centenarians, the widow lives alone in her one-room flat in Ang Mo Kio and is proud of it. "I treasure my independence," Madam Lim told The New Paper.
It's not that the soft-spoken Madam Lim has no family - she has 10 children and more than 40 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
"I don't want to burden them. They are all grown up and have their own lives," she proudly said in Hokkien.
Granddaughter Toh Lay Hong, 46, said the number of Madam Lim's descendants includes only those from her five sons, two of whom have died. The families of her five daughters have not been accounted for.
"My aunts' families are all over Malaysia. One's in China and one was given up for adoption. We lost touch with them," she said.
Madam Lim, who is about 1.52m tall, collected newspapers for pocket money but stopped in January after she was weakened by a serious bout of flu. She is now slower in her steps and needs a walking stick to steady her gait.
"I went out to collect newspapers to sell because I got bored sitting alone at home. At least the $20 to $30 a month from that gave me a little more pocket money," she said.
Her utilities of $46 a month are paid for by a grandson.
Madam Lim keeps herself active by taking care of the daily chores in her one-room flat in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4, cooking porridge for her lunch and dinner, and venturing downstairs to the Thye Hua Kwan Senior Activities Centre for exercise and companionship.
She even attended the appreciation night for Pioneer Generation Ambassadors at Gardens by the Bay last month, where she was photographed with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and wife Ho Ching.
"The grassroots leaders were kind enough to pick me up from my home, put me in a wheelchair and take me to the party. They even accompanied me back to my doorstep after the event," said Madam Lim.
Ms Toh, who is in the construction business, said her uncles take turns to visit her grandmother every other day, bringing her food and daily necessities.
Other than the occasional aches and pains, Madam Lim does not have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, much to the amazement of senior staff nurse Neo Yu Shan, who is part of Tan Tock Seng Hospital's Post Acute Care At Home team.
She visited Madam Lim twice after her recent bout of flu to check on her.
Madam Lim is one of the 1,053 centenarians in Singapore but unlike most of them, she still has her physical and mental health.
Born in 1908, Madam Lim left Fujian in China to join her husband in Singapore when she was 34. Her husband had fled China in 1939 to avoid conscription.
After arriving in Singapore, Madam Lim worked on her husband's farm in Jalan Ulu Sembawang until she was in her 70s.
"It was at the 13th mile of Ulu Sembawang. We called it 'jia zui gang' (Hokkien for freshwater harbour). We grew vegetables such as bittergourd, tapioca and brinjal," she said.
The family managed to save enough to buy pigs and started rearing them until the Government phased out pig farming across Singapore. They then moved into a Housing Board flat in Yishun.
Madam Lim said that when her husband died in 2001, she moved in with her second son's family.
She moved to her current flat only after her second son and daughter-in-law died in 2005.
Wong Sweet Fun, senior consultant at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital's Department of Geriatrics, said living to a very old age with a good quality of life is uncommon because of the physical, mental and social challenges.
"Chronic diseases, disability, incontinence, dementia and falls become increasingly common with old age and can make it difficult for the very elderly to lead independent lives," she said.
"Helping them keep to their routines and do things that bring them pleasure, such as going for daily walks in the neighbourhood, greatly improve the quality of life of the very elderly, but they require the commitment and support of family members."
Said RSVP Singapore's executive director Edmund Song, 61: "We have seen an emerging trend among seniors choosing active lifestyles.
"They have close family and community ties but are not overly reliant on them."
A non-profit organisation of senior volunteers, RSVP Singapore was launched by then prime minister Goh Chok Tong in 1998.
Agreeing, Council for Third Age's former chairman Gerard Ee said: "It is the senior citizen's own commitment and accountability to himself or herself.
"There are the ecosystem and facilities in place in Singapore but if the individual doesn't choose to live healthily or believe in himself, then it is not going to work.
"It would be interesting to know how Madam Lim keeps herself hale and hearty to live to such a ripe old age."
THE NEW PAPER
