What seniors want: I want to be looked after
For $5,800 a month, Mr Gerald Li gets a single occupancy suite with a private bathroom in Joo Chiat Social Club. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Jessica Novia
Correspondent
UPDATED
APR 13, 2024, 05:32 AM
As Singapore ages, the demand for suitable care solutions for seniors has become more pressing. There are relatively healthy, mobile seniors who want to hold on to their independence but will require some form of caregiving in the future. Here’s one senior citizen describing in his own words how he wants to be taken care of during his golden years.
Meet Mr Gerald Li, 67
I am the youngest of four siblings. I am single. I was living in an executive maisonette in Tampines with my siblings. When my siblings passed on one by one, I lived alone for 2½ years.When they were alive, my siblings and my mother cared for me. They did all the paperwork and bought food for me. I have never even had to handle cash. Living alone was like doing national service, I had to learn how to cook and really take care of myself.
I used to work as a sales assistant. Due to health issues, I decided to retire in my early 30s and recuperate at home.
My room was on the second floor, and I had to climb up and down the stairs every single day. I had a tendency to fall down the stairs. It happened four to five times. My friends told me it was dangerous.
The last fall happened in December 2022. I was climbing down from my room to the first floor when I tripped and fell. After lying there for what felt like a long time, I managed to pick myself off the ground and called for an ambulance. At the hospital, I tested positive for Covid-19 and was running a fever of 39 deg C.
I decided I must find a place where there are people who can take care of me. But nursing homes would not accept me because I did not meet their requirements. I was considered too mobile, I can still feed myself and am relatively independent.
Nursing homes are also not so flexible, I cannot go out as and when I like. I do have some living relatives, but they are equally old, if not much older than me. I had no one to turn to for help. I did not want to hire a domestic helper to live in my house.
Through my social worker, I heard about St Bernadette Lifestyle Village, an assisted living facility. After visiting the franchise in Sembawang, I heard about a new franchise that was being launched in a conservation shophouse in Joo Chiat.
I have lived in the east my whole life and wanted to stay there. So, I went to see the space for myself. It looked like a residential home. I found the people running it, Ms Mariel Chee and Mr Bennett Lee, very nice. My only requirement was that there would be someone to help look after me. Especially, when something bad happens, for example, a fall.
After visiting Joo Chiat Social Club twice with my social worker, I sold my flat in Tampines. My friends helped me to pack all my belongings and I moved into the second floor of this shophouse. There is a lift in the house to use when I do not want to climb the stairs.
For $5,800 a month, I get a single occupancy suite with a private bathroom. I have signed up for one year, and have paid upfront for six months. After that, they will deduct the fee every single month.
It is rather expensive, but if I count the services they provide, the meals and the caregiving fee, I feel the amount is reasonable. I use the money that I got from selling my old flat to afford staying here.
It has been six weeks since I moved in. It has been really nice. I wake up between 6.30am and 7am. Then, I have breakfast at 8am. If the weather is not too hot, I will do some morning exercise, run errands or get my hair washed at a nearby salon.
I am still independent – I go to my doctor appointments on my own. After lunch, I attend an online mass conducted by my church. Every Tuesday, Mariel and Bennett organise craft sessions and social programmes, which I attend.
It is quite free and easy here. As long as you tell the caregivers where you are going, you can go out and about on your own.
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In the past, I was rather reserved. I rarely left my house, relying on my siblings to buy things for me. When their friends came over to the house, I would stay upstairs in my room.
Now, I am much more social. The other residents here are lovely. Most are older than me.
But the best thing about the facility would be the attentive professional caregivers. The other day, I dropped my phone on the ground, and one of the caregivers came into my room and helped me even before I pressed the help button.
All my meals are provided for, as well as laundry services and daily housekeeping.
So far, I have not had to use the buzzer in my room. If I need anything, I go down and ask either Mariel or Bennett for help.
I do not miss my old home at all. In fact, I feel more attached to my caregivers now in this assisted living facility.
Is this where I am going to live for the rest of my life? Well, I do not know how long I will live but this is my long-term home for now.
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