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Rise of Elderly Cardboard 'Exercising', How long they want to Live? SOYLENT GREEN option please
- Thread starter Hypocrite-The
- Start date
If it's for the old infirmed n disabled n retarded etc..I will vote pap
No those they will not euthanasia..that is the milk cow for the Ministry Of Health, the longer they cling on to life, the more money they can make & do not forget, IRAS for they make easy money with GST from sickness & diseases. Why would they want to euthanised these types?
That is the problem with the country and society as a whole
Everything here hinges on money, but they are always in denial over this. They will sing songs that, nobody will be left behind...it is your behind that will not be left untouched!. Money is on their minds 8 days a week, 366 days a year..
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Hong Kong's ageing population struggling to make ends meet
By Tasha Wibawa
Posted8 hours ago, updated4 hours ago
IMAGEEight in every 10 rubbish pickers are women 60 and over, according to a recent survey.(Reuters: Bobby Yip)
Beneath the glitzy high-rises of central Hong Kong, the city is struggling with its ageing population, some of whom are working into their 90s, gathering rubbish to make ends meet.
Key points:
Hong Kong's poor social welfare and pension polices are forcing many elderly citizens back to work; pushing trolleys stacked sky-high with piles of cardboard, often dwarfing their already-petite frames.
According to a recent survey of 505 cardboard pickers by advocacy group, Waste Picker Platform, eight in every 10 are women aged 60 and over.
The study's authors spoke to people in 11 districts across Hong Kong who on average spent five-and-a-half hours a day gathering cardboard in return for just $5 — the oldest picker interviewed was 96 years old.
Close to 90 per cent of the respondents said they started collecting waste for economic reasons, and about 25 per cent said they relied on cardboard picking to meet their basic needs.
IMAGEMany elderly woman, permanently hunched over, make a living by collecting and selling cardboard.(ABC News: Tasha Wibawa)
But the physical labour often takes a heavy toll on many of the elderly women, who also have to deal with theft and discrimination on a daily basis.
'Everyone is feeling more despair'
A look back at Hong Kong's handover to China 21 years later.
Read more
People who are aged 70 and above can apply for either the Old Age Allowance or Comprehensive Social Security Assistance from the Hong Kong Government, but the group said the polices were "out of date".
"[This] puts beneficiaries in very marginal living [conditions] and that's why they are picking up cardboard to make ends meet," they said.
Government allowances are often not enough to cover rent in one of the world's most expensive cities.
The Old Age Living Allowance — colloquially known as "fruit money" — is $456 a month but subsidised housing rental estates cost an average of $298, according to official Government data.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's minimum wage is $6 an hour.
A Hong Kong Government spokesman told the ABC they were conscious of the "immense challenges" the rapidly ageing population faced.
"The [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's] spending on social security has been increasing significantly in recent years and will be reaching $52.2 billion ($9.16 billion) in 2018-19, which is 83 per cent more than that in 2012-13," the spokesman said.
"Over 70 per cent of the Hong Kong population aged 65 or above are covered by the system."
Government allowance 'can't even pay for our rent'
IMAGEA combination of an ageing population, and a social system which struggles to cope, have resulted in many retirees having to return to work.(ABC News: Tasha Wibawa)
The ageing population in Hong Kong is expected to more than double in the next 20 years, according to the Government's 2017 population projections — the number of people aged above 70 is estimated to reach 2.37 million by 2036.
The territory had the world's highest life expectancy in 2017, according to data collected by the World Bank in 2016.
On average, men and women live up to 84.3 years old, just narrowly surpassing Japan, and higher than Switzerland, Singapore and Australia.
IMAGEHong Kong resident Peter Lo had to return to work in his 70s due to a lack of government financial assistance.(Supplied: Peter Lo)
Hong Kong's data is not included by the World Health Organisation because it is not a country, but rather a Special Administrative Region of China.
A combination of an ageing population, and a social system which struggles to cope, have resulted in many retirees having to return to work.
Hong Kong resident Peter Lo, 83, initially retired when he was 65, but was forced to work in his early 70s due to a lack of financial support.
"I don't know how that tiny fruit money from the government can help. It can't even pay for our rent," he said, adding he received $260 "fruit money" a month.
IMAGEAn elderly man pushes a trolley into a recycling plant.(ABC News: Tasha Wibawa)
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Hong Kong's ageing population struggling to make ends meet
By Tasha Wibawa
Posted8 hours ago, updated4 hours ago
Beneath the glitzy high-rises of central Hong Kong, the city is struggling with its ageing population, some of whom are working into their 90s, gathering rubbish to make ends meet.
Key points:
- Hong Kong's Government criticised for not adequately supporting elderly people
- Many "cardboard grannies" deal with theft and discrimination on a daily basis
- The territory has one of the highest life expectancies in the world
Hong Kong's poor social welfare and pension polices are forcing many elderly citizens back to work; pushing trolleys stacked sky-high with piles of cardboard, often dwarfing their already-petite frames.
According to a recent survey of 505 cardboard pickers by advocacy group, Waste Picker Platform, eight in every 10 are women aged 60 and over.
The study's authors spoke to people in 11 districts across Hong Kong who on average spent five-and-a-half hours a day gathering cardboard in return for just $5 — the oldest picker interviewed was 96 years old.
Close to 90 per cent of the respondents said they started collecting waste for economic reasons, and about 25 per cent said they relied on cardboard picking to meet their basic needs.
But the physical labour often takes a heavy toll on many of the elderly women, who also have to deal with theft and discrimination on a daily basis.
"[The] Government hasn't done enough to help the needy in need of financial assistance," a spokesperson from Waste Picker Platforms said.
The group aims to improve labour rights and protection schemes for an estimated 1,900 pickers in Hong Kong.'Everyone is feeling more despair'
A look back at Hong Kong's handover to China 21 years later.
Read more
People who are aged 70 and above can apply for either the Old Age Allowance or Comprehensive Social Security Assistance from the Hong Kong Government, but the group said the polices were "out of date".
"[This] puts beneficiaries in very marginal living [conditions] and that's why they are picking up cardboard to make ends meet," they said.
Government allowances are often not enough to cover rent in one of the world's most expensive cities.
The Old Age Living Allowance — colloquially known as "fruit money" — is $456 a month but subsidised housing rental estates cost an average of $298, according to official Government data.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's minimum wage is $6 an hour.
A Hong Kong Government spokesman told the ABC they were conscious of the "immense challenges" the rapidly ageing population faced.
"The [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's] spending on social security has been increasing significantly in recent years and will be reaching $52.2 billion ($9.16 billion) in 2018-19, which is 83 per cent more than that in 2012-13," the spokesman said.
"Over 70 per cent of the Hong Kong population aged 65 or above are covered by the system."
Government allowance 'can't even pay for our rent'
IMAGEA combination of an ageing population, and a social system which struggles to cope, have resulted in many retirees having to return to work.(ABC News: Tasha Wibawa)
The ageing population in Hong Kong is expected to more than double in the next 20 years, according to the Government's 2017 population projections — the number of people aged above 70 is estimated to reach 2.37 million by 2036.
The territory had the world's highest life expectancy in 2017, according to data collected by the World Bank in 2016.
On average, men and women live up to 84.3 years old, just narrowly surpassing Japan, and higher than Switzerland, Singapore and Australia.
IMAGEHong Kong resident Peter Lo had to return to work in his 70s due to a lack of government financial assistance.(Supplied: Peter Lo)
Hong Kong's data is not included by the World Health Organisation because it is not a country, but rather a Special Administrative Region of China.
A combination of an ageing population, and a social system which struggles to cope, have resulted in many retirees having to return to work.
Hong Kong resident Peter Lo, 83, initially retired when he was 65, but was forced to work in his early 70s due to a lack of financial support.
"The Government doesn't do anything for the seniors at all … the waiting time for a nursing home is two to three years — some [people die] while waiting to get a spot," the retired fisherman said.
Mr Lo lives with his wife and his youngest son's family of four in a three-bedroom apartment in a public housing estate."I don't know how that tiny fruit money from the government can help. It can't even pay for our rent," he said, adding he received $260 "fruit money" a month.
IMAGEAn elderly man pushes a trolley into a recycling plant.(ABC News: Tasha Wibawa)
Top Stories
Joint US-Australian naval base on Manus a 'significant pushback' against China
3 hours ago
The little girl Australia shunned — remembering Eve van Grafhorst
6 hours ago
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2 hours ago
Opinion: What would happen if we banned landfill?
2 hours ago
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6 hours ago
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'She had the same top on for a fortnight': Life for a 102-year-old in Bupa aged care
Foodbank's funding to feed hungry Australians is almost halved
'Everyone is feeling more despair': A look back at Hong Kong's handover to China 21 years on
Duration: 1 minute 58 seconds1m 58s
ABC NEWS Newsletter
Connect with ABC News
Contact the ABC
© 2018 ABC
The real issue is these old farts live too long...n I find one funny thing about old farts..alot of them are religious n believe in the after life. But soo unwilling to die... rather continue suffer on this planet pick up card board etc n for those with illness spend their fortunes going for treatment etc enriching the medical corporations etc just to live longer. N some are Christians n believe in going to heaven etc...but don't die how to go heaven? I really find such ppl soo pathetic...n if heaven consists of such Kia see spirits...I think heaven is not wat its cracked up to be. I think God also will buay tahan such attitudes
Last edited:
I was chatting with a Filipino just recently , the person's observed that there are so many elderlies working as cleaners, in food centres as helpers etc. I was told in Philippines, those over the age group in which the elderly workers here belongs to, are banned from work. The reason, is they are old or too old already, that is one thing & the other is, they impede the flow of work...for however fast they can move, it is still slower than the youngsters.
I explained that the move to make SINGAPOREAN'S EMPLOYERS to employ the oldies are 'votes buying', they nearly lost votes when they flooded the workforce with the person's countrymen & women, PRC, etc.. The government pays the Employers to employ the oldies.
But nothing comes for free, we know it here very well...the oldies work, they are actually paying themselves, when they work, they will spend; and they spend, they pay GST. So nothing is for free.
Pity we do not have euthanasia here or Solyent Green YET!...or those over a certain age, can opt for it, BUT DONATE ALL THEIR CPF MONIES TO......( you know who).
Hope tat does not happen. I rather the old farts spend all their money than go soylent green. Have to be fair to the rest of us
Does it mean we can withdraw our CPeeFund in full at 55.
why don't we start soylent green with you first to see if it works.
When I reach that age I will volunteer.
2 old farts mati queuing for free food coupons,,please let them mati with dignity. WIth soylent green, they will at least move on with dignity,....Soylent Green,,,its for people!!!
Two elderly women in Malaysia die while trying to get free food coupons
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Law Ion Nang, 78, and Ah Poh, 85, were among the more than 1,000 senior citizens trying to get the food coupons. (Image: Facebook / Bernama News Channel)
29 Jan 2019 12:38PM (Updated: 29 Jan 2019 12:40PM)
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KUALA LUMPUR: Two elderly women died on Monday (Jan 28) while waiting to get free food coupons at Plaza Pudu ICC in Kuala Lumpur.
More than 1,000 people were trying to get the 200 free food coupons at noon on Monday, said Dang Wangi District Police Chief ACP Shaharuddin Abdullah.
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The two women who died were identified as Law Ion Nang, 78, and Ah Poh, 85.
The police had been informed shortly after noon that several senior citizens had fainted at ICC Pudu, the New Straits Times reported, citing the district police chief.
"When the team arrived at the scene, they found two bodies lying on the floor. Investigations found no criminal element involved in the case," the newspaper reported him as saying in a statement.
The two women had experienced breathing difficulties while in the crowd, said the district police chief.
"Both victims were (in) a section of the Chinese senior citizens who had lined up with other senior citizens to get the food coupons, and because of the large number of senior citizens who were present, the two victims - together with five others - had experienced breathing difficulties,” he said in a statement.
The cases have been classified as sudden death, and the two women's bodies have been sent to Kuala Lumpur Hospital for autopsies, he said.
According to the district police chief, the food coupon giveaway was organised by a federation of traders and hawkers at ICC Pudu.
Organisers only provided 200 coupons, but the number of senior citizens present greatly exceeded that number, with about 1,000 people showing up.
Source: Bernama/nc(my)
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...izens-die-trying-to-get-food-coupons-11178728
Two elderly women in Malaysia die while trying to get free food coupons
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Law Ion Nang, 78, and Ah Poh, 85, were among the more than 1,000 senior citizens trying to get the food coupons. (Image: Facebook / Bernama News Channel)
29 Jan 2019 12:38PM (Updated: 29 Jan 2019 12:40PM)
Share this content
KUALA LUMPUR: Two elderly women died on Monday (Jan 28) while waiting to get free food coupons at Plaza Pudu ICC in Kuala Lumpur.
More than 1,000 people were trying to get the 200 free food coupons at noon on Monday, said Dang Wangi District Police Chief ACP Shaharuddin Abdullah.
ADVERTISING
inRead invented by Teads
The two women who died were identified as Law Ion Nang, 78, and Ah Poh, 85.
The police had been informed shortly after noon that several senior citizens had fainted at ICC Pudu, the New Straits Times reported, citing the district police chief.
"When the team arrived at the scene, they found two bodies lying on the floor. Investigations found no criminal element involved in the case," the newspaper reported him as saying in a statement.
The two women had experienced breathing difficulties while in the crowd, said the district police chief.
"Both victims were (in) a section of the Chinese senior citizens who had lined up with other senior citizens to get the food coupons, and because of the large number of senior citizens who were present, the two victims - together with five others - had experienced breathing difficulties,” he said in a statement.
The cases have been classified as sudden death, and the two women's bodies have been sent to Kuala Lumpur Hospital for autopsies, he said.
According to the district police chief, the food coupon giveaway was organised by a federation of traders and hawkers at ICC Pudu.
Organisers only provided 200 coupons, but the number of senior citizens present greatly exceeded that number, with about 1,000 people showing up.
Source: Bernama/nc(my)
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...izens-die-trying-to-get-food-coupons-11178728
Soylent Green would be more humane for these old farts...
Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail
Japan is in the grip of an elderly crime wave - the proportion of crimes committed by people over the age of 65 has been steadily increasing for 20 years. The BBC's Ed Butler asks why.
At a halfway house in Hiroshima - for criminals who are being released from jail back into the community - 69-year-old Toshio Takata tells me he broke the law because he was poor. He wanted somewhere to live free of charge, even if it was behind bars.
"I reached pension age and then I ran out of money. So it occurred to me - perhaps I could live for free if I lived in jail," he says.
"So I took a bicycle and rode it to the police station and told the guy there: 'Look, I took this.'"
The plan worked. This was Toshio's first offence, committed when he was 62, but Japanese courts treat petty theft seriously, so it was enough to get him a one-year sentence.
Small, slender, and with a tendency to giggle, Toshio looks nothing like a habitual criminal, much less someone who'd threaten women with knives. But after he was released from his first sentence, that's exactly what he did.
"I went to a park and just threatened them. I wasn't intending to do any harm. I just showed the knife to them hoping one of them would call the police. One did."
Image captionToshio displays his own drawings in his cell
Altogether, Toshio has spent half of the last eight years in jail.
I ask him if he likes being in prison, and he points out an additional financial upside - his pension continues to be paid even while he's inside.
"It's not that I like it but I can stay there for free," he says. "And when I get out I have saved some money. So it is not that painful."
Toshio represents a striking trend in Japanese crime. In a remarkably law-abiding society, a rapidly growing proportion of crimes is carried about by over-65s. In 1997 this age group accounted for about one in 20 convictions but 20 years later the figure had grown to more than one in five - a rate that far outstrips the growth of the over-65s as a proportion of the population (though they now make up more than a quarter of the total).
And like Toshio, many of these elderly lawbreakers are repeat offenders. Of the 2,500 over-65s convicted in 2016, more than a third had more than five previous convictions.
Another example is Keiko (not her real name). Seventy years old, small, and neatly presented, she also tells me that it was poverty that was her undoing.
"I couldn't get along with my husband. I had nowhere to live and no place to stay. So it became my only choice: to steal," she says. "Even women in their 80s who can't properly walk are committing crime. It's because they can't find food, money."
We spoke some months ago in an ex-offender's hostel. I've been told she's since been re-arrested, and is now serving another jail-term for shoplifting.
Find out more
Japan's Elderly Crime Wave can be heard on Assignment on the BBC World Service from Thursday 31 January - click here for transmission times
Or listen now online
Theft, principally shoplifting, is overwhelmingly the biggest crime committed by elderly offenders. They mostly steal food worth less than 3,000 yen (£20) from a shop they visit regularly.
Michael Newman, an Australian-born demographer with the Tokyo-based research house, Custom Products Research Group points out that the "measly" basic state pension in Japan is very hard to live on.
In a paper published in 2016 he calculates that the costs of rent, food and healthcare alone will leave recipients in debt if they have no other income - and that's before they've paid for heating or clothes. In the past it was traditional for children to look after their parents, but in the provinces a lack of economic opportunities has led many younger people to move away, leaving their parents to fend for themselves.
"The pensioners don't want to be a burden to their children, and feel that if they can't survive on the state pension then pretty much the only way not to be a burden is to shuffle themselves away into prison," he says.
The repeat offending is a way "to get back into prison" where there are three square meals a day and no bills, he says.
"It's almost as though you're rolled out, so you roll yourself back in."
Newman points out that suicide is also becoming more common among the elderly - another way for them to fulfil what he they may regard as "their duty to bow out".
The director of "With Hiroshima", the rehabilitation centre where I met Toshio Takata, also thinks changes in Japanese families have contributed to the elderly crime wave, but he emphasises the psychological consequences not the financial ones.
"Ultimately the relationship among people has changed. People have become more isolated. They don't find a place to be in this society. They cannot put up with their loneliness," says Kanichi Yamada, an 85-year-old who as a child was pulled out of the rubble of his home when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
"Among the elderly who commit crimes a number have this turning point in their middle life. There is some trigger. They lose a wife or children and they just can't cope with that... Usually people don't commit crime if they have people to look after them and provide them with support."
Toshio's story about being driven to crime as a result of poverty is just an "excuse", Kanichi Yamada suggests. The core of the problem is his loneliness. And one factor that may have prompted him to reoffend, he speculates, was the promise of company in jail.
It's true that Toshio is alone in the world. His parents are dead, and he has lost contact with two older brothers, who don't answer his calls. He has also lost contact with his two ex-wives, both of whom he divorced, and his three children.
Image captionToshio is a keen painter
I ask him if he thinks things would have turned out differently if he'd had a wife and family. He says they would.
"If they had been around to support me I wouldn't have done this," he says.
Michael Newman has watched as the Japanese government has expanded prison capacity, and recruited additional female prison guards (the number of elderly women criminals is rising particularly fast, though from a low base). He's also noted the steeply rising bill for medical treatment of people in prison.
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There have been other changes too, as I see for myself at a prison in Fuchu, outside Tokyo, where nearly a third of the inmates are now over 60.
There's a lot of marching inside Japanese prisons - marching and shouting. But here the military drill seems to be getting harder to enforce. I see a couple of grey-haired inmates at the back of one platoon struggling to keep up. One is on crutches.
"We have had to improve the facilities here," Masatsugu Yazawa, the prison's head of education tells me. "We've put in handrails, special toilets. There are classes for older offenders."
He takes me to watch one of them. It begins with a karaoke rendition of a popular song, The Reason I was Born, all about the meaning of life. The inmates are encouraged to sing along. Some look quite moved.
"We sing to show them that the real life is outside prison, and that happiness is there," Yazawa says. "But still they think the life in prison is better and many come back."
Michael Newman argues that it would be far better - and much cheaper - to look after the elderly without the expense of court proceedings and incarceration.
"We actually costed a model to build an industrial complex retirement village where people would forfeit half their pension but get free food, free board and healthcare and so on, and get to play karaoke or gate-ball with the other residents and have a relative amount of freedom. It would cost way less than what the government's spending at the moment," he says.
Media captionJapan's elderly prisoners on life behind bars
But he also suggests that the tendency for Japanese courts to hand down custodial sentences for petty theft "is slightly bizarre, in terms of the punishment actually fitting the crime".
"The theft of a 200-yen (£1.40) sandwich could lead to an 8.4m-yen (£580,000) tax bill to provide for a two-year sentence," he writes in his 2016 report.
That may be a hypothetical example, but I met one elderly jailbird whose experience was almost identical. He'd been given a two-year jail term for only his second offence: stealing a bottle of peppers worth £2.50.
And I heard from Morio Mochizuki, who provides security for some 3,000 retail outlets in Japan, that if anything the courts are getting tougher on shoplifters.
"Even if they only stole one piece of bread," says Masayuki Sho of Japan's Prison Service, "it was decided at trial that it is appropriate for them to go to prison, therefore we need to teach them the way: how to live in society without committing crime."
I don't know whether the prison service has taught Toshio Takata this lesson, but when I ask him if he is already planning his next crime, he denies it.
"No, actually this is it," he says.
"I don't want to do this again, and I will soon be 70 and I will be old and frail the next time. I won't do that again."
Why some Japanese pensioners want to go to jail
- 31 January 2019
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Japan is in the grip of an elderly crime wave - the proportion of crimes committed by people over the age of 65 has been steadily increasing for 20 years. The BBC's Ed Butler asks why.
At a halfway house in Hiroshima - for criminals who are being released from jail back into the community - 69-year-old Toshio Takata tells me he broke the law because he was poor. He wanted somewhere to live free of charge, even if it was behind bars.
"I reached pension age and then I ran out of money. So it occurred to me - perhaps I could live for free if I lived in jail," he says.
"So I took a bicycle and rode it to the police station and told the guy there: 'Look, I took this.'"
The plan worked. This was Toshio's first offence, committed when he was 62, but Japanese courts treat petty theft seriously, so it was enough to get him a one-year sentence.
Small, slender, and with a tendency to giggle, Toshio looks nothing like a habitual criminal, much less someone who'd threaten women with knives. But after he was released from his first sentence, that's exactly what he did.
"I went to a park and just threatened them. I wasn't intending to do any harm. I just showed the knife to them hoping one of them would call the police. One did."
Altogether, Toshio has spent half of the last eight years in jail.
I ask him if he likes being in prison, and he points out an additional financial upside - his pension continues to be paid even while he's inside.
"It's not that I like it but I can stay there for free," he says. "And when I get out I have saved some money. So it is not that painful."
Toshio represents a striking trend in Japanese crime. In a remarkably law-abiding society, a rapidly growing proportion of crimes is carried about by over-65s. In 1997 this age group accounted for about one in 20 convictions but 20 years later the figure had grown to more than one in five - a rate that far outstrips the growth of the over-65s as a proportion of the population (though they now make up more than a quarter of the total).
And like Toshio, many of these elderly lawbreakers are repeat offenders. Of the 2,500 over-65s convicted in 2016, more than a third had more than five previous convictions.
Another example is Keiko (not her real name). Seventy years old, small, and neatly presented, she also tells me that it was poverty that was her undoing.
"I couldn't get along with my husband. I had nowhere to live and no place to stay. So it became my only choice: to steal," she says. "Even women in their 80s who can't properly walk are committing crime. It's because they can't find food, money."
We spoke some months ago in an ex-offender's hostel. I've been told she's since been re-arrested, and is now serving another jail-term for shoplifting.
Find out more
Japan's Elderly Crime Wave can be heard on Assignment on the BBC World Service from Thursday 31 January - click here for transmission times
Or listen now online
Theft, principally shoplifting, is overwhelmingly the biggest crime committed by elderly offenders. They mostly steal food worth less than 3,000 yen (£20) from a shop they visit regularly.
Michael Newman, an Australian-born demographer with the Tokyo-based research house, Custom Products Research Group points out that the "measly" basic state pension in Japan is very hard to live on.
In a paper published in 2016 he calculates that the costs of rent, food and healthcare alone will leave recipients in debt if they have no other income - and that's before they've paid for heating or clothes. In the past it was traditional for children to look after their parents, but in the provinces a lack of economic opportunities has led many younger people to move away, leaving their parents to fend for themselves.
"The pensioners don't want to be a burden to their children, and feel that if they can't survive on the state pension then pretty much the only way not to be a burden is to shuffle themselves away into prison," he says.
The repeat offending is a way "to get back into prison" where there are three square meals a day and no bills, he says.
"It's almost as though you're rolled out, so you roll yourself back in."
Newman points out that suicide is also becoming more common among the elderly - another way for them to fulfil what he they may regard as "their duty to bow out".
The director of "With Hiroshima", the rehabilitation centre where I met Toshio Takata, also thinks changes in Japanese families have contributed to the elderly crime wave, but he emphasises the psychological consequences not the financial ones.
"Ultimately the relationship among people has changed. People have become more isolated. They don't find a place to be in this society. They cannot put up with their loneliness," says Kanichi Yamada, an 85-year-old who as a child was pulled out of the rubble of his home when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
"Among the elderly who commit crimes a number have this turning point in their middle life. There is some trigger. They lose a wife or children and they just can't cope with that... Usually people don't commit crime if they have people to look after them and provide them with support."
Toshio's story about being driven to crime as a result of poverty is just an "excuse", Kanichi Yamada suggests. The core of the problem is his loneliness. And one factor that may have prompted him to reoffend, he speculates, was the promise of company in jail.
It's true that Toshio is alone in the world. His parents are dead, and he has lost contact with two older brothers, who don't answer his calls. He has also lost contact with his two ex-wives, both of whom he divorced, and his three children.
I ask him if he thinks things would have turned out differently if he'd had a wife and family. He says they would.
"If they had been around to support me I wouldn't have done this," he says.
Michael Newman has watched as the Japanese government has expanded prison capacity, and recruited additional female prison guards (the number of elderly women criminals is rising particularly fast, though from a low base). He's also noted the steeply rising bill for medical treatment of people in prison.
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There have been other changes too, as I see for myself at a prison in Fuchu, outside Tokyo, where nearly a third of the inmates are now over 60.
There's a lot of marching inside Japanese prisons - marching and shouting. But here the military drill seems to be getting harder to enforce. I see a couple of grey-haired inmates at the back of one platoon struggling to keep up. One is on crutches.
"We have had to improve the facilities here," Masatsugu Yazawa, the prison's head of education tells me. "We've put in handrails, special toilets. There are classes for older offenders."
He takes me to watch one of them. It begins with a karaoke rendition of a popular song, The Reason I was Born, all about the meaning of life. The inmates are encouraged to sing along. Some look quite moved.
"We sing to show them that the real life is outside prison, and that happiness is there," Yazawa says. "But still they think the life in prison is better and many come back."
Michael Newman argues that it would be far better - and much cheaper - to look after the elderly without the expense of court proceedings and incarceration.
"We actually costed a model to build an industrial complex retirement village where people would forfeit half their pension but get free food, free board and healthcare and so on, and get to play karaoke or gate-ball with the other residents and have a relative amount of freedom. It would cost way less than what the government's spending at the moment," he says.
Media captionJapan's elderly prisoners on life behind bars
But he also suggests that the tendency for Japanese courts to hand down custodial sentences for petty theft "is slightly bizarre, in terms of the punishment actually fitting the crime".
"The theft of a 200-yen (£1.40) sandwich could lead to an 8.4m-yen (£580,000) tax bill to provide for a two-year sentence," he writes in his 2016 report.
That may be a hypothetical example, but I met one elderly jailbird whose experience was almost identical. He'd been given a two-year jail term for only his second offence: stealing a bottle of peppers worth £2.50.
And I heard from Morio Mochizuki, who provides security for some 3,000 retail outlets in Japan, that if anything the courts are getting tougher on shoplifters.
"Even if they only stole one piece of bread," says Masayuki Sho of Japan's Prison Service, "it was decided at trial that it is appropriate for them to go to prison, therefore we need to teach them the way: how to live in society without committing crime."
I don't know whether the prison service has taught Toshio Takata this lesson, but when I ask him if he is already planning his next crime, he denies it.
"No, actually this is it," he says.
"I don't want to do this again, and I will soon be 70 and I will be old and frail the next time. I won't do that again."
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Commentary: The role reversal between parent and child, as ageing takes a toll on families
Commentary Commentary
Commentary: The role reversal between parent and child, as ageing takes a toll on families
Sometimes what our parents need most in their old age is for us to stop and listen, be patient and show them love them with our actions, says recipient of Nanyang Confucian Association’s Filial Piety Award Tan Chin Hock.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
old elderly woman
An elderly woman is being helped while walking on the road. (Photo: TODAY)
By Tan Chin Hock
21 Feb 2019 06:25AM
(Updated: 21 Feb 2019 09:58AM)
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SINGAPORE: Mum’s memory has been failing.
She had left a pair of huge tailor’s scissors on the table but insisted she had kept it out of the children’s reach. A couple weeks ago, she left her cooking unattended and went out of the house to open the letter box.
What seemed like the hundredth argument my wife and I had since we moved my 74-year-old father and 65-year-old mum in with us eight years ago has become a daily affair.
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They were getting on in age. Mobility was an issue due to mum’s severe osteoarthritis and dad was getting weaker as he aged.
I had moved them in to look after them better. But that decision strained our relationship with my parents and nearly broke my marriage.
A REALITY FOR MANY SINGAPOREAN
Ageing is a huge challenge for many Singapore families. Statistics from the Ministry of Social and Family Development show that the number of households with at least one senior has almost doubled from 2000 to 2014 from 192,800 to 354,700.
The conundrum of our rapidly ageing population is compounded when you think about how the number of seniors is projected to nearly triple to 900,000 by 2030. Looking after at least one if not two elderly parents will become a reality for many Singapore families.
Advertisement
While many seniors want to slow down and enjoy their golden years, ageing can be a costly affair for their families, especially if a senior is plagued with serious health issues or debilitating diseases for prolonged period.
The Government recognises this and has rolled out a slew of policies and various support schemes to relieve the financial burden on families in recent years. These broad-based initiatives provide greater assistance to those in the lower income brackets, and cover a wide variety of costly essential services including healthcare, housing and social services.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Budget 2018 file - elderly 6
File photo of elderly woman in Singapore. (Photo: Christy Yip)
LISTEN: What life in your 60s should look like, an episode on The Pulse podcast
The Pioneer Generation Package (PGP) and the Merdeka Generation Package, details of the latter which were announced at Budget 2019, benefit families with qualifying elderly parents, with outpatient care subsidies, Medisave top-ups, and Medishield Life subsidies among other aids to help defray healthcare costs.
Seniors in the bottom 20 per cent also receive assistance of at least S$300 a quarter from the Silver Support Scheme. The auto-inclusion feature of these schemes reduces administration hassle and ensure prompt financial assistance to seniors.
My family has benefited from these government schemes. It might seem like small amounts, but these add up and have reduced our cash outlay over the years by no mean sum.
Last January, mum needed a knee replacement surgery, which came up to S$50 after subsidies. My dad’s cataract removal operation in 2011 cost less than S$100, with the rest paid for with Medisave and Medishield Life.
HEART WRENCHING
While financing healthcare is a challenge that has been recognised and tackled, what has received less focus and is often overlooked are the human aspects of caring for seniors.
Looking after the elderly is a familial responsibility that can be physically and emotionally draining for family members. This is especially when many caregivers are not aware of how extensive their role can be as a nurse, personal assistant and someone who handles the finances, Mr Kelvin Lim, chief of Senior Support and Carer Services Development Division at the Agency for Integrated Care, once said.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Elderly on wheelchair
An elderly woman in a wheelchair with her caregiver. (File photo: TODAY)
READ: Help with disability costs welcomed but allowing withdrawal of Medisave may not benefit all, a commentary
Families caring for seniors with multiple needs face an especially grueling challenge. 40 to 60 per cent of caregivers looking after loved ones with dementia suffer from “significant stress”, according to a 2016 study conducted by Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Institute of Geriatrics and Active Ageing. If left unattended, the more serious cases can degenerate into depression.
This is a challenge I understand, as my mum suffered a bout of mental illness when I was in my early twenties. She also suffered from severe osteoarthritis and has been wheelchair-bound for the past decade.
READ: Dementia caregivers put on a brave front – while watching loved ones fade away, a commentary
Her physical condition has exerted a mental and emotional toll on our family. She would hurl expletives at us whenever she felt frustrated or when the pain in her knees became unbearable.
WHAT DOES BEING FILIAL MEANS?
It is in this context that caring requires families to go the extra mile to provide assurance for seniors and confidence to face an uncertain future in old age.
When people ask what drove me to move my parents in with us, I reply that filial piety does it for me. Everybody's view on filial piety is different but I see it as more than just providing financial support for our parents, but also unconditional love, taking care of all their needs in their old age.
Isn't it innate to love our parents? Yes, but in the midst of competition for our limited time and attention, bogged down with making ends meet, and when old age causes physical pain and strains relations, it is very challenging to love them in the way they need to be loved.
Instead, we tend to get angry and frustrated with our parents over the slightest thing. How many times have we ignored our parents when they asked about our day, dismissing their concerns as nagging?
How often do we grow impatient and show our annoyance at them when they are forgetful? How frequently do we treat strangers better than our parents?
And as they age, do we realise that they need us to show them the same love and understanding they showed us while we were helpless children?
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
stock elderly 03
An old man walks on an overhead bridge in Singapore. (File photo: Francine Lim)
READ: Three lessons learned caring for seniors as Singapore's population ages, a commentary
Instead, most of us take them for granted and think our relationship with our parents can continue like business as usual during their twilight years.
Most of us do not understand how to adapt to this inevitable yet painful role reversal between aged parents and middle-aged child. Many of us find it challenging to even identify let alone meet these new commitments to our elderly parents.
Sandwiched between the old and our young children, we find ourselves unprepared for the financial, physical and psycho-somatic requirements that comes with caring for aged parents.
What has helped in caring for my parents in their old age and coping with this role reversal was becoming a parent myself and extending my empathy to them.
Every parent wishes for their children to be independent, look after themselves, and earn an honest living. Every parent hopes for their child to reciprocate their parental love, especially in their later years, as they age and slowly fade away with each passing day.
So while aid to help tackle rising healthcare costs through the Merdeka Generation Package in this Budget is appreciated, I hope Singaporeans see that caring for their aged parents will require more than just dollars and cents.
READ: Merdeka Generation Package - What you need to know
Sometimes what is needed are not big sweeping gestures but the small things like spending time with them, visiting them with their favourite food if they live elsewhere, or accompanying them for medical appointments to provide assurance.
At the core of these small gestures is a respect for their wishes and an empathetic heart to give back to them in the way they cared for us while we were young.
It does not take a lot actually, it just requires a re-prioritisation of our time and a mindset shift.
Tan Chin Hock is recipient of the filial piety award conferred by the Nanyang Confucian Association.
Source: CNA/nr
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World
Days before summit, Trump raises prospect of easing North Korea sanctions
Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Trump also said he expects to meet with Kim again after their Feb 27-28 summit in Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital.
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Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un
File photo of US President Donald Trump (right) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on Jun 12, 2018. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File) Photo
21 Feb 2019 04:12AM
(Updated: 21 Feb 2019 04:23AM)
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WASHINGTON: A week before a second summit with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, US President Donald Trump held out the prospect of an easing of tough sanctions on the country, but only if it does "something that's meaningful" on denuclearisation.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday (Feb 20), Trump also said he expects to meet with Kim again after their Feb 27-28 summit in Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital.
Advertisement
Trump said he did not think North Korea was reluctant to denuclearise, in spite of a lack of concrete progress since he and Kim met for a first summit in Singapore in June.
"I don’t think they’re reluctant; I think they want to do something," he said. "We’ll see what happens. The sanctions are on in full. I haven’t taken sanctions off, as you know. I’d love to be able to, but in order to do that, we have to do something that’s meaningful on the other side."
Trump said he and Kim had "a good relationship" and added: "I wouldn’t be surprised to see something work out."
He said he and Kim have made a lot of progress but "that doesn’t mean this will be the last meeting."
Advertisement
Trump's comment was his most explicit yet that the United States might be willing to consider easing sanctions on North Korea before Pyongyang completely abandons its nuclear weapons programme.
The administration has previously said that sanctions will remain in place until North Korea's complete denuclearisation.
Trump spoke as his special envoy for North Korea was due in Hanoi to finalise preparations for the summit. Stephen Biegun is expected to hold talks with his counterpart Kim Hyok Chol, who arrived in Hanoi on Wednesday.
Trump said on Tuesday he wants North Korea to end its nuclear programme "ultimately," but had no pressing time schedule for this, provided it stuck to a freeze in nuclear and missile testing in place since 2017.
When Trump and Kim met in Singapore, it was the first ever meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.
Kim pledged then to work towards the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, but negotiations have made little headway since, with North Korea demanding a lifting of punishing US-led sanctions, a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War and security guarantees.
In September, Kim expressed willingness to permanently dismantle facilities at his country's main nuclear site of Yongbyon in return for corresponding US moves.
Biegun held three days of talks in Pyongyang this month which he said would include discussion of such corresponding steps, but the State Department had offered no sign of any specific progress.
Biegun said after his North Korea visit his talks had been "productive" but there was "hard work to do" before the summit.
Sources in Hanoi said earlier that Vietnam was preparing for Kim Jong Un to arrive by train for the summit with Trump.
It could take Kim at least two and a half days to travel the thousands of kilometres through China by train, from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to Vietnam, meaning he would have to set off later this week in time for his planned Feb 25 arrival.
Source: Reuters/de
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Hanoi
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Commentary: The role reversal between parent and child, as ageing takes a toll on families
Commentary Commentary
Commentary: The role reversal between parent and child, as ageing takes a toll on families
Sometimes what our parents need most in their old age is for us to stop and listen, be patient and show them love them with our actions, says recipient of Nanyang Confucian Association’s Filial Piety Award Tan Chin Hock.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
old elderly woman
An elderly woman is being helped while walking on the road. (Photo: TODAY)
By Tan Chin Hock
21 Feb 2019 06:25AM
(Updated: 21 Feb 2019 09:58AM)
Share this content
Bookmark
SINGAPORE: Mum’s memory has been failing.
She had left a pair of huge tailor’s scissors on the table but insisted she had kept it out of the children’s reach. A couple weeks ago, she left her cooking unattended and went out of the house to open the letter box.
What seemed like the hundredth argument my wife and I had since we moved my 74-year-old father and 65-year-old mum in with us eight years ago has become a daily affair.
ADVERTISING
inRead invented by Teads
They were getting on in age. Mobility was an issue due to mum’s severe osteoarthritis and dad was getting weaker as he aged.
I had moved them in to look after them better. But that decision strained our relationship with my parents and nearly broke my marriage.
A REALITY FOR MANY SINGAPOREAN
Ageing is a huge challenge for many Singapore families. Statistics from the Ministry of Social and Family Development show that the number of households with at least one senior has almost doubled from 2000 to 2014 from 192,800 to 354,700.
The conundrum of our rapidly ageing population is compounded when you think about how the number of seniors is projected to nearly triple to 900,000 by 2030. Looking after at least one if not two elderly parents will become a reality for many Singapore families.
Advertisement
While many seniors want to slow down and enjoy their golden years, ageing can be a costly affair for their families, especially if a senior is plagued with serious health issues or debilitating diseases for prolonged period.
The Government recognises this and has rolled out a slew of policies and various support schemes to relieve the financial burden on families in recent years. These broad-based initiatives provide greater assistance to those in the lower income brackets, and cover a wide variety of costly essential services including healthcare, housing and social services.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Budget 2018 file - elderly 6
File photo of elderly woman in Singapore. (Photo: Christy Yip)
LISTEN: What life in your 60s should look like, an episode on The Pulse podcast
The Pioneer Generation Package (PGP) and the Merdeka Generation Package, details of the latter which were announced at Budget 2019, benefit families with qualifying elderly parents, with outpatient care subsidies, Medisave top-ups, and Medishield Life subsidies among other aids to help defray healthcare costs.
Seniors in the bottom 20 per cent also receive assistance of at least S$300 a quarter from the Silver Support Scheme. The auto-inclusion feature of these schemes reduces administration hassle and ensure prompt financial assistance to seniors.
My family has benefited from these government schemes. It might seem like small amounts, but these add up and have reduced our cash outlay over the years by no mean sum.
Last January, mum needed a knee replacement surgery, which came up to S$50 after subsidies. My dad’s cataract removal operation in 2011 cost less than S$100, with the rest paid for with Medisave and Medishield Life.
HEART WRENCHING
While financing healthcare is a challenge that has been recognised and tackled, what has received less focus and is often overlooked are the human aspects of caring for seniors.
Looking after the elderly is a familial responsibility that can be physically and emotionally draining for family members. This is especially when many caregivers are not aware of how extensive their role can be as a nurse, personal assistant and someone who handles the finances, Mr Kelvin Lim, chief of Senior Support and Carer Services Development Division at the Agency for Integrated Care, once said.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Elderly on wheelchair
An elderly woman in a wheelchair with her caregiver. (File photo: TODAY)
READ: Help with disability costs welcomed but allowing withdrawal of Medisave may not benefit all, a commentary
Families caring for seniors with multiple needs face an especially grueling challenge. 40 to 60 per cent of caregivers looking after loved ones with dementia suffer from “significant stress”, according to a 2016 study conducted by Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Institute of Geriatrics and Active Ageing. If left unattended, the more serious cases can degenerate into depression.
This is a challenge I understand, as my mum suffered a bout of mental illness when I was in my early twenties. She also suffered from severe osteoarthritis and has been wheelchair-bound for the past decade.
READ: Dementia caregivers put on a brave front – while watching loved ones fade away, a commentary
Her physical condition has exerted a mental and emotional toll on our family. She would hurl expletives at us whenever she felt frustrated or when the pain in her knees became unbearable.
WHAT DOES BEING FILIAL MEANS?
It is in this context that caring requires families to go the extra mile to provide assurance for seniors and confidence to face an uncertain future in old age.
When people ask what drove me to move my parents in with us, I reply that filial piety does it for me. Everybody's view on filial piety is different but I see it as more than just providing financial support for our parents, but also unconditional love, taking care of all their needs in their old age.
Isn't it innate to love our parents? Yes, but in the midst of competition for our limited time and attention, bogged down with making ends meet, and when old age causes physical pain and strains relations, it is very challenging to love them in the way they need to be loved.
Instead, we tend to get angry and frustrated with our parents over the slightest thing. How many times have we ignored our parents when they asked about our day, dismissing their concerns as nagging?
How often do we grow impatient and show our annoyance at them when they are forgetful? How frequently do we treat strangers better than our parents?
And as they age, do we realise that they need us to show them the same love and understanding they showed us while we were helpless children?
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
stock elderly 03
An old man walks on an overhead bridge in Singapore. (File photo: Francine Lim)
READ: Three lessons learned caring for seniors as Singapore's population ages, a commentary
Instead, most of us take them for granted and think our relationship with our parents can continue like business as usual during their twilight years.
Most of us do not understand how to adapt to this inevitable yet painful role reversal between aged parents and middle-aged child. Many of us find it challenging to even identify let alone meet these new commitments to our elderly parents.
Sandwiched between the old and our young children, we find ourselves unprepared for the financial, physical and psycho-somatic requirements that comes with caring for aged parents.
What has helped in caring for my parents in their old age and coping with this role reversal was becoming a parent myself and extending my empathy to them.
Every parent wishes for their children to be independent, look after themselves, and earn an honest living. Every parent hopes for their child to reciprocate their parental love, especially in their later years, as they age and slowly fade away with each passing day.
So while aid to help tackle rising healthcare costs through the Merdeka Generation Package in this Budget is appreciated, I hope Singaporeans see that caring for their aged parents will require more than just dollars and cents.
READ: Merdeka Generation Package - What you need to know
Sometimes what is needed are not big sweeping gestures but the small things like spending time with them, visiting them with their favourite food if they live elsewhere, or accompanying them for medical appointments to provide assurance.
At the core of these small gestures is a respect for their wishes and an empathetic heart to give back to them in the way they cared for us while we were young.
It does not take a lot actually, it just requires a re-prioritisation of our time and a mindset shift.
Tan Chin Hock is recipient of the filial piety award conferred by the Nanyang Confucian Association.
Source: CNA/nr
Tagged Topics
Merdeka Generation
parenting
children
elderly
MediSave
MediShield
Share this content
Bookmark
More stories for you
5-year-old boy dies in Malaysia; parents arrested Toggle share menu
Younger siblings with older brothers more likely to be bullied Toggle share menu
Merdeka Generation Package: What you need to know Toggle share menu
image: https://images.outbrainimg.com/tran...AsImgiOjIwMCwiZCI6MS41LCJjcyI6MCwiZiI6MH0.jpg
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World
Days before summit, Trump raises prospect of easing North Korea sanctions
Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Trump also said he expects to meet with Kim again after their Feb 27-28 summit in Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un
File photo of US President Donald Trump (right) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on Jun 12, 2018. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File) Photo
21 Feb 2019 04:12AM
(Updated: 21 Feb 2019 04:23AM)
Share this content
Bookmark
WASHINGTON: A week before a second summit with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, US President Donald Trump held out the prospect of an easing of tough sanctions on the country, but only if it does "something that's meaningful" on denuclearisation.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday (Feb 20), Trump also said he expects to meet with Kim again after their Feb 27-28 summit in Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital.
Advertisement
Trump said he did not think North Korea was reluctant to denuclearise, in spite of a lack of concrete progress since he and Kim met for a first summit in Singapore in June.
"I don’t think they’re reluctant; I think they want to do something," he said. "We’ll see what happens. The sanctions are on in full. I haven’t taken sanctions off, as you know. I’d love to be able to, but in order to do that, we have to do something that’s meaningful on the other side."
Trump said he and Kim had "a good relationship" and added: "I wouldn’t be surprised to see something work out."
He said he and Kim have made a lot of progress but "that doesn’t mean this will be the last meeting."
Advertisement
Trump's comment was his most explicit yet that the United States might be willing to consider easing sanctions on North Korea before Pyongyang completely abandons its nuclear weapons programme.
The administration has previously said that sanctions will remain in place until North Korea's complete denuclearisation.
Trump spoke as his special envoy for North Korea was due in Hanoi to finalise preparations for the summit. Stephen Biegun is expected to hold talks with his counterpart Kim Hyok Chol, who arrived in Hanoi on Wednesday.
Trump said on Tuesday he wants North Korea to end its nuclear programme "ultimately," but had no pressing time schedule for this, provided it stuck to a freeze in nuclear and missile testing in place since 2017.
When Trump and Kim met in Singapore, it was the first ever meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.
Kim pledged then to work towards the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, but negotiations have made little headway since, with North Korea demanding a lifting of punishing US-led sanctions, a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War and security guarantees.
In September, Kim expressed willingness to permanently dismantle facilities at his country's main nuclear site of Yongbyon in return for corresponding US moves.
Biegun held three days of talks in Pyongyang this month which he said would include discussion of such corresponding steps, but the State Department had offered no sign of any specific progress.
Biegun said after his North Korea visit his talks had been "productive" but there was "hard work to do" before the summit.
Sources in Hanoi said earlier that Vietnam was preparing for Kim Jong Un to arrive by train for the summit with Trump.
It could take Kim at least two and a half days to travel the thousands of kilometres through China by train, from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to Vietnam, meaning he would have to set off later this week in time for his planned Feb 25 arrival.
Source: Reuters/de
Tagged Topics
Donald Trump
Kim Jong Un
Hanoi
summit
North Korea
denuclearisation
Share this content
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More stories for you
North Korea's US envoy arrives in Hanoi ahead of Trump-Kim summit Toggle share menu
Peace portraits: Hanoi artist paints Trump, Kim for summit Toggle share menu
North Korea's Kim to travel to Vietnam by train, summit at Government Guesthouse: Sources Toggle share menu
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KNN it is quite disrespectful to the human nature to make or allow an elderly to work KNN especially to give order them to do something KNN so a company should not even allow a supervisor to be of much younger age than the subordinate KNN
It will be soon much easier to use the Soylent Green option. At least the gahmen can stop pretending to care by coming up with such BS policies like 200 top up. Wat the shit can it do?
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Commentary: Merdeka Generation Package can afford to go further to help our poor elderly
CommentaryCommentaryCommentary: Merdeka Generation Package can afford to go further to help our poor elderly
One challenge in healthcare financing is that older, low-wage workers have insufficient funds in their Medisave accounts, which they could have used to purchase health insurance for themselves, says KPMG’s Gan Kwee Lian.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
File photo of elderly man in Singapore. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
By Gan Kwee Lian
23 Feb 2019 06:03AM(Updated: 23 Feb 2019 08:31AM)
Share this content
SINGAPORE: At first look, the newly announced Merdeka Generation Package (MGP) sounds generous.
With S$6.1 billion set aside for now, and valued at a total of S$8 billion in today’s terms after accumulation of interest, it will help seniors with their healthcare bills as they age.
But some worry whether it will be enough. Considering that the current life expectancy in Singapore is now 84.8 years, it can mean that this programme will have to last nearly 25 years and perhaps longer, yet is valued at less than the Pioneer Generation Package’s full projected cost of S$9 billion.
ADVERTISING
inRead invented by Teads
Subsidies are on the overall also lower, as was expected, as the Merdeka Generation benefited from advances in healthcare, manpower and a growing Singapore economy more so than the Pioneer Generation.
There are some details missing, for instance how much exactly the subsidies for GPs and dental clinics are, but those for outpatient care stand at 25 per cent off subsidised bills at government polyclinics and public Specialist Outpatient Clinics, lower than that provided to the Pioneer Generation.
READ: Government transfers and social assistance - Who deserves them? Who doesn’t? A commentary
Advertisement
In the likely situation that, over time, one’s medical needs escalate with age, the shortfall in financial coverage becomes altogether more glaring.
PROGRESSIVE IN ITS EFFECTS
Still, although every Singaporean eligible for the MGP stands to gain from it, the benefits are progressive in its effects, to those in the lower income brackets.
Professionals, managers, executives and technicians among us would already have a sizable Medisave account, and two-thirds of Singaporeans have an integrated shield plan.
The MGP also builds on the Community Health Assistance Scheme (CHAS), enhancements to provide stronger coverage for seniors and low-income households and include chronic conditions were recently announced, and will provide subsidies for primary care at a more generous rate than CHAS. Families have access to about 1,000 general practitioner clinics and 700 dental clinics under CHAS.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) cards. (File photo: Ministry of Communications and Information)
READ: Help with disability costs welcomed but allowing withdrawal of Medisave may not benefit all, a commentary
If taken in the context of other strides made to bolster the acute and primary care sectors in Singapore, the MGP puts in place another building block to help seniors of that vintage and their families get better access to quality but affordable healthcare.
The Ministry of Health will also open more polyclinics and hospitals by 2030, benefiting the larger population. The additional savings of travelling to a clinic or hospital near your home will be a boon for lower wage earners, retirees, the disabled and those who need to make frequent visits to seek treatment for their medical conditions.
But further changes in medicine and the delivery of healthcare can help provide greater assurance, if patients are open to new ways of consultation including telemedicine and as home-visits by healthcare volunteer practitioners become more prevalent. There have been attempts to push the envelop and pilot initiatives, but wider adoption will take time.
LET PEOPLE DONATE THEIR MEDISAVE
Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat outlined three strategies towards its long-term plan to build a caring and inclusive society. Apart from uplifting Singaporeans to maximise their potential, Mr Heng said the Government aims to provide greater healthcare assurance to Singaporeans and foster a community of care.
LISTEN: A wish list for healthcare after the Merdeka Generation Package, an episode on The Pulse podcast
One challenge in healthcare financing is that older, low-wage workers have insufficient funds in their Medisave accounts, which they could have used to purchase health insurance for themselves, whereas PMETs are more likely to have a good amount in their Medisave account and have good insurance coverage.
Since the Merdeka Generation Medisave top-ups will be given to all, why not let those who can afford it to donate their S$200 Medisave top-up, to be redeployed by the Government to others in a lower wage bracket?
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
File photo of an elderly worker in Singapore. (Photo: TODAY)
If we want to build a community of care, the Government could also consider supporting this endeavour and let it count as a deductible charitable contribution. The recipient enjoys a small bump in their Medisave, the donor gets a tax deduction as he would for donations to an Institute of Public Character, while also bumping up his Corporate Social Responsibility points. All parties win.
READ: More retiring later, but is it for the right reason? A commentary
It might not be a big, sweeping healthcare programme but can go some way to support low-wage seniors’ healthcare needs.
The Government can show that every Singaporean can help each other and play a part in the healthcare financing ecosystem, even as it puts in place huge programmes like the Merdeka Generation Package to provide broad-based aid across the board.
Gan Kwee Lian is Partner for Tax, Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare at KPMG Singapore.
Source: CNA/nr(sl)
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Singapore Edition International Edition
Commentary: Merdeka Generation Package can afford to go further to help our poor elderly
CommentaryCommentaryCommentary: Merdeka Generation Package can afford to go further to help our poor elderly
One challenge in healthcare financing is that older, low-wage workers have insufficient funds in their Medisave accounts, which they could have used to purchase health insurance for themselves, says KPMG’s Gan Kwee Lian.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
File photo of elderly man in Singapore. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
By Gan Kwee Lian
23 Feb 2019 06:03AM(Updated: 23 Feb 2019 08:31AM)
Share this content
SINGAPORE: At first look, the newly announced Merdeka Generation Package (MGP) sounds generous.
With S$6.1 billion set aside for now, and valued at a total of S$8 billion in today’s terms after accumulation of interest, it will help seniors with their healthcare bills as they age.
But some worry whether it will be enough. Considering that the current life expectancy in Singapore is now 84.8 years, it can mean that this programme will have to last nearly 25 years and perhaps longer, yet is valued at less than the Pioneer Generation Package’s full projected cost of S$9 billion.
ADVERTISING
inRead invented by Teads
Subsidies are on the overall also lower, as was expected, as the Merdeka Generation benefited from advances in healthcare, manpower and a growing Singapore economy more so than the Pioneer Generation.
There are some details missing, for instance how much exactly the subsidies for GPs and dental clinics are, but those for outpatient care stand at 25 per cent off subsidised bills at government polyclinics and public Specialist Outpatient Clinics, lower than that provided to the Pioneer Generation.
READ: Government transfers and social assistance - Who deserves them? Who doesn’t? A commentary
Advertisement
In the likely situation that, over time, one’s medical needs escalate with age, the shortfall in financial coverage becomes altogether more glaring.
PROGRESSIVE IN ITS EFFECTS
Still, although every Singaporean eligible for the MGP stands to gain from it, the benefits are progressive in its effects, to those in the lower income brackets.
Professionals, managers, executives and technicians among us would already have a sizable Medisave account, and two-thirds of Singaporeans have an integrated shield plan.
The MGP also builds on the Community Health Assistance Scheme (CHAS), enhancements to provide stronger coverage for seniors and low-income households and include chronic conditions were recently announced, and will provide subsidies for primary care at a more generous rate than CHAS. Families have access to about 1,000 general practitioner clinics and 700 dental clinics under CHAS.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) cards. (File photo: Ministry of Communications and Information)
READ: Help with disability costs welcomed but allowing withdrawal of Medisave may not benefit all, a commentary
If taken in the context of other strides made to bolster the acute and primary care sectors in Singapore, the MGP puts in place another building block to help seniors of that vintage and their families get better access to quality but affordable healthcare.
The Ministry of Health will also open more polyclinics and hospitals by 2030, benefiting the larger population. The additional savings of travelling to a clinic or hospital near your home will be a boon for lower wage earners, retirees, the disabled and those who need to make frequent visits to seek treatment for their medical conditions.
But further changes in medicine and the delivery of healthcare can help provide greater assurance, if patients are open to new ways of consultation including telemedicine and as home-visits by healthcare volunteer practitioners become more prevalent. There have been attempts to push the envelop and pilot initiatives, but wider adoption will take time.
LET PEOPLE DONATE THEIR MEDISAVE
Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat outlined three strategies towards its long-term plan to build a caring and inclusive society. Apart from uplifting Singaporeans to maximise their potential, Mr Heng said the Government aims to provide greater healthcare assurance to Singaporeans and foster a community of care.
LISTEN: A wish list for healthcare after the Merdeka Generation Package, an episode on The Pulse podcast
One challenge in healthcare financing is that older, low-wage workers have insufficient funds in their Medisave accounts, which they could have used to purchase health insurance for themselves, whereas PMETs are more likely to have a good amount in their Medisave account and have good insurance coverage.
Since the Merdeka Generation Medisave top-ups will be given to all, why not let those who can afford it to donate their S$200 Medisave top-up, to be redeployed by the Government to others in a lower wage bracket?
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
File photo of an elderly worker in Singapore. (Photo: TODAY)
If we want to build a community of care, the Government could also consider supporting this endeavour and let it count as a deductible charitable contribution. The recipient enjoys a small bump in their Medisave, the donor gets a tax deduction as he would for donations to an Institute of Public Character, while also bumping up his Corporate Social Responsibility points. All parties win.
READ: More retiring later, but is it for the right reason? A commentary
It might not be a big, sweeping healthcare programme but can go some way to support low-wage seniors’ healthcare needs.
The Government can show that every Singaporean can help each other and play a part in the healthcare financing ecosystem, even as it puts in place huge programmes like the Merdeka Generation Package to provide broad-based aid across the board.
Gan Kwee Lian is Partner for Tax, Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare at KPMG Singapore.
Source: CNA/nr(sl)
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Hiring untrained maids to take care of frail, sick elderly may not be safe or sustainable: Experts
Singapore
Hiring untrained maids to take care of frail, sick elderly may not be safe or sustainable: Experts
Those ill-prepared to take care of ailing elderly folk could be at risk of feeling burnt out, experts say.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
senior citizen in wheelchair, with caregiver - singapore file photo (1)
An elderly woman in a wheelchair, pushed by her caregiver. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
By Jalelah Abu Baker
21 Apr 2019 06:20AM
(Updated: 21 Apr 2019 10:26AM)
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SINGAPORE: Ms Ruth Thia’s mother suffers from late-stage Parkinson’s disease and requires constant attention. The degenerative disease makes the 68-year-old prone to falls, her hands tremble, and breathing is a struggle.
Last year, she fell four times while under the not-so watchful eyes of maids charged with taking care of her, and as a result suffered bruises and even needed stitches. She uses a wheelchair when outside, but walks around the home using a walking stick.
“She forgets to use her stick and I have reminded the maids that my mother should never walk without it,” Ms Thia told CNA. Her mother’s disease, which mainly affects the motor system, will only get worse, and she will have to look for other solutions, Ms Thia added.
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Yet, like many Singaporeans, Ms Thia feels she does not have a choice but to employ maids to help for her frail mother, as the arrangement works out to be the most affordable and convenient for her.
If she could afford it, she would rather engage a professional caregiver for her mother, given the amount of attention she needs, Ms Thia said.
However, when she was considering it, her research showed that such help would set her back by at least double the S$1,000 she pays for a foreign domestic worker, including costs like her salary and daily necessities.
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The fact that that the professional would not be able to perform any other household chores like cooking and cleaning was also a factor, as she would have to pay for other services like laundry and food delivery to compensate that.
Caregivers have been in the spotlight recently, as the Government works to address some concerns. As part of a Caregiver Support Action Plan, a new Home Caregiving Grant will be introduced by the end of this year, replacing the Foreign Domestic Worker grant.
The change will allow caregivers to use the grant on other things, like home and community-based services, as opposed to solely on a maid. This is an important move to enhance flexibility as maid-assisted care may not be the right choice for everyone, experts told CNA.
EXPERTS WARN AGAINST MAIDS TAKING CARE OF FRAIL ELDERLY
In fact, experts have gone as far as to warn about the potential risks of maids taking care of the frail or sick elderly, a trend that they have observed to be becoming more common.
Founder of private care provider Homage, Ms Gillian Tee, said she and her staff have seen the negative consequences of this happening first-hand.
In her firm’s experience, bed sores have been the most common problem arising from maids taking care of immobile elderly people. Bed sores happen when a person is not turned frequently enough. These sores also get infected and lead to hospital stays, Ms Tee said.
Even seemingly simple tasks like transferring a bedridden senior to a wheelchair could prove painful.
“They (the maids) will need to do a manual transfer, and because they don’t know how to transfer the legs, the seniors are filled with bruises. When you don’t know how to do it properly, the seniors’ legs are just getting knocked from place to place. They are not doing it safely,” she said.
While there is no breakdown on how many foreign domestic workers take care of the elderly in Singapore, as at December last year, there were 253,800 domestic workers with permits here.
According to a survey commissioned by the then Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports involving 1,190 pairs of elderly persons and their caregivers in 2012, almost half of the families polled said they hired foreign domestic workers to care for frail elderly relatives.
That survey also found that nearly half the helpers lacked experience or training to perform eldercare duties.
This figure was quoted by philanthropic organisation Lien Foundation in its report in August last year. The foundation flagged the trend of untrained maids being caregivers to sick elderly.
Employers often expect these helpers to perform nursing functions such as managing medication, tube feeding, handling insulin injections, carrying out blood tests and the like, the report noted.
This could prove unsafe for the care recipient, family physician from Healthway Medical Dr Vincent Chong said. He pointed out that maids may have difficulty understanding instructions on complex tasks involving medical care.
READ: Caregivers, professionals welcome additional support for those looking after their loved ones
“They may not be able to pick up early signs or symptoms of clinical deterioration when the elderly are not doing well,” he added.
He also said that other potential risks include them getting burnt out and not being able to communicate their concerns about the elderly under their care, and therefore being unable to get appropriate help.
A spokesperson for Tsao Foundation, which advocates active ageing, also highlighted some challenges, including administering the prescribed medicine according to dosage and frequency, knowing how to transfer the elderly from a bed to a chair properly, especially in the case of stroke victims which limits mobility in the older person, and knowing what can constitute a fall risk in the home.
"For instance, showering in the toilet when the floor is wet. Without training, the maids will not always know what was considered safe or unsafe,” she said.
Still, families, some families choose this arrangement primarily due to costs, which are higher if one engages live-in caregivers or professional help, she added.
HIRING MAIDS NOT A SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE
However, Associate Professor of Economics at the Singapore University of Social Sciences Walter Theseira pointed to another potential problem - the sustainability of having maids perform this role.
In the longer run, Singapore has to recognise that this situation of having FDWs in many middle-class households is not sustainable, he said.
“They come from poorer regional countries that are not going to be poorer forever. They’re rapidly developing their economies, and it will become less and less attractive for women from these countries to come here to work,” he said.
He warned that the cost of hiring them will also go up.
“We should not encourage a situation in the long run where we continue to rely on this. Because it may not be available,” he said.
He also said that another consequence of hiring maids as all-in-one solutions is the crippling of the professional sector that provides similar services, like Ms Tee’s firm.
“In other countries, they have the same needs as us, but many of these needs are met by professional services like home nurses and eldercare facilities, and in Singapore we don’t have that kind of services sector because every household’s response is 'I’m going to hire a maid'.” he said.
Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Geography Elaine Ho, who is conducting ongoing academic research project on the care relations between foreign domestic workers and their elderly employers, echoed the same sentiment.
Singapore could gradually become a less attractive working destination, she said.
SOLUTIONS AND WHEN TO GET PROFESSIONAL HELP
Dr Chong advised families to get professional help when maids are new and not confident of looking after the sick and frail elderly, or when there's a significant deterioration in the elderly's health, or when family members have little time or ability to supervise and monitor.
In addition, elderly people with mild to moderate disabilities or multiple medical conditions that require round-the-clock medical care should have trained nursing care. He highlighted dementia and strokes as two such conditions.
Elderly who need frequent blood sugar monitoring, injections, feeding tube changes, wound dressings, vital signs monitoring, as well as management of multiple oral medications, would also benefit from trained nursing care, he said.
Senior consultant geriatrician at The Geriatric Practice at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital Dr Chong Mei Sian suggested getting professional help when the older adult is fairly functionally impaired and requires a lot of physical help beyond a single paid caregiver.
She also said that it is important to ensure that the paid caregiver has enough rest and is able to cope with the physical and emotional demands.
“This is important as caregiving is a tiring physical and mental process,” she said.
Assoc Prof Ho, who was involved in researching and writing the Lien Foundation’s report, was quoted it in saying that eldercare training should be made mandatory for maids who care for seniors, preferably before they are assigned to employers. She added that maids should be seen as complementary carers, not solely responsible for the care of seniors, particularly those who live alone.
Tsao Foundation echoed this view and said it can be mentally exhausting for the untrained maid which could result in the maid losing her temper and risk venting it on the older person.
The spokesperson also said that training ensures that maids are mentally prepared on what to expect in caring for an older person.
“There are soft skills required when communicating to the older person who is unwell and coupled with frailty, the care demands constant attention,” she said.
Source: CNA/ja
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Hiring untrained maids to take care of frail, sick elderly may not be safe or sustainable: Experts
Singapore
Hiring untrained maids to take care of frail, sick elderly may not be safe or sustainable: Experts
Those ill-prepared to take care of ailing elderly folk could be at risk of feeling burnt out, experts say.
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
senior citizen in wheelchair, with caregiver - singapore file photo (1)
An elderly woman in a wheelchair, pushed by her caregiver. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
By Jalelah Abu Baker
21 Apr 2019 06:20AM
(Updated: 21 Apr 2019 10:26AM)
Share this content
Bookmark
SINGAPORE: Ms Ruth Thia’s mother suffers from late-stage Parkinson’s disease and requires constant attention. The degenerative disease makes the 68-year-old prone to falls, her hands tremble, and breathing is a struggle.
Last year, she fell four times while under the not-so watchful eyes of maids charged with taking care of her, and as a result suffered bruises and even needed stitches. She uses a wheelchair when outside, but walks around the home using a walking stick.
“She forgets to use her stick and I have reminded the maids that my mother should never walk without it,” Ms Thia told CNA. Her mother’s disease, which mainly affects the motor system, will only get worse, and she will have to look for other solutions, Ms Thia added.
ADVERTISING
inRead invented by Teads
Yet, like many Singaporeans, Ms Thia feels she does not have a choice but to employ maids to help for her frail mother, as the arrangement works out to be the most affordable and convenient for her.
If she could afford it, she would rather engage a professional caregiver for her mother, given the amount of attention she needs, Ms Thia said.
However, when she was considering it, her research showed that such help would set her back by at least double the S$1,000 she pays for a foreign domestic worker, including costs like her salary and daily necessities.
Advertisement
The fact that that the professional would not be able to perform any other household chores like cooking and cleaning was also a factor, as she would have to pay for other services like laundry and food delivery to compensate that.
Caregivers have been in the spotlight recently, as the Government works to address some concerns. As part of a Caregiver Support Action Plan, a new Home Caregiving Grant will be introduced by the end of this year, replacing the Foreign Domestic Worker grant.
The change will allow caregivers to use the grant on other things, like home and community-based services, as opposed to solely on a maid. This is an important move to enhance flexibility as maid-assisted care may not be the right choice for everyone, experts told CNA.
EXPERTS WARN AGAINST MAIDS TAKING CARE OF FRAIL ELDERLY
In fact, experts have gone as far as to warn about the potential risks of maids taking care of the frail or sick elderly, a trend that they have observed to be becoming more common.
Founder of private care provider Homage, Ms Gillian Tee, said she and her staff have seen the negative consequences of this happening first-hand.
In her firm’s experience, bed sores have been the most common problem arising from maids taking care of immobile elderly people. Bed sores happen when a person is not turned frequently enough. These sores also get infected and lead to hospital stays, Ms Tee said.
Even seemingly simple tasks like transferring a bedridden senior to a wheelchair could prove painful.
“They (the maids) will need to do a manual transfer, and because they don’t know how to transfer the legs, the seniors are filled with bruises. When you don’t know how to do it properly, the seniors’ legs are just getting knocked from place to place. They are not doing it safely,” she said.
While there is no breakdown on how many foreign domestic workers take care of the elderly in Singapore, as at December last year, there were 253,800 domestic workers with permits here.
According to a survey commissioned by the then Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports involving 1,190 pairs of elderly persons and their caregivers in 2012, almost half of the families polled said they hired foreign domestic workers to care for frail elderly relatives.
That survey also found that nearly half the helpers lacked experience or training to perform eldercare duties.
This figure was quoted by philanthropic organisation Lien Foundation in its report in August last year. The foundation flagged the trend of untrained maids being caregivers to sick elderly.
Employers often expect these helpers to perform nursing functions such as managing medication, tube feeding, handling insulin injections, carrying out blood tests and the like, the report noted.
This could prove unsafe for the care recipient, family physician from Healthway Medical Dr Vincent Chong said. He pointed out that maids may have difficulty understanding instructions on complex tasks involving medical care.
READ: Caregivers, professionals welcome additional support for those looking after their loved ones
“They may not be able to pick up early signs or symptoms of clinical deterioration when the elderly are not doing well,” he added.
He also said that other potential risks include them getting burnt out and not being able to communicate their concerns about the elderly under their care, and therefore being unable to get appropriate help.
A spokesperson for Tsao Foundation, which advocates active ageing, also highlighted some challenges, including administering the prescribed medicine according to dosage and frequency, knowing how to transfer the elderly from a bed to a chair properly, especially in the case of stroke victims which limits mobility in the older person, and knowing what can constitute a fall risk in the home.
"For instance, showering in the toilet when the floor is wet. Without training, the maids will not always know what was considered safe or unsafe,” she said.
Still, families, some families choose this arrangement primarily due to costs, which are higher if one engages live-in caregivers or professional help, she added.
HIRING MAIDS NOT A SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE
However, Associate Professor of Economics at the Singapore University of Social Sciences Walter Theseira pointed to another potential problem - the sustainability of having maids perform this role.
In the longer run, Singapore has to recognise that this situation of having FDWs in many middle-class households is not sustainable, he said.
“They come from poorer regional countries that are not going to be poorer forever. They’re rapidly developing their economies, and it will become less and less attractive for women from these countries to come here to work,” he said.
He warned that the cost of hiring them will also go up.
“We should not encourage a situation in the long run where we continue to rely on this. Because it may not be available,” he said.
He also said that another consequence of hiring maids as all-in-one solutions is the crippling of the professional sector that provides similar services, like Ms Tee’s firm.
“In other countries, they have the same needs as us, but many of these needs are met by professional services like home nurses and eldercare facilities, and in Singapore we don’t have that kind of services sector because every household’s response is 'I’m going to hire a maid'.” he said.
Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Geography Elaine Ho, who is conducting ongoing academic research project on the care relations between foreign domestic workers and their elderly employers, echoed the same sentiment.
Singapore could gradually become a less attractive working destination, she said.
SOLUTIONS AND WHEN TO GET PROFESSIONAL HELP
Dr Chong advised families to get professional help when maids are new and not confident of looking after the sick and frail elderly, or when there's a significant deterioration in the elderly's health, or when family members have little time or ability to supervise and monitor.
In addition, elderly people with mild to moderate disabilities or multiple medical conditions that require round-the-clock medical care should have trained nursing care. He highlighted dementia and strokes as two such conditions.
Elderly who need frequent blood sugar monitoring, injections, feeding tube changes, wound dressings, vital signs monitoring, as well as management of multiple oral medications, would also benefit from trained nursing care, he said.
Senior consultant geriatrician at The Geriatric Practice at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital Dr Chong Mei Sian suggested getting professional help when the older adult is fairly functionally impaired and requires a lot of physical help beyond a single paid caregiver.
She also said that it is important to ensure that the paid caregiver has enough rest and is able to cope with the physical and emotional demands.
“This is important as caregiving is a tiring physical and mental process,” she said.
Assoc Prof Ho, who was involved in researching and writing the Lien Foundation’s report, was quoted it in saying that eldercare training should be made mandatory for maids who care for seniors, preferably before they are assigned to employers. She added that maids should be seen as complementary carers, not solely responsible for the care of seniors, particularly those who live alone.
Tsao Foundation echoed this view and said it can be mentally exhausting for the untrained maid which could result in the maid losing her temper and risk venting it on the older person.
The spokesperson also said that training ensures that maids are mentally prepared on what to expect in caring for an older person.
“There are soft skills required when communicating to the older person who is unwell and coupled with frailty, the care demands constant attention,” she said.
Source: CNA/ja
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Elderly
Foreign domestic workers
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Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...ake-care-of-frail-sick-elderly-risks-11415562
Since the elderly are going to kick the bucket soon why bother with all this care?
Just leave them along the corridor and let nature take its course.
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