Forum: 71-year-old should not be described as being of 'advanced age'
Sep 28, 2021While I do not wish to trivialise the Ministry of Health's reporting of Covid-19 deaths, I cannot allow its description on Saturday of a 71-year-old as being of "advanced age" to pass without comment.
I am almost 73, and do not consider myself to be of advanced age as assessed by either my own perception or by the Government's own age classification or mortality statistics.
The Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat) defines persons aged 65 to 74 as "young-old", persons aged 75 to 84 as "medium-old" and those aged 85 and over as "oldest-old".
By those definitions, I think it is reasonable to consider those aged 85 and over as being of "advanced age".
Also, according to SingStat, the average life expectancy of a 65-year-old last year was 21.5 years. To refer to a "young-old" senior with a statistical life expectancy of approximately one-and-a-half decades as being of advanced age appears to display a more than unfortunate attitude of ageism.
Brian Dalby