Why dad needs more than mum's loving care

It has been hard on my mother looking after my father since his Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. The very elderly need professional care beyond that provided by relatives and domestic workers.

An elderly man and woman at Clover Way Playground on Oct 19, 2021. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
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It was not an exceptional e-mail in itself: birthday greetings and a reference to a money transfer. It became significant only in retrospect, as that message was the last one that I received from my father.

Until the previous year, he had written frequently, often at length, not only with family news but also with comments on films, concerts, books, politics and travel. After Sept 13, 2013, all that was in the past.

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