I read with much concern Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat's letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, indicating his intention to step aside as leader of the fourth-generation (4G) team (DPM Heng's letter to PM, April 9).
While I respect his motivations for stepping aside, using age as the primary reason for doing so seems to undermine Singapore's efforts to combat ageist mindsets.
First, Mr Heng highlights the issue of a short "runway". The role of prime minister is unique, but that reason unfortunately perpetuates the impression that older workers necessarily have shorter career trajectories and are therefore not worth investing in.
The Ministry of Manpower's report on boosting support for older workers already points out that a lack of support for training older workers may arise from this perception that younger workers have "longer career runways".
Yet, older adults retain considerable neural plasticity, and can draw from their wealth of experience to better deploy new skills and information.
Second, Mr Heng implicitly points out that his current good health may not last.
But there remains great diversity in health trajectories in later life, and it is not helpful to assume old age necessarily comes with debilitating illnesses that prevent meaningful or important work.
In any case, as Singapore ages and chronic conditions become more commonplace, the onus is on society and policymakers to accommodate workers' needs rather than write them off.
Third, Mr Heng compares his own age with those of past prime ministers when they first took up the mantle, but this ignores the fact that people are living longer today compared with then. The life expectancy at age 65 during the time previous prime ministers took over was approximately 8.3 (1960), 15.7 (1990) and 18.4 (2004).
In 2019, it was 21.3.
There is little reason to believe that Mr Heng's "runway" will necessarily be shorter than that of previous prime ministers, even if he takes over in his mid-60s.
It is also worth remembering that United States President Joe Biden is 78, and Malaysia's Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad served as prime minister in his 90s. Their ages say nothing about their ability to lead a country.
The reasons given for such a huge decision send signals about the expectations we should have and the kind of society we want to live in.
As it is, it seems that Mr Heng's reasons for stepping aside contradicts the civil service's efforts to combat age stereotypes and promote working till older ages.
I do not think Mr Heng is intentionally being ageist, so I hope that he can clarify his thinking here.
Shannon Ang (Dr)
