Forum: A 95-year-old’s thoughts on ageing

I refer to Professor Tommy Koh’s commentary “The joys of growing old” (Oct 15). One of the central points of the piece, that all of us keep ourselves agile and mobile as much as we can, rings true for me.

I just turned 95, and have been very disciplined – together with my wife before she died in 2020 at the age of 82 – in maintaining my physical and mental well-being. I still take my regular morning and evening walks, and have been doing this for over two decades.

There have been impediments, either chronic issues like diabetes and hypertension for my wife or episodic ones like a spinal compression fracture for me, and while these sometimes interrupted our routine, we strived to get back to it as soon as possible.

Equally, reading is a central part of our lives, and staying in touch with newspapers (I read three each day), books and magazines is a favoured pastime.

Beyond this, our love of classical Indian music and dance had us attending live performances in Chennai (where we then lived) until about 10 years ago. When the physical demands became challenging, we switched to the TV and mostly the Internet to stay connected with and enjoy these pursuits.

Now living in Singapore since my wife’s death, I try to continue with these activities as much as I can, including spending time on my favourite subjects of the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita and Sanskrit speaking. I can confidently say this has been essential to my well-being, which has also made it easier for my son and daughter-in-law to care for me.

Old age is often referred to as the second edition of childhood. Therefore, caregivers have a greater role to play in looking after the aged under their care.

All the best to all the elderly citizens in Singapore and their caregivers.

A. Vijayaraghavan