Forum: Ageing society should be shared and not segmented

I read Professor Lily Kong’s recent Opinion article, “An ageing society tests more than our healthcare system” (March 10), with a quiet sense of recognition.

It reminded me why, at this stage of life – I have been working in the banking and finance industry for more than 30 years – I chose to pursue a part-time gerontology course at the Singapore University of Social Sciences to see how I can contribute to our ageing society.

In the article, Prof Kong recounts how her mother, who was in her late 80s, received SkillsFuture credits and felt a simple but profound joy. Not because she intended to use them, but because the letter signalled that she was still seen as someone with a future.

The idea of existence value stayed with me. Ageing is not only about healthcare costs or retirement adequacy. It is also about dignity, visibility, and the assurance that one still belongs and is recognised in our society.

During my course, I have found myself in learning spaces where the age range is unusually wide, from fresh graduates to retired seniors in their 70s. Some are preparing for careers. Some are deepening a lifetime of experience. Some are simply learning because curiosity did not retire with them.

In these spaces, age does not feel like a hierarchy. It is a continuum. And perhaps that is what an ageing society should look like – not segmented, but shared.

Our recent discussions about solo agers have stayed with me the most. People who may grow old without spouses, without children, or without traditional family structures to fall back on. Their realities force us to confront questions that many prefer to postpone:

- Who will speak for me if I cannot?
- Who will notice if I withdraw?
- How do I design a life now that will still hold meaning when independence becomes fragile?

These are not questions for later life. They are questions for midlife. In fact, they may be questions for every life stage.

The article reminds us that an ageing society tests more than healthcare systems. It asks whether we can design environments, institutions and cultures that allow people to remain visible, engaged and valued across longer lives.

On a personal level, it also reminds me that preparing for ageing is not only about finances or medical care. It is about relationships, purpose, community and the willingness to keep learning.

Perhaps that is why this journey in gerontology feels less like studying ageing, and more like learning how to live.

Lee Woei Shiuan