When my late mum had difficulty walking, I bought her a wheelchair so we could take her to medical appointments and family gatherings.

While we breezed through the barrier-free walkways in Housing Board estates and other buildings, we spent a considerable amount of time waiting for available lifts. We once waited for 20 minutes in a mall for a lift to get to another floor.

The lifts are often not large enough to accommodate baby prams, wheelchairs and personal mobility aids. With the long waiting time for lifts in mind, we often limited my mum’s activities when we took her out.

The best lift experience we had was at Heartbeat@Bedok. There, the lift cars are purpose-built to cater to those visiting the senior care centre on an upper floor. The lift lobby and lift cars are large to accommodate more than three wheelchairs at a time.

Perhaps it is time to have bigger lifts and lift lobbies to cater to the ageing population and more wheelchairs and personal mobility aids being used.

Chua Li Lian