Forum: Make it easier for seniors to keep their cars to maintain mobility

Many of us, especially retirees, can relate to senior transport correspondent Christopher Tan’s sentiments in his commentary “Is it time to go without a car?” (Nov 25).

My husband and I are in our 60s and we renewed the use of our car for another 10 years in 2016 when the certificate of entitlement (COE) price was $48,000. Living day to day on limited retirement savings, we will clearly not be able to afford even a small car if the COE prices continue to remain high.

In the report “Singapore sets aside $800m to help seniors age well at home, in their communities” (Nov 16), Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that for many seniors “their biggest enemy is social isolation and loneliness”. 

Many retirees are trying to be independent, stay socially connected and make useful contributions to our families for as long as we can. With a car, we can at least help our adult working children with ferrying our grandchildren to and from pre-school, for example.

The loss of a car will mean seniors will opt to stay at home more as they find it increasingly harder to navigate public transport. They may then be at higher risk of becoming lonely or being a burden to their families.

We hope the authorities, in reviewing the COE system, besides looking into the factors contributing to the high COE prices, will consider giving retirees who previously owned a car a subsidy or cap the prevailing COE needed to keep the car.

Also, in reviewing public transport and car ownership issues, perhaps the Government can study the quality of the last-mile connection more closely. One suggestion is to bring back a modified version of the park-and-ride system to let commuters park right next to MRT stations at affordable parking rates and ride the train into the city and then drive home from the station later.

Susan Tan