Frail, socially isolated seniors in Toa Payoh to be engaged weekly under new initiative
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Health Minister Ong Ye Kung (in green shirt) and Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Cai Yinzhou (in blue shirt) interacting with residents during a community visit to Toa Payoh Central on May 9.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
- Project Silver Circle launched in Toa Payoh Central to engage frail, isolated seniors weekly. Volunteers provide companionship, reconnecting them with community life and active ageing programmes.
- Toa Payoh Central faces an ageing population, with half residents over 50. This creates risks of social isolation and undetected deaths, highlighting the urgent need for community care.
- Toa Payoh, an Age Well Neighbourhood, has extensive senior services. Project Silver Circle complements this, aiming to foster a community culture where neighbours actively care for each other.
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SINGAPORE – In Toa Payoh, seniors who are frail or living alone will now get a weekly knock on the door from volunteers young and old, who drop by for a chat, offer help with errands or bring them on outings.
Under the new Project Silver Circle, launched on May 9 during a community visit by Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, volunteers will identify such seniors and befriend them, providing them with companionship through various activities.
Volunteers will work with partners like active ageing centres and the Silver Generation Office “to take them out on things like grocery runs and just your regular breakfast”, said Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Cai Yinzhou, who oversees the Toa Payoh Central ward.
Beyond regular check-ins, the programme aims to reconnect seniors with community life, encouraging them to step out, build friendships and participate in active living programmes.
Mr Cai said that by 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be above the age of 65. In Toa Payoh Central, however, half of the residents are already above the age of 50.
Sharing that he noticed many senior residents during his house visits, he said: “Some of them lived alone or with their elderly spouse or sibling, and some of them have mobility issues or maybe lacked the confidence to leave their homes alone.”
Toa Payoh was the first designated Age Well Neighbourhood (AWN), an initiative announced in 2025 to bolster community-based support for seniors by offering more active ageing programmes and strengthening outreach to seniors.
Bedok, Bukit Panjang and Tiong Bahru-Redhill were recently designated as AWNs as well.
Mr Cai said that as an AWN, Toa Payoh Central has numerous services available for seniors, including new active ageing centres, expanded home personal care services, and more health and social activities. Project Silver Circle aims to complement that, primarily by engaging volunteers and neighbours to care for one another, he said.
The initiative also aims to reduce the risk of vulnerable residents going unnoticed.
There have been several reported incidents of what are known as undetected or lonely deaths in recent years, in which people who die at home are discovered only days or even weeks later.
In December 2024, a couple were found dead in a Jurong flat after neighbours reported a strange smell wafting along the corridor.
Mr Cai said he hopes to foster a culture whereby neighbours care and look out for each other.
He said: “It is really to build Toa Payoh Central (into a place) where neighbours care for neighbours, and we as a neighbourhood care for one another.”
