Daily Lesson from Life 08 January 2009

"Work as long as you can
PM Lee:Older S'poreans should stay active and contribute to workforce and community. -Thu, Jan 08, 2009 The Straits Times

This is the advice from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to older and retired Singaporeans, who he said should stay active and engaged as they can still contribute much to the workforce and community.


But to support older workers, many social attitudes and institutional structures established when life expectancies were shorter and Singapore's population was younger will have to change, said Mr Lee, pointing out that by 2030, one-fifth of the population will be 65 years and older.

This is nearly one million people, three times the number today."

As national leaders, the type of policies and strategies formulated and implemented on the human side has a very long term view. We are talking about 10-20 years type of time line. For the economic side, due to the rapidly changing nature of the business environment, the time line maybe 3-5 years.

In between transition, the leaders reassess the long term with the development of the short term and adjust the next long term of 10-20-year block.

Lessons for me are:

1. it is not hard to project, assuming people's life expectation grows by X years, the birth and death rate, to see where the nation will be at end of the X year. This alarm should have been sounded 5-10 years ago to the people who will be at that retirement age!! Their mindset has to be shaped at that time to envision what it will be like when they reached retirement age. This is called planning!;

2. the mindset change is only effective when the behaviors are practiced and constantly being reinforcement. Until the behaviors become a habit can we say that the mindset change has completed! Keeping the potential threats and benefits of growing old gracefully and productively constant in view will help to bring the mindset from a conscious mind to the conscious mind. This I think we did not do well. National education does not stop after school but should continue during and after working life!! This is something that will be hard to achieve in a democratic society where everyone wants to exercise their right to choose what type of life they want to lead - retirement with peace and fulfilment or with free will to squander the money or whatever. Only when the leaders are able to show the Benefits are greater than the Costs will the people decide to do the right things! With help and reminder sometimes!;

3. leaders learn from others so they can plan better. The ageing issue is not unique to Singapore. In fact, many other nations are facing this issue much earlier than our young nation. e.g. Japan, China, USA, etc. So, it is easier in some ways for us to proactively manage the ageing problem or challenge. This again was done at the highest level but not translated to the grassroots level. The concept is not deep enough and the root not solid enough. Perhaps for the next national challenges, our leaders can do better!

For those who want to grow old and enjoy retirement or semi-retirement, my advice first and foremost is: keep fit! Keep a healthy body, mind , and spirit and other good things in life will come your way!