Are Singaporeans doing enough for our Senior Citizens?

Just a few days back, I personally witnessed an old lady on the bus approaching my friend and me for a couple of dollars for a bus ride home since she had to change buses. This was totally absurd and I was really skeptical about it. Eventually my friend gave in and passed her a dollar, being sympathetic of her old age.

Not too soon after, we saw her changing seats often, asking other passengers for more loose change. However, we did not want to make a scene of it for obvious reasons. 

Back to the main point, is Singapore doing enough for the elderlies? My answer would definitely be no. Looking at the transportation costs alone, the Senior Citizen (Hybrid) Concession card costs $60 compared to $51 for a Polytechnic hybrid Concession. Why are we charging more for the elderlies who have mostly retired after slogging most of their lives away for us? If your claim is that students are not working, well, neither are our senior citizens.

Often times, we see the aged all around Singapore. They could be near MRT stations, coffee shops and even queueing up for freebies. But what differentiates them from us is that they are not enjoying a ride back home, a cup of coffee or keeping the “useless” freebie for themselves. They are trying to make a living through either the sale of tissue papers or selling the freebie they painstaking queued up for hours to receive.

Another encounter I’ve had with some of them was at the grand opening of the H&M outlet at Kallang Wave Mall. It was absurd to find them queuing up as customers to receive gift vouchers at a shop where most of them would probably never visit. Moreover, I’m not just talking about a couple of elderlies there. It was heartening to find 20/150 elderlies queuing up for at least 3 hours.

Of course, one would argue that the government has introduced the Pioneer Generation Package for them. However, is it really enough? In Singapore, “the number of elderly people living alone is likely to increase to 83,000 by 2030 – up from 35,000 now. This number does not include seniors who are left alone at home when their children head out for work in the day.” – See more here.

Therefore, not only must entertainment for elderlies be more available and accessible, healthy food has to be catered to them to their convenience. Why? These people are living alone, often times, they lack nutrition since they are most likely to end up consuming leftover or overnight food. Thus, they end up falling ill without proper food sanitation and nutrition.