Nov 05 2008
Seniors Of The Future: More Educated & Vocal
Human beings can live up to 150 years old - said some doctors at a recent anti-ageing seminar. I believe them. If you add improvements in medical science; watch what you eat, exercise and have a positive attitude - it is possible to extend our livespan. But living past 100 years is not new. According to the Vedas, and the Bible I was told, humans used to live till 600 but as the years went by, we developed much shorter lifespans. The point is we are going to live much longer – so what will it be like to age in Singapore? What will it be like to be a senior citizen?
The days of retiring at 50 or 60 with a nestegg are long gone, unless you happen to be one of the smart and lucky few to amass kazillion dollars of personal wealth to retire early. Most of us are going to have to work longer because we’ve increased our life expectancy. It’s not all doom and gloom though, human resources professionals and motivational speakers are already saying that we’ll have an average of four – seven careers in our lifetime. They say there’s so much more that we can achieve and that we’re only using 10 per cent of brain. I can see the millennium generation easily achieving 5 careers by the time they’re 40. As for myself, I’m excited about the prospect of having different careers in a lifetime – it makes life so much more interesting.
But what will attitudes be towards senior citizens in 50 year’s time when most Singaporeans will hold at least a Bachelor’s degree? Would we continue to push toilet cleaning jobs and other menial jobs to senior citzens like we do now? Would we expect this group of people to be seen and not heard? I mean God forbid the day, these educated fools, sorry I meant old people, become rebellious and start demanding to be heard and treated with dignity, right? Btw, I was being sarcastic, in case you did’t get it. Oh, just to side-track, I think Tan Kin Lian is the sort of senior I’m talking about – he’s fiesty, he’s vocal and he’s been a voice for retail investors who were mis-sold on investment products. Hey, he could just be the poster boy for seniors.
Or would society be so enlightened such that 50-year-old and 60-year-olds keep re-inventing themselves (and their career) like Madonna does? What sort of senior do you want to be when you hit 60? Anti-ageing doctors say 50 is the new 30. I know a few 50 year-olds that don’t look their age. Let’s see - Dick Lee, Jacintha, Mister X (when he wears his cap, that is), my hairstylist, Greg Lai, Dana Delaney - ok, I’m running out of names because my memory is failing me now – but if you do know of hip 50-year-olds, post it here.
Yes, 50-year-olds may re-invent themselves to keep up with the rat race, but will current attitudes towards seniors carry into the future? And what would these attitudes be? That old equals dumb = stupid = slow = boring.
Don’t think that educated oldies can get away from these perceptions. At a recent ageing seminar, a well-dressed woman walked up to the mike and told the audience that the conference organisers and speakers were preaching to the converted. She said: “When people see that you have white hair, they don’t bother to talk to you. I went to a wedding and nobody wanted to talk to me. Not even the women – the young ones are the worst.” She wasn’t some old lady – she spoke impeccable English (the sort that Norman Lim, Larry Lai and Susan Ng would) and was fashionably dressed. The speaker was none other than Lena Lim – the original owner of Select Books. Either people don’t bother or they are so socially inept that they are incapable of social niceties like small talk with grey-haired people. Because what on earth would you have anything to talk about to some old fogey, right? When was the last time some of us had a meaningful conversation with our grandparents? Actually, the art of conversation is listening to what the other person has to say and connecting with it. Anyway, I digress – compared to Japan, there is far more interaction between grandparents and grandchildren there than here, according to ageing experts at the conference.
I’ll just end by saying that as we head into a global recession where retrenchment will happen and people will be scrambling to secure a job - I hope recruiters, interviewers and HR personnel – cos I’ve heard how grossly unprofessional and dismissive some of you can be - dump your biases and prejudices. Don’t judge a book by its cover.
