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https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/singapore-systems-well-prepared-for-ageing-society-less-so
2026-03-21
By--- Jeffery Tan is group general counsel of Jardine Cycle & Carriage. He is a senior accredited director of the Singapore Institute of Directors, serving on several boards.
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The letter from the CPF Board informed me I would soon be eligible to draw on my retirement savings. It was routine, even efficient. Yet I found myself holding it longer than necessary.
Sixty-five was an age that had always belonged to someone else – my parents’ generation, not mine. It was a number associated with retirement speeches and farewell lunches, with the gradual stepping away from the centre of things. Yet here it was, addressed to me.
Ageing does not arrive all at once. It accumulates in the quiet spaces of our lives, until one day, old age introduces itself formally.
On paper, Singapore has prepared remarkably well for ageing. CPF LIFE provides lifelong income. MediShield Life ensures access to affordable healthcare. Our public housing and transport systems are being steadily “silver-proofed”. But there is growing friction between the narrative of our evolving high-tech infrastructure and the lived experience of the person using it.
And yet, every day brings a new subtle indignity. Banks often hold us up as the primary “face” of scam victims – well-intentioned warnings that inadvertently paint a target on our backs and fuel a narrative of helplessness. Workplaces, obsessed with “young blood”, sometimes give the impression that they cannot wait to phase us out, regardless of our competence and experience.
Today, one in five Singaporeans is over 65 – hardly a minority that can be swept under the carpet. They will be a defining segment of society. How it sees them and includes them will shape the character of our nation.
When progress outpaces inclusion
When my parents’ generation turned 65 in the late 1990s, the world did not demand they relearn the mechanics of daily life. The telephone, the bank teller, and the clinic functioned as they had for decades. Familiarity provided stability. Today, ageing requires a relentless, exhausting adaptation. We authenticate our very existence through face verification and navigate portals designed for the “default” user: someone young, fast, and tech-fluent.
When a senior needs help with a “routine” digital task, the loss of independence is a blow to the ego, says the writer. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
A 2023 Infocomm Media Development Authority survey found that while 80 per cent of seniors aged 60 and above use smartphones, a significant gap remains in navigating complex digital services. For my generation, the downsides of ageing – failing eyesight, loss of fine motor skills, and the anxiety of “pressing the wrong button” – are not just medical issues; they are barriers to making financial transactions, accessing healthcare and using public services.
A 2025 Singapore study highlights a damaging irony: Despite our eagerness to learn, there is a persistent “digital ageism” in design. We are told to “upskill”, yet the apps themselves are rarely built to accommodate cognitive or sensory changes. When a senior needs help with a “routine” digital task, the loss of independence is a blow to the ego. We have created a world where independence is now conditional upon a password reset. The ever-increasing sophistication of bad actors using deepfakes that perpetuate fraud – manipulating even the likeness of the country’s top political leaders – serves to only make many seniors feel like deer caught in the headlights.
Meritocracy’s blind spot
Singapore’s success rests on meritocracy – the idea that effort, ability and performance determine opportunity. It has propelled the nation forward with extraordinary results.
But meritocracy, as practised, carries an unspoken bias. It favours speed, adaptability and upward momentum. Consider the standard job description today, seeking “digital natives” who are “dynamic” and able to thrive in a fast-paced environment. Rarely do job postings include language for qualities that deepen with age like judgment, perspective and restraint. The message received is that youth is associated with potential, whereas age is mistakenly lumped together with a sense of diminishing relevance.
Little wonder then that people feel a strong sense of injustice, which plays out most keenly in the workplace. A 2022 Institute of Policy Studies survey found that one in four workers aged 50 and above reported experiencing age discrimination. Globally, the World Health Organization has warned that ageism is pervasive globally, with economic and social consequences.
In Singapore, its effects are particularly paradoxical. We have created one of the healthiest, longest-living populations in history. Yet we have not fully adjusted to what it means to fully value longer lives.
We must dispel the myth of the “helpless” senior. Currently, public policy often frames the elderly as recipients of care – passive consumers of healthcare and subsidies. This is out of touch with the reality that many Singaporeans in their 60s are the backbone of the “informal economy”, mentoring young colleagues, volunteering in their communities, or providing childcare for grandchildren. Their contributions may not always be captured in economic statistics, but they are no less real. They seek recognition, not just accommodation.
Even the way we “protect” seniors can be harmful. The constant focus on elder scams, for instance, can lead to “internalised ageism” – a form of learnt helplessness where seniors become too terrified to use digital tools at all. Instead of a campaign showing a senior being saved by a youth, why not one where a senior’s experience spots a sophisticated financial anomaly that a “fast” younger person missed?
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A good example of this relates to a widely reported Ponzi scheme. Seasoned financial analyst Harry Markopolos became deeply sceptical of the reported returns at Bernie Madoff’s investment firm – one that promised consistent, high returns that defied normal market behaviour.
Using his understanding of financial mathematics and decades of experience, Mr Markopolos concluded in just four minutes that Madoff’s numbers were mathematically impossible – and after hours of follow-up work, he believed he had definitively proven the operation was clearly a Ponzi scheme – something that was missed by many younger analysts and regulators.
Although Mr Markopolos first identified irregularities in the early 2000s, what’s often overlooked is that he continued his forensic work well into his 60s – and remained active in uncovering financial irregularities later in life.
The invisibility of old age
Recently, a younger friend described someone as “still sharp” at 65. She meant it kindly. Yet the word “still” lingered. It implied that decline is the default and competence is the exception. Psychologists note that this “micro-ageism” leads to social exclusion and depression. When we feel invisible, we begin to act invisible.
Singapore has done the hard work of preparing structurally for an ageing population. With foresight, we have strengthened pensions, expanded healthcare and redesigned infrastructure. But the “soft work” of the future requires a cultural shift: for employers to comprehend how to leverage experience as a strength, for institutions to design policies with inclusion in mind from the start, and for society to wholeheartedly reject the assumption that age diminishes relevance.
The true measure of Singapore’s success will not be how long we live but whether as we live longer, we remain seen, valued and able to contribute. And that it is not always us who must bend to the demands of a striving society but for society to look at ways of including us instead.
Jeffery Tan is group general counsel of Jardine Cycle & Carriage. He is a senior accredited director of the Singapore Institute of Directors, serving on several boards.
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