Sunday 24 June 2007

Keep elderly from flying S'pore coop

The first three paragraphs explain the inspiration for this piece. It is not new, but in the current ongoing focus on getting old people to keep working on and on and on, I think it's important to lose sight of this group of better-off Singaporeans. The looming prospect of 6.5 million people on this island is also a little intimidating.

Keep elderly from flying S'pore coop

Society's focus should also include the higher-income, who have wider options

Wednesday • June 20, 2007

Siew Kum Hong

AS with most young people, I have never really thought much about growing old or retirement. But that has been on my mind lately, resulting from separate comments by two older acquaintances, both professionals who should be on the verge of comfortable retirement.

One felt Singapore was already too crowded for him. He believed it would be "impossible to retire gracefully", given the expected future population of 6.5 million. His children, who find Singapore too stifling, have already left or are planning to leave.

The other, who is single, said somewhat morbidly that he intended to retire and live in Malaysia after his mother dies. His feelings may be best described as disenchantment and frustration with Singapore and our system, coupled with a sense of disenfranchisement.

So, why should we be concerned about retirees leaving Singapore? Is that not just one less elderly person for the rest of us to care for and, hence, something to cheer about?

That is precisely the sort of misconception that needs to be corrected.

In the first place, the elderly can still be productive members of society. They may either continue working (provided employer mindsets, among other things, are changed) or otherwise do volunteer work.

A recent global survey by HSBC and the Oxford Institute of Ageing found that 71 per cent of those aged between 60 and 70 worldwide are still working. Furthermore, up to 25 per cent of the elderly in Singapore do volunteer work, and this rate can be expected to rise as Singapore matures — North American and European countries had higher participation rates, with Canada hitting 50 per cent.

The survey concluded that those in their 60s and 70s are "a tremendous asset to society, not generally a burden".

Furthermore, the elderly who leave are generally those we want to keep, just like the young Singaporeans who decide to work overseas and do not return. Older folk with disposable funds to invest can be as globally mobile as young professionals. They have assets we should aim to keep in Singapore, and useful skills, abilities and experience that younger workers can learn from.

We have many ongoing efforts to address elderly needs, in recognition of our ageing population. But these are primarily focused on the lower-income elderly, to ensure their financial and other needs are adequately met.

There does not, as yet, seem to have been similar attention on the aspirations of the higher-income elderly.

But we need to start thinking about the high-income elderly as well. What drives them to leave? What can help to keep them in Singapore?

It is not new for people to want to retire outside Singapore. Historically, typical reasons have included a better quality and slower pace of life, and a lower cost of living. In other words, it is about getting away from the stresses of living in a busy urban environment, which are unavoidable given our geographical circumstances.

But, as Singapore grows and changes, new reasons for leaving may surface, and it bears considering whether anything can be done about those new reasons.

A lot comes down to issues of the quality of life and roots. We have always focused on making Singapore a great place to work and make money.

But old people, especially those who have already made their money, are not interested in that. They want a place in which they can be comfortable, in terms of physical and mental space, convenience and facilities, such as medical care.

Announcements such as the expected 6.5 million future population make many Singaporeans anxious, and understandably so. Many older Singaporeans know they do not want to live out their golden years in such a crowded country; younger Singaporeans may wonder if we do, even at our age.

Family ties can also help to keep Singaporeans here. But let us not forget that Perth, a popular retirement destination for many Singaporeans, is only five hours away by air. And the Internet has also shrunk the world. So, one can leave Singapore and still maintain ties with family here.

The issue of overseas retirement is one aspect of ageing that has not received much attention to date, perhaps because it is not quite as urgent as helping the low-income elderly secure their financial futures.

But I believe it bears watching out for, otherwise we risk losing a significant group of Singaporeans who are rich in assets, skills and experience. That would be a great loss, when people are our only natural resource.

The writer is a Nominated Member of Parliament and corporate counsel, commenting in his personal capacity.

9 comments:

family man said...

Thank you Mr Siew.

Now that the talk is that the withdrawal of min sum scheme is going to be 65, should there not be an opt out scheme so that in that social contract between the govt / citizens or the CPF contributors, the people can choose to withdraw the money at age 55 (in the first instance) or 62 now, instead of indefintely prolonging it yet again? What is your view on this? Thank you. Of course there is a concern that a Japan Pension crisis may occur and we may never see our money again.

Lam Chun See said...

I was born in 1952. My Sec 4 class of 1968 intends to hold a big 'reunion dinner' next year to celebrate the 40th anniversary. I look at the email list and see that one big chunk of my cohort are no longer in Spore.

Unknown said...

I don't know how else the government can "sell" us this idea, but telling us to work til we die will never go down well with anybody.

Most of us already working our asses off during our early/ middle life already are looking forward to a time where we can generally slow down or retire. Being told that there is no option of that will drive even more of us to look for options abroad.

TPG-iTec said...

To family man: The whole philosophy of CPF is mandatory. So I suspect any form of opt-out is unlikely, to say the least.

I personally am not interested in working for the rest of my life, without end in sight. Having said that, I hope that I will have the luxury of having saved enough by the time I want to stop working, so that I can in fact stop working. This is not shared by other elderly.

So what do we do? Do we "stretch" CPF to make them self-sufficient? Or do we provide some form of state assistance? Or do we encourage society to step in, a form of "many helping hands", if you will?

I don't know the correct answer, or what the best answer should be. I suspect it is likely to be a combination of all three. The unfortunate thing is that the debate is currently framed only around the first answer.

We also need to ask why, with one of the highest savings rates in the world, we still have people retiring without sufficient funds. Is it because the CPF's objective has been diluted, thanks to the myriad ways in which the funds can be used? Is it because of the poor returns? Is there a better way of doing this? So that's another part of the jigsaw that's not yet been discussed in detail.

There are many aspects to this. But like I said, right now the focus is only one aspect, which is how the CPF should be structured to encourage people to keep working. If that turns out to be the only aspect that we ever talk about, then I think we would have done Singaporeans a vast disservice.

To lam chun see: I'm curious, where are they mostly? Australia? Malaysia?

To gregory: But that's what it really is, isn't it? The solution can't be that alone. There's got to be other weapons in our arsenal.

Lam Chun See said...

I will have to do a count. But offhand, mostly Australia. One of them actually provides consultancy in how to migrate to Australia. The rest are all over.

family man said...

with the government's intention to unilaterally raise the CPF withdrawal of min sum scheme to 65, and increase in minimum sum scheme to $120,000, could I just ask one question - if I migrate and renounce my citizenship, can I withdraw all my CPF funds immediately? I really beginning to feel uncomfortable with the impending situation.

Rgd

testtube said...

family man:

Yea, you can withdraw your CPF funds upon surrendering citizenship. But it you decide to re-apply to be a Sg citizen you'd have to return it all to the CPF Board.

Source:
http://www.overseassingaporean.sg/cms/index.php/portal/os/os_preparing_to_go_overseas/os_settling_matters/os_cpf_matters/

testtube said...

Oops, proper link here

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