I would like to highlight a few companies in Singapore who are making in-roads to help seniors in employment. First off, is POSB and their work in the POSB Active Neighbours programme. It is a great programme that has helped 60 seniors (like 62-year-old Betty Lee above) who were deployed to POSB branches islandwide earlier this year. They assist customers, especially their peers, with banking transactions and encourage the use of self-service banking services. It is interesting to note, 75 percent or over 40 of the pioneer batch of 60, are aged 50 and above, while 20 are above 60 years old. Due to the success of the programme, POSB is planning to double the number next year to 120 Active Neighbours. They are now taking in applications. You can go to their branches from now till 12 December and collect a form. If you have applied before, you need not re-apply as the bank will review the previous applications received.

Another company who deserves some credit is Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, who was in the news as they are looking for mature, friendly and empathetic Singaporeans to fill more than 300 vacancies in the new hospital in Yishun. The positions are for housekeeping staff and patient assistants, who will help in the operating theatres, provide financial counselling and transport patents, among other duties. The hospital is run by public-health group Alexandra Health and will open in phases next year. For more details, call the hotline of e2i or Employment and Employability Institute who is screening jobseekers at 6474 3777.

One last company who also deserves a special mention is Maybank Singapore who has become the first bank to, together with its unions, sign a policy on the re-employment of older workers based on the latest tripartite guidelines, according to Weekend Today newspaper. They will provide pre-retirement counselling 12 months before employees turn 62 and give three months’ notice about their re-employment status. Also should there be no job match within the organisation, the bank will help them find work outside. If all fails, the bank will offer them a one-off Employment Assistance Payment. In addition, the bank has also decided not to apply the discretionary wage cut of up to 10 percent when staff turn 60. Kudos to all these companies. I hope others can learn and follow suit!

(PHOTO CREDIT: COMPUTER USERS © Higyou | Dreamstime.com)

A look into the proposed Tripartite Guidelines on the Re-employment of Older Workers that were drafted with feedback from employers and unions. According to an article in Today newspaper, for workers performing well and in good health, but yet are not re-employed after they hit the retirement age of 62, the draft Tripartite Guidelines recommended that employers offer a one-off payment called the Employment Assistance Payment (EAP). Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong reiterated that this is not a form of welfare, but is meant for the workers who cannot be rehired as they seek employment in other places within three months – the average time it takes to get a new job, according to another article in Today newspaper.

Other terms of the draft guidelines is that employers should prepare their workers for re-employment no less than a year ahead of retirement age and offer a re-employment contract at least three months before retirement. The draft is now available for public consultation. The draft guidelines will be the “foundation” for the 2012 legislation and according to the Minister in the newspaper article, they will help companies understand re-employment, “offer practical solutions to help them put in place the necessary systems and processes, and ultimately, establish the norms for re-employment”.

See the terms at www.reach.gov.sg.

Why should we let a number like our age dictate the way we feel? I recently read a wonderful book called “The Noticer” and in one of the chapters was a story about an older woman who felt she had nothing left to offer. However, the main character called Jones (not Mr Jones) showed her the way and gave her perspective.He explained through well-known examples. For instance, Benjamin Franklin didn’t invent bifocals until he was 78. Winston Churchill was also 78 and finished more than a couple of careers when he wrote a book that won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Nelson Mandela was inaugurated president of South Africa for the first time – after years in that country’s prisons – at the age of 75. Igor Stravinsky was still doing concerts when he was 87. Michelangelo didn’t begin his work on St Peter’s Basilica – one of the world’s greatest treasures – until he was 72. I guess you can see where author Andy Andrews is going. Pick up the book, you will enjoy it!

This is a follow-up to my earlier blog on this subject matter: Today, I listened to Gerard Ee (who just turned 60), chairman of the Council for Third Age, who said a few words during the STOP Campaign at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. The festival raises awareness of relationship violence such as elder abuse and abuse of women. He mentioned that passive abuse such as you ignore or neglect an elderly is also considered abuse. “Caring for an elderly can take some energy and the stress can get the better of you,” he said. “But it is about becoming aware.” He suggested to take breaks such as get a relative to help out. “You need to recharge yourself.” Caregiving isn’t just about taking care of your loved one, it is also about taking care of yourself.

(PHOTO CREDIT: A HELPING HAND © Woo Bing Siew | Dreamstime.com)

Congratulations to volunteers Roselyn Ho, 62, and Hoon Thye Yong, 82, for winning the Good Deeds Award contest, which ran on the Straits Times’ Stomp. They appeared in “My Paper” today. For the past six years, Ho has actively volunteered at several organisations including Food from the Heart, Ren Ci Hospital, Toastmasters International and the Singapore Women’s Council Association. Reported in the newspaper, she said about her award, “As long as I can walk, even with polio, I will always help others. So there is no excuse for able-bodied people not to volunteer.” Hoon has been volunteering for the past 25 years and is a familiar sight at RSVP. For the past six years, he has been visiting Ang Mo Kio’s Thye Hua Kwan Hospital to sell light snacks to patients and their families. The fund he collects goes to the Patient Welfare Fund. He said in the paper, “Volunteerism is n my blood and I want to help people. It gives me a reason to wake up each morning.” We all have lots to learn from these two. Though volunteer work is unpaid, we should do it with full commitment as we would with paid work and in doing so, we find it satisfying to give back and we learn something about ourselves in the process

I am not going to take credit for this title. It actually came from my publisher’s note on the humanitarian magazine that I am working with. His thoughts mirror mine and I thought I would get this off my chest and put it in my perspective. In this journey that I have been going through in terms of putting up my website and blog to help, educate and inspire seniors, I have come across my share of disappointments over people and organisations who promise to support me but when push comes to shove, they are no where in sight! Things are already tough and they don’t have be made even tougher. If you can’t deliver on your promise, then just say you can’t. Your honesty would be respected … but don’t give lip-service because it is what the other person wants to hear. The funniest thing about all this is the things that I am asking people on their support are so minor (not even monetary support) and they don’t take two months either to decide! When you say you can and don’t, it is totally frustrating for the recipient as they needed that support. In the first place, why would they ask if they didn’t need it!!! I believe you get to see a person’s true character and in the end of the day, maybe it is better not to be working with people who have such half-ass commitment.

In saying this though, I have on the other hand gotten some fantastic support from people and organisations that I never thought would support me. These people have gone the extra mile and believe in me and the work I am doing and I can’t be more grateful. A big thanks to those people. You know who you are! You have given me renewed hope that there are people still left in this world who do honour their good intentions.

SENIOR MAN CASUAL PORTRAIT © Serghei Starus | Dreamstime.com

In the “Today” newspaper on Thursday, there were startling details on abuse of the elderly. It said that last year’s figures showed seniors aged 80 and above were the most vulnerable to elder abuse and the most common types of abuse were physical and psychological abuse, as well as negligence. According to Xinhua News Agency, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan noted at the National Family Violence Symposium 2009 that though the current numbers of reported elder abuse remain small with an average of 178 reported cases every year, each case is one tragedy too many. The “Today” article said that 70% of seniors today live with their families and are emotionally and financially dependent on their children. The article further highlighted that local reports show the perpetrators in two out of three reported elder abuse cases were victims’ children. “This may reflect the children’s inability to deal with the stress of caregiving, rather than malice,” said Dr Balakrishnan. This is very sad to hear of children abusing their parents but it also highlights the importance of education for caregivers on how to handle such a tough situation and that they are not alone. There is help available and they need to ask for it.

Ladies, it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October. If you are 40 and above and haven’t gotten your mammography screening, please do so. There are also a lot of talks on breast cancer during this month as well as subsidised/discounted screenings at some hospitals (you can check out MY LINKS on Agelessonline). For more information on breast cancer, check out the Breast Cancer Foundation. Take care of your breasts and don’t forget to do a breast self-examination once every month. A mammography may cause some discomfort and pain but that doesn’t mean you should put it off. Treating the cancer early on if you have it is much better than finding it later when it has spread. Make the appointment today!

(SUCCESS SENIOR ASIAN BUSINESSMAN © Arekmalang | Dreamstime.com)

In today’s newspapers, “Today” and “New Paper”, I read that more than 700 unionised companies are committed to re-employment of older workers after they hit retirement age. This is before the 2012 re-employment legislation kicks in. The papers say that more than 5,000 workers have been re-employed. So what about non-unionised companies? Are they prepared for 2012? Somehow I doubt so and really do hope that they start preparing now before it is too late. All the recent news about hiring older workers is good but if no one seems to take heed and we are preaching to deaf ears, what’s the point? Also, the Labour Movement, the newspapers say, is asking to scrap the 10% wage cut when the employee is re-employed upon hitting the retirement age. This will come up in the review of the new legislation. This whole thing started in 1999 when the Government raised the retirement age from 60 to 62 and passed a law that lets companies cut older workers’ pay by up to 10%. But now as businesses move to more performance-based pay, there would be “less reason” for the cut. Kudos on that measure as seniors could use the extra amounts and put it towards enjoying their golden years

PHOTO CREDIT: INFRARED REMOTE CONTROL UNIT IN HAND © Alexey Arkhipov | Dreamstime.com

A friend just passed me a wonderful You Tube video that you really need to watch. It is fantastic and speaks volumes! She had passed me another one several months back that was quite good too. Just click below and watch:
You Tube – What is that?
You Tube – Lost Generation