My apologies if you have found the past couple of posts quite depressing. To make up for it, here's a beautiful start to the week ahead. Watch the video above on full screen to enjoy the incredible beauty under the sea. Vibrant colours, amazing photography.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
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| Daily Mirror article |
Everyone dies - sooner or later. Yet few want to talk about how they would want to die. Death is still very much a taboo subject. It is the proverbial elephant in the room. Strange, but thoughts of death have been on my mind of late. No, I don't have a death wish, but the subject keeps cropping up.
In the article Ken writes about Charlie, a highly respected surgeon who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Charlie knew his chances of survival were about 15% at best. So what did he do? He closed his practice and spent his remaining months with his family enjoying life as best as he could. He opted for quality of life at home with his loved ones.
Doctors have seen enough death in the hospital to know how they want to die. To quote from Ken's article, "Almost all medical professionals have seen what we call 'futile care' being performed on people. That is when doctors bring the cutting edge of technology to bear on a grievously ill person near the end of life. The patient will get cut open, perforated with tubes, hooked up to machines, and assaulted with drugs. All of this occurs in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars a day. What it buys is misery we would not inflict on a terrorist. I cannot count the number of times fellow physicians have told me, in words that vary only slightly: 'Promise me, if you find me like this, that you'll kill me.' They mean it. Some medical personnel wear medallions stamped 'NO CODE' to tell physicians not to perform CPR on them."
I recall seeing my former father-in-law in his final days at the hospital. He was ready to go, but family members insisted on the doctors doing all they could to keep him alive. Would those extra days have made a difference to him? It certainly made a difference in the hospital bills. As far as I could tell, he was barely conscious. Everyone knew there was no point in prolonging his agony. Yet no one except my ex dared to suggest taking his father off the life-support machines. That would be extreme cruelty, grossly inhumane and totally unforgivable. No filial son or daughter would want to be eternally condemned for letting a parent die when he could have lived another day or two, another week or two.
When our time comes, how would we want to go? Quietly without any fuss, in the comfort of our own home surrounded by our loved ones? Or in a hospital bed, groaning in pain, with tubes sticking out from all over our body, and strangers at our bedside? Is life in such a state worth clinging onto?
The answer is obvious, isn't it? Just let it be known in writing so that no one in the family will feel guilty about heeding our DNR order.
Related article (including video):
WHEN EXTENDING LIFE MEANS PROLONGING THE PAIN OF DYING
When our time comes, how would we want to go? Quietly without any fuss, in the comfort of our own home surrounded by our loved ones? Or in a hospital bed, groaning in pain, with tubes sticking out from all over our body, and strangers at our bedside? Is life in such a state worth clinging onto?
The answer is obvious, isn't it? Just let it be known in writing so that no one in the family will feel guilty about heeding our DNR order.
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| A DNR bracelet. In some states in the US, for example, in Idaho, all medical services personnel must honour the patient's health decisions. |
Related article (including video):
WHEN EXTENDING LIFE MEANS PROLONGING THE PAIN OF DYING
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
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I don't drive, so of course I walk - A LOT. I am very active - my calendar is chock-full of events and appointments. Ah, I know the culprit. It must be the hours I spend at my computer handling emails, doing research and writing articles. I have also been slack about exercising. I used to do road running, yoga, and aerobics quite religiously. After my second major operation in 2008, my exercise regime has dwindled to just weekly dance class. I definitely need to step up and shape up.
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| My work station. Walking the talk, and staying committed to exercising for good health. |
Immediate Solution: I've put up reminders in front of my desk-top computer to get moving after an hour. To make sure I do just that, I've placed a clock right at my keyboard, and set the alarm to ring at hourly intervals. I vow to restart my daily 30-minute stretching and strength-training exercise. I shall continue to do this till I regain my ideal weight of 52 kg by my birthday in June.
When you are retired, it's easy to spend the days doing nothing except eat, sleep, and watch TV. Even if you don't watch TV, but spend hours reading or at the computer, it's still pretty much a sedentary lifestyle for many retirees. This is especially so for men. While the wives utilize the free time to sign up for classes, go on group tours or take up voluntary work, the husbands prefer to stay at home. Guys, is this true?
Research has shown that being physically active can add years to your life while a sedentary lifestyle actually speeds up the ageing process, and contributes to a host of health problems like obesity, heart diseases and diabetes.
The choice is ours to make. Walking is free and easy, and flexible too in terms of when and where you want to it, and with whom. Just 30 minutes will do.
So invest in a comfortable pair of walking shoes and start walking round the block or in the neighbourhood park. I'll be doing so this very evening.
Monday, February 20, 2012
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| At the end of the long 47-year wait - to be grateful to the government, or not? (The Star 16 Feb) |
47 years - that's how long it took for the Home Ministry to approve 84-year old S. Sethu's application. He had applied five times and only succeeded on his sixth attempt. Why was his application rejected five times? Why was it finally approved after 47 years? Did something change in the long interim? Or was it merely a change of heart on the part of the government?
Plenty of questions but no answer. It would be good to know so that other unsuccessful applicants would have a better idea of how to increase their chances of obtaining Malaysian citizenship.
For those interested in the application procedure, this is what I have gathered from the Home Ministry website:
(Citizenship Application under Article 16 – Persons born in the Federation Before Merdeka Day, 31 August 1957)
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
To register a person aged 18 years or above who was born in the Federation before Merdeka Day as a citizen of Malaysia.
CONDITIONS OF APPLICATION
The applicant is required to appear before the Registrar of Citizenship/Assistant Registrar of Citizenship when submitting the application.
The applicant should be born in the Federation before Merdeka Day (excluding Sabah and Sarawak).
The applicant should be 18 years old or above on the date of application.
The applicant has resided in the Federation over the previous 7 years and not less than 5 years from and until the date of submission of application.
The applicant intends to reside in the Federation.
The applicant is of good character.
The applicant has a simple knowledge of Malay Language.
Sounds pretty straightforward. So what's the problem? These are elderly folks who pose no threat whatsoever to the country. Tens of thousands of foreigners have already received their citizenship papers. They have stayed in the country for far fewer years than these elderly applicants. What's the explanation?
Another successful applicant, Mary Theresa, now 78, waited 50 years to get that piece of document which would enable her to enjoy the full benefits of being a citizen.
Let's hope it was worth the long wait for all these elderly new citizens of Malaysia.
Please read related article:
MALAYSIAN CITIZENSHIP - WHY THE LONG DELAY?
Saturday, February 18, 2012
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| An inclusive budget for Singaporeans. (Front page of Saturday's Straits Times) |
Headlines such as these below bring heartening news not only to the elderly, but also to their family members who are caregivers.
Some excerpts from the DPM's Budget Speech:
Health-care expenditure will double from $4 billion to $8 billion a year for the next five years. While part of it will be spent on increasing infrastructure and manpower, a significant amount will go towards providing subsidies to the elderly and their caregivers.
From the third quarter of this year, all patients who choose wards with six to eight beds at community hospitals will receive a minimum subsidy of 20 per cent on their bills, with poorer patients getting as much as 75 per cent off their bills.
On top of that, subsidised patients at community hospitals, nursing homes and those using homecare services will not have to pay the 7 per cent goods and services tax on their bills.
A family with an elderly parent in a private nursing home can see their monthly bill go down from $2,800 to $1,700. Families who look after an elderly parent at home will see their cost go down from $1,400 to $700 a month with the new subsidies. It is hoped this will result in half the frail seniors continuing to live at home rather than be placed in a nursing home.
Those who need a maid for an elderly family member with dementia or those unable to care for themselves will get a $120 monthly cash grant. This is on top of the $95 concession on the maid levy for families with elderly members.
To improve their safety, the Government will subsidise home modifications in Housing Board flats for the elderly. Features such as grab bars and anti-slip floor tiles will be worth about $2,000, but residents need pay no more than $250. This Enhancement for Active Seniors (Ease) programme will benefit 130,000 households and cost the Government $260 million over the next 10 years.
By 2020, the number of public general hospital beds will be increased by 1,900, or 30 per cent, and four more community hospitals will be built, adding a total of 1,800 beds.
The Government will also more than double the services in the long-term care sector. This includes both nursing homes and home-based health and social care services. To provide all these services, many more doctors, nurses and allied health-care professionals will be needed. Money will also be spent on 'paying them more competitively'.
Income-wise, there is also good news for older workers.
To encourage more firms to hire older workers, the Government will spend $470 million a year on subsidising the wage bill of employers over the next five years.
At the same time, it will raise the Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution rate of workers 50 years and older. By fulfilling this longstanding wish, the Government hopes to entice seniors to return to work and work longer.
The two-pronged approach to cope with an ageing workforce and reduce the dependence on foreign workers. 'People are healthier and living longer,' the VPM said. 'But unfortunately, working careers have not lengthened to the same extent.'
The current generation of older Singaporeans, in particular, has to cope with limited cash and CPF savings because wages were lower 30 years ago, he noted. The Minimum Sum they had to set aside then in their CPF for retirement was much less.
So, to boost their retirement savings and coax more to keep working, the CPF contribution rates of those between 50 and 55 years will be eased up slowly to the 36 per cent younger workers get.
From September, employers will pay a CPF rate of 14 per cent for workers between 50 and 55 years old, up from the current 12 per cent. For workers between 55 and 60 years, they will pay 10.5 per cent, up from 9 per cent. For workers between 60 and 65 years old, they will pay 7 per cent, up from 6.5 per cent. At the same time, workers aged between 50 and 60 years old must also put in an extra 0.5 percentage point into their CPF accounts.
To encourage older workers to keep working, the share of their tax-free income will be doubled. From Year of Assessment 2013, those between 55 and 59 will enjoy $6,000 worth of tax relief, up from $3,000. Workers aged 60 and older will enjoy $8,000 of tax relief, up from $4,000.
Under this wage bill subsidy scheme, which is locked in for at least five years, the Government will effectively pay employers for hiring workers aged above 50. It will pay 8 per cent of the wages of those earning up to $3,000 a month. For those earning between $3,000 and $4,000, it will pay a smaller proportion.
All together, the scheme will cover 80 per cent of the older workforce or 350,000 people, and cost the Government $470 million a year.
It would be hard to find fault with these provisions to ease life for older workers and the elderly. No doubt there will be folks who will continue to complain and ask for more goodies.
In a separate ST report, older cab drivers in Singapore may have reason to celebrate too. The Land Transport Authority is reviewing the age limit to hold a taxi driver vocational licence. The 12,000-member National Taxi Association have been calling for the LTA to raise the retirement age from 73 to 75. It was last raised in 2006 from 70 to 73. |
| Still able to drive a cab at 75? (Saturday's Straits Times) |
This is a confirmation that not only do people now enjoy a longer life span, but also an extended working life span.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
(The Malay Mail did a full page write-up about me and my blog in 2008. I've reproduced a slightly edited version here to answer some of the many queries I've been receiving about the blog. A note of thanks to those of you who attended SeniorsAloud's first offline community event this morning. It was a huge success! )
By GABEY GOH
MALAY MAIL August 12, 2008
THE digital divide is getting smaller as more and more senior citizens take that first tentative step into the world wide web, to explore, express and learn.Surveys have revealed that senior citizens aged 65 and above make up the fastest growing age group online, but as the number of users grows, the amount of content to cater for them remains a step or two behind.
This is where people such as Lily Fu, a 60-year-old grandmother of four, come in. She launched her blog, SeniorsAloud (seniorsaloud.blogspot.com) in May with one goal in mind.
"I wanted to provide senior citizens with an avenue to network online and share their life experiences. We believe in active ageing, and in living our golden years with passion and purpose," writes the part-time university tutor and English Language trainer. With a host of guest bloggers, topics relevant to the elderly are frenetically discussed to give the senior citizens a voice on the web.
When did you start using the internet?
I was first introduced to the Internet in 1994 when I was visiting my daughter in Canada. One night, I saw her emailing and chatting with her university friends online. I was amazed. What a great way to keep in touch – so much faster than by conventional mail, and far cheaper than paying for long distance calls.
Soon after, I bought my first desktop. As a high school teacher then, I was interested in using the Internet to supplement my English classes. I started a chat-room on IRC for my students in 1996. I believe we were among the early schools with an online presence. I’m quite proud of that.
How did you start to blog?
When I first read about blogging in 1999, I was keen on starting a blog for those over 50 years of age, being in that age group myself. I wrote to a newspaper about it, hoping to get positive feedback. My letter was published but there was no response at all! I guess most seniors in those days were not internet-savvy yet. Now, almost 10 years on, I believe the time is right to start a blog for seniors.
In 2007, a friend, who was already a blogger, invited me to an internet marketing seminar. I started a trial blog in order to apply what I had learned. SeniorsAloud is my second blog. The first article was posted on May 10, 2008, just three months ago. So it’s quite new, but the response this time around is much more encouraging. As the word gets out, I’m sure the blog will receive even more visitors.
What were your reasons?
It’s a known fact that many countries, including Malaysia, are seeing an ageing population. The average life span has increased. For males and females, it’s 73 and 76 respectively. In 2007, according to statistics from the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN), the elderly, or those who have touched 60, make up seven per cent of the population. There are issues concerning the elderly that need to be addressed, like health care, financial management, and housing.
There are also more seniors now with access to the internet and thus a blog would be a great avenue to reach out to these seniors, while also encouraging those who are apprehensive about the internet to take the first baby steps into this whole new realm. It literally opens up a new world, and even those seniors who are housebound can still have an active social and intellectual life via the internet.
On a personal level, I know of retirees who have difficulty adjusting to a life without a 9-5 job. They feel a tremendous loss of self-esteem. Some have lost their spouse and feel lonely and depressed.
SeniorsAloud is intended to be a community-based blog where seniors and retirees can network and share their rich life experiences. It is also a channel for them to speak out on issues that affect them, whether it is the lack of elderly-friendly public facilities, or the discrimination leveled at them. It takes a senior to understand another senior and provide moral support for one another.
What have you achieved through blogging?
The blog is only three months old, so it’s still too early to talk about achievements. But to date, the feedback has been very encouraging. "Inspiring" is the word visitors often used after reading the posts. One visitor in her 30s wrote in an email that the post about "Grandparenting – A Pleasure or Pressure?" helped her to better understand her parents.
Any regrets?
I’ve always wanted to give something back to society. SeniorsAloud is the perfect vehicle for me to accomplish this. I can blog at home and still keep an eye on my grandchildren and my elderly mother. And the best thing is that it’s free! So there’s absolutely nothing to regret. Of course, blogging can be quite time-consuming, but I enjoy the challenge of keeping the blog current.
Has blogging changed your life?
I now carry my camera everywhere I go. I’ve learned to be bold in approaching people and telling them about my blog. You can say blogging has given me new confidence and a new direction in life. Through it, I’ve been fortunate to connect with many seniors who have been most supportive in contributing to the blog content.
The "Blogosphere". What does it mean to you?
The Blogosphere adds a whole new dimension to information gathering – almost anything and everything under the sun probably has been the subject of a blog. That said, one of the challenges of the internet, including blogs, is to sift through all the information out there – sometimes there is an information overload. Nonetheless, it’s always better to have too many options than none at all!
Favourite blogger?
I’ve got several bookmarked under "Favourites", so I won’t commit to singling out any particular one. It’d be like asking me who is my absolute favourite among all my grandchildren. I love them all.
If there were someone you could influence to blog. who would they be?
Definitely all those above 50! This is the fastest growing age group on the Internet, but certainly not in Malaysia. I still meet a lot of seniors who say they are too old to pick up computer skills, or they are simply not interested. Blogging is fun, mentally stimulating and who knows, it may help ward off Alzheimer’s!
When I’m in my 80s or 90s, provided I don’t have arthritis in my fingers, I intend to carry on blogging. I’ll take blogging anytime over knitting in a rocking chair!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
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| Photo: Straits Times |
Here's one of my favourite Beatles song to sing to your other half to mark this day. Enjoy!
Depending on who is marking the day, 14 February is also Singles Awareness Day. "When you are a couple, Valentine's Day is one of the most exciting days of the year. When you are single, you sometimes want to throw things at those happy couples," writes Kira Sabin. Read more about the singles' survival guide to Valentine's Day.
To all happily married couples and happy singles, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! More singalong with this video.
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