70-year-old helps fellow seniors get up to speed with IT

SINGAPORE — His childhood days in a kampong exposed Mr Tariam Singh to different languages and dialects. The 70-year-old speaks Mandarin, Malay, Punjabi and Hokkien and now puts his flair for languages to good use by equipping seniors with IT skills.

In June, the former human resource professional in training and development became a volunteer Silver Infocomm Wellness Ambassador, an initiative by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the People’s Association Active Ageing Council. Language tends to be one of the biggest hurdles for seniors to pick up IT skills, as many do not understand English, said Mr Singh.

An 83-year old woman he met recently at a community event only spoke Hokkien, for instance. “She was so happy I could (speak to her) in Hokkien… I enjoy (being able) to touch base with these different languages and connect with different people,” he said.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong commended Mr Singh’s efforts to bring others up to speed with technology in his National Day Rally speech. The Smart Nation effort is for both young and old, Mr Lee had said.

Seeing his peers struggle to use phones and other smart devices — a “must nowadays” — spurred Mr Singh to help his peers. Besides showing them how to use messaging apps and Google Maps, he offers pointers on how to be more cyber savvy, like being aware of the risks involved in doing online banking and shopping.

The most important thing is to be patient and to tailor the learning to these seniors by teaching at a slower pace, he said.

His linguistic abilities draw many “surprised and happy” reactions from the people he meets. In turn, Mr Singh derives joy from seeing his “students” becoming “a lot more confident” in using their handphones and apps.

Instead of feeling alienated by fast-changing pace of technology, he welcomes the chance to keep himself abreast of changes and refresh his skills, which keeps life “interesting”, he said. For instance, WhatsApp allows him to connect easily with friends scattered across the globe and be part of various retiree and jogging groups.

Mr Singh trawls the Internet for cooking tips, travel deals and bargains for electronics goods, and uses it to keep up-to-date with the news.

“I want to keep on learning all the time. We must keep abreast with technology, if not you will be left behind, your (social circle) will shrink, and you won’t have connection with your friends,” he said. “You’ll feel lonely.”