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Ageing society: S'pore can cushion impact and 'even reap dividends' after decades of preparation, says Ong Ye Kung

SINGAPORE — The strong foundation Singapore has laid for an ageing society means that the nation is now in a position to cushion the impact of a greying population and perhaps “even reap the dividends” from it, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung speaking in Parliament on April 20, 2023.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung speaking in Parliament on April 20, 2023.

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  • Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said Singapore is in a good position to handle the challenges of an ageing population due to its strong foundation in preparing for it
  • The country is expected to become a "super-aged" society in 2026, which means 21 per cent of the population will be 65 years old or older
  • Singapore had avoided the crises facing many countries, which are saddled with large debts from paying the pensions of their ageing populations, he said
  • It can still remain a "superb" country if it continues to press on in preparing for the ageing population
  • This will include improving retirement adequacy, as well as adapting the economy for an ageing society

SINGAPORE — The strong foundation Singapore has laid for an ageing society means that the nation is now in a position to cushion the impact of a greying population and perhaps “even reap the dividends” from it, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said.

The country first thought about issues related to the ageing population 40 years ago and has been actively addressing these issues ever since, he said on Thursday (April 20) in Parliament.

And if the country continues pressing on with this journey, it will be able to remain a “superb” country, even though it will also be considered a “super-aged” one, he added.

A super-aged society is defined as having 21 per cent of the population aged 65 and above.

Singapore is expected to reach that threshold in 2026, Mr Ong said as he laid out plans for how the country can further prepare for the challenges of an ageing society.

He was speaking on the fourth day of a debate on President Halimah Yacob's address, which was delivered when Parliament reopened last week.

In his speech, Mr Ong said that it had been the “good governance” of the ruling People’s Action Party that led Singapore to prepare for the challenges of an ageing population.

OTHER NATIONS FACING CRISES OVER PENSIONS 

The many years of preparations in anticipation of Singapore's ageing society has also helped it to avoid the crisis facing many nations worldwide, Mr Ong said.

Some Western countries face significant national debts as they try to pay pensions to their ageing populations.

We consciously avoided those problems and have built up a national nest egg in our reserves. We are drawing income from it and want our future generations to continue to benefit from it.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung

He noted that France has seen "massive public protests" over government plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, as the country faces a huge annual deficit on the cost of paying pensions to its growing number of retirees.

"We consciously avoided those problems and have built up a national nest egg in our reserves. We are drawing income from it and want our future generations to continue to benefit from it," he said.

RETIREMENT ADEQUACY, AGEING ECONOMY

Mr Ong noted that there are segments in society who do not save enough in their accounts for the Central Provident Fund (CPF), the national savings scheme for retirement.

The Ministry of Manpower will be looking at ways and means to improve retirement adequacy, Mr Ong said without giving more details.

Beyond that, Singapore will need to adapt its economy, as an ageing population will have a prominent impact on the labour force.

To illustrate, the growth rate of Singapore’s resident labour force has already slowed.

Between 2002 and 2012, it grew by 30 per cent, but in the next decade, it grew by just 15 per cent.

That said, the country still managed to continue to grow the workforce, despite the onset of societal ageing in the past two decades, he added.

This has happened for a few reasons, including allowing Singaporeans to stay economically active for longer by raising the retirement and reemployment ages, from 60 and 65 previously, to 63 and 68 today.

By 2030, the retirement and reemployment ages will be raised to 65 and 70 respectively.

Mr Ong said that raising the retirement and re-employment ages does not affect the retirement savings that people have built up in their CPF accounts.

“The main impact of raising these ages is that workers are protected from being dismissed due to their age by their employers.

“Workers can choose to retire early if they want to. Hence, raising this retirement age is an unmitigated good to workers.”

However, employers must certainly do their part through job redesign and reskilling, and “learn to benefit from tapping the silver workforce”.

Aside from supporting seniors in the workplace, there must be support for women to re-enter the workforce, he aded.

Some initiatives that aim to do so would include the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangements, which will be introduced by 2024.

REFORMING THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

Mr Ong also spoke about reforming Singapore’s healthcare system.

“So long as the population is young, the system can cope. But as life expectancy (rises), so (does) the disease burden. The old design starts to break down.”

Therefore, beyond the Healthier SG initiative, the next major area of priority for his ministry is to build up community care, to “get us all to do what is right for our health” and to support ageing in communities.

“With community support, there are great opportunities for seniors to age healthily... This is the next area where big changes need to take place.”

BOLD HIRING POLICIES TO BOOST BIRTH RATES, SUPPORT FOR OLDER MEN

A wide range of issues were covered on Thursday (April 20) during the debate on President Halimah Yacob’s address, with 10 political office-holders and Members of Parliament (MPs) from both sides of the House speaking on Singapore’s low birth rate, strengthening support for older men and the welfare of migrant workers, among others.

On Singapore’s record-low fertility rate, MP Ng Ling Ling (Ang Mo Kio GRC) pointed out that financial costs, stress and the difficulties in managing work and family demands remain the top three reasons why Singaporeans are not prepared to have more children.

Sandwiched dual-income families, in particular, struggle with caring for both older parents and young children.

Besides offering financial incentives, she suggested providing more physio-social support and flexible work arrangements for employees, in order to encourage more Singaporeans to have children.

She also recommended experimenting with bolder human resource policies, including hiring slightly more workers in a bid to manage work stress, even in positions where flexible work arrangements seem unlikely, such as those held by frontline service workers, nurses and shift workers.

As for supporting older men, MP Edward Chia (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) that this is necessary because statistics show that men are more likely to experience loneliness in old age compared to women.

He suggested that the Government work with activity centres for seniors to understand why men are less likely to frequent these places.

The data will help curate programmes that better cater to their needs and preferences.

Turning to blue-collar and migrant workers, Workers’ Party MP He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC) stressed the important role they play in society and called on the Government to reduce the imbalance between them and employers.

This is with a view to “improve safety standards and ultimately protect lives and livelihoods”.

The Workers’ Party previously proposed to include better protection to allow workers to feel more comfortable in calling out unsafe practices, she said, by instituting whistle-blower protections to ensure confidentiality for such complaints.

She also spoke about treating these workers with more dignity, which includes addressing the quality of food they receive and their safety in terms of how they are transported to and from work sites.

Aside from this, Ms He said that Singapore must do its best to "alleviate discomfort" for the workers when they are labouring outdoors, particularly with the recent soaring temperatures.

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