http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,192990,00.html?
Depressing to be left in JB nursing homes
By Brian Miller
February 16, 2009
THERE is this patch of grass near where I live. It's where a group of old-timers gather for their twice or thrice-weekly game of gateball.
The youngest among them has got to be about 65. Retired. Probably on a pension.
I told the wife, if she ever caught me hitting a wooden ball with a mallet, she should shoot me.
It's not that I want a hole in the head. It's just that, the day I take up gateball will be the day I concede that I'm old. And, believe me, that's scary.
No bull. People like us, who still listen to Cliff Richard and Skeeter Davis, we worry about growing old.
It scares us and we hope that when 'the time comes' we won't be put out to pasture in some foreign land just because it's cheaper.
Because of rising costs, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan suggested that old folks be put up in nursing homes in Johor Baru.
He meant well and he reasoned: 'Quite a significant number visit (their old folks) only during weekends. So what is the difference in putting them up in JB?'
Well, there's a difference.
Take my parents. They are two 'old folks', well into their 80s, closer to 90. They live by themselves in Bukit Timah. They're nearer to JB than they are to us who live in the eastern part of Singapore.
We visit regularly for lunch and a chit-chat. And when we leave, there's no weeping and gnashing of teeth. They know we're 'only in Siglap'. I guess that's comforting.
If they were in a 'home' in JB, it'll be like we're leaving them in another country. And that, I reckon, could be depressing.
Another country is never 'near enough'. It's different when we take leisurely drives 'up north'. The folks like it. Different scenery. Different food. Different pace.
But having to live there, alone, that's another story.
I have friends who, when their pets become old, sick and difficult to manage, send them to some farm in JB to live out the rest of their lives. They tell me it's the 'merciful' thing to do. They say it is more comfortable and their dog or cat will be much happier.
I don't think so. For want of a better word, I'd say it's cruel. You shouldn't do that to a pet. And you don't do that to the people you love.
Already the word 'nursing home' brings on the shivers. It conjures up images of old codgers, wheezing, wheelchairs, weak bowels. Adult diapers? Ahhhh!
Now, imagine being sent to a nursing home or retirement village in another country - even if it's 'just across the Causeway' and even if the diapers come cheaper by the dozen. Now, that's doubly depressing.
I asked my teenage son if he would ever put good ol' dad in a nursing home outside Singapore if it meant saving some money? Bless his heart, he said no.
I believe him. But, what if?
Well, I told him exactly what I told the wife.
Shoot me first.
You see, growing old is scary. Being institutionalised in a foreign country is, well, chilling - as in cold-hearted. I wouldn't let it happen to my pets. I certainly wouldn't let it happen to my old folks.
And I hope to God it doesn't happen to me.
Depressing to be left in JB nursing homes
By Brian Miller
February 16, 2009
THERE is this patch of grass near where I live. It's where a group of old-timers gather for their twice or thrice-weekly game of gateball.
The youngest among them has got to be about 65. Retired. Probably on a pension.
I told the wife, if she ever caught me hitting a wooden ball with a mallet, she should shoot me.
It's not that I want a hole in the head. It's just that, the day I take up gateball will be the day I concede that I'm old. And, believe me, that's scary.
No bull. People like us, who still listen to Cliff Richard and Skeeter Davis, we worry about growing old.
It scares us and we hope that when 'the time comes' we won't be put out to pasture in some foreign land just because it's cheaper.
Because of rising costs, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan suggested that old folks be put up in nursing homes in Johor Baru.
He meant well and he reasoned: 'Quite a significant number visit (their old folks) only during weekends. So what is the difference in putting them up in JB?'
Well, there's a difference.
Take my parents. They are two 'old folks', well into their 80s, closer to 90. They live by themselves in Bukit Timah. They're nearer to JB than they are to us who live in the eastern part of Singapore.
We visit regularly for lunch and a chit-chat. And when we leave, there's no weeping and gnashing of teeth. They know we're 'only in Siglap'. I guess that's comforting.
If they were in a 'home' in JB, it'll be like we're leaving them in another country. And that, I reckon, could be depressing.
Another country is never 'near enough'. It's different when we take leisurely drives 'up north'. The folks like it. Different scenery. Different food. Different pace.
But having to live there, alone, that's another story.
I have friends who, when their pets become old, sick and difficult to manage, send them to some farm in JB to live out the rest of their lives. They tell me it's the 'merciful' thing to do. They say it is more comfortable and their dog or cat will be much happier.
I don't think so. For want of a better word, I'd say it's cruel. You shouldn't do that to a pet. And you don't do that to the people you love.
Already the word 'nursing home' brings on the shivers. It conjures up images of old codgers, wheezing, wheelchairs, weak bowels. Adult diapers? Ahhhh!
Now, imagine being sent to a nursing home or retirement village in another country - even if it's 'just across the Causeway' and even if the diapers come cheaper by the dozen. Now, that's doubly depressing.
I asked my teenage son if he would ever put good ol' dad in a nursing home outside Singapore if it meant saving some money? Bless his heart, he said no.
I believe him. But, what if?
Well, I told him exactly what I told the wife.
Shoot me first.
You see, growing old is scary. Being institutionalised in a foreign country is, well, chilling - as in cold-hearted. I wouldn't let it happen to my pets. I certainly wouldn't let it happen to my old folks.
And I hope to God it doesn't happen to me.
Just because the govt is considering setting up retirement homes in JB does not mean that Sinkies are forced to deposit their old folk there!
