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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Two issues and a message of possibilities
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lee Siew Hua, Senior Political Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ON THE other side of sombre issues like suicide and job uncertainty is a world of possibilities.
That is the thinking behind the ministerial responses to two sets of delicate questions on the rise in elderly suicides, and the number of jobs going to foreigners.
Two ministers showed the House on Wednesday how these uncomfortable issues can be reframed more brightly.
The elderly need not age desperately but should stay active instead. This was the line taken by Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Boon Heng.
As for the foreign workers, they contribute flexibility and growth to the Singapore job market. This was a message delivered unwaveringly by Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong on all three days when Parliament sat.
Now, the aged and the foreign workers are two growing groups that are altering our demographic profile seemingly overnight.
Changes of such magnitude test our robustness as a nation.
So public discourse on these population segments - whether in and out of the House, sustained or not - should be watched and encouraged.
In Parliament, Mr Lim made the point that families, society and the state are three vital players who can jointly help the elderly to age actively. Then their suicide rates can slide.
He was replying to Nominated MP Eunice Olsen, who had queried if more early interventions can be promoted.
The minister placed substantial emphasis on the family, saying: 'There is no substitute for family in giving the elderly, or in fact every one of us, a sense of purpose, meaning and joy to life.'
The state and society will step in too, with creative programmes and resources.
The hope is that with these many helping hands, ageing will not be a solitary journey but a new adventure.
Seniors can form interest groups, maybe rediscover passions, build new bonds.
So they can ultimately enjoy six dimensions of 'wellness' that encompass the social, intellectual, physical, vocational, emotional and spiritual spheres of life.
In effect, Mr Lim, in his unassuming style, showed ways to manage ageing against a tide of negative or defeatist attitudes. Younger people, for instance, tend to reflexively think of the old as infirm and a drain on national resources.
But we will see more older people who live with purpose and fun. They may be drummers, runners and Elvis fans.
They may be persons of stature like Ambassador Chan Heng Chee who, at 66, represents Singapore compellingly in Washington and even discusses dating.
The spirit of Mr Lim's response shows that a truer narrative of ageing must arise and capture the full reality of both the fruits and the fragility of growing old.
The message of possibilities is timely, now that the four-month Active Ageing Festival has begun. This year, it will also reach the heartland and its perhaps secluded seniors through roadshows.
Meanwhile, on all three days of Parliament, Mr Gan was kept busy responding to questions from parliamentarians on foreign workers.
On Wednesday, for instance, Madam Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) wanted to know how many jobs went to foreigners out of the 143,000 jobs created in the first half of this year.
She asked Mr Gan: 'In view of the slower economic growth and the projected higher unemployment rate, would the ministry consider reviewing the current quotas on foreign workers which have been liberalised?'
He presented the flip side of the foreign-worker syndrome: Flexibility.
'The presence of foreign workers creates flexibility for our employment landscape,' he said.
'It is this flexibility that has allowed us to continue to create new jobs and many of these new jobs go to Singaporeans.'
As before, he turned the spotlight on training. He announced this week that skills training will extend to all levels of Singaporean workers, not just the low-skilled.
And so rough situations have an embedded diamond or two, if we dig for them. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lee Siew Hua, Senior Political Correspondent
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ON THE other side of sombre issues like suicide and job uncertainty is a world of possibilities.
That is the thinking behind the ministerial responses to two sets of delicate questions on the rise in elderly suicides, and the number of jobs going to foreigners.
Two ministers showed the House on Wednesday how these uncomfortable issues can be reframed more brightly.
The elderly need not age desperately but should stay active instead. This was the line taken by Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Boon Heng.
As for the foreign workers, they contribute flexibility and growth to the Singapore job market. This was a message delivered unwaveringly by Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong on all three days when Parliament sat.
Now, the aged and the foreign workers are two growing groups that are altering our demographic profile seemingly overnight.
Changes of such magnitude test our robustness as a nation.
So public discourse on these population segments - whether in and out of the House, sustained or not - should be watched and encouraged.
In Parliament, Mr Lim made the point that families, society and the state are three vital players who can jointly help the elderly to age actively. Then their suicide rates can slide.
He was replying to Nominated MP Eunice Olsen, who had queried if more early interventions can be promoted.
The minister placed substantial emphasis on the family, saying: 'There is no substitute for family in giving the elderly, or in fact every one of us, a sense of purpose, meaning and joy to life.'
The state and society will step in too, with creative programmes and resources.
The hope is that with these many helping hands, ageing will not be a solitary journey but a new adventure.
Seniors can form interest groups, maybe rediscover passions, build new bonds.
So they can ultimately enjoy six dimensions of 'wellness' that encompass the social, intellectual, physical, vocational, emotional and spiritual spheres of life.
In effect, Mr Lim, in his unassuming style, showed ways to manage ageing against a tide of negative or defeatist attitudes. Younger people, for instance, tend to reflexively think of the old as infirm and a drain on national resources.
But we will see more older people who live with purpose and fun. They may be drummers, runners and Elvis fans.
They may be persons of stature like Ambassador Chan Heng Chee who, at 66, represents Singapore compellingly in Washington and even discusses dating.
The spirit of Mr Lim's response shows that a truer narrative of ageing must arise and capture the full reality of both the fruits and the fragility of growing old.
The message of possibilities is timely, now that the four-month Active Ageing Festival has begun. This year, it will also reach the heartland and its perhaps secluded seniors through roadshows.
Meanwhile, on all three days of Parliament, Mr Gan was kept busy responding to questions from parliamentarians on foreign workers.
On Wednesday, for instance, Madam Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) wanted to know how many jobs went to foreigners out of the 143,000 jobs created in the first half of this year.
She asked Mr Gan: 'In view of the slower economic growth and the projected higher unemployment rate, would the ministry consider reviewing the current quotas on foreign workers which have been liberalised?'
He presented the flip side of the foreign-worker syndrome: Flexibility.
'The presence of foreign workers creates flexibility for our employment landscape,' he said.
'It is this flexibility that has allowed us to continue to create new jobs and many of these new jobs go to Singaporeans.'
As before, he turned the spotlight on training. He announced this week that skills training will extend to all levels of Singaporean workers, not just the low-skilled.
And so rough situations have an embedded diamond or two, if we dig for them. [email protected]
