Growing old by Lau Guan Kim.

My thoughts on growing old
Lau Guan Kim
25 Sept 2011

©2011. All rights reserved.


A survey showed more than two-thirds of Singaporeans did not take care of their old parents.

In many instances the children beat up their parents.

Getting old is lonely and you feel unwanted.

I say to myself I do not want a long life, but if I should live long, I must stay healthy, physically and financially, so that I would not be a burden to my children. People asked me why no one at home accompanied me to MRT and SBS. That is the last thing I want
happen to me. I just want to be self-reliant, with whatever small savings I have to see me and my wife through old age.

Thus, I always have a bag or backpack in my walk around the interchanges in MRT so I could shop in Carrefour or Isetan. Walking with an elbow crutch  soften the pain in my legs. I am realistic to know that this is what I must train myself and my wife to do. Our children have their lives to lead and taking care of children and family takes their time and energy.

Growing old can be humiliating, especially if you have no savings. Old people are neglected, and many are rejected. Being old is not an option for many; quite a fair section wish for an early death.

If sick, the old prefer euthanasia rather than being neglected.

The old have raised their children, but many are not being cared for.

Children who behaved thus to their old parents need to see the danger their own children are watching and will do the same to them.

Confucian ethics of filial piety is gone with modernisation.
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