Friday, July 30, 2010

"THERE SHOULD BE NO RETIREMENT AGE"

That's what Lee Kuan Yew, 86, Singapore's former PM and now MM (Minister Mentor) proposed in his speech two days ago at a function celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF).

From 2012, Singapore employers have to offer re-employment to workers when they reach the retirement age of 62.

Here is what LKY has to say about retirement and reemployment.

"You work as long as you can work and you will be healthier and happier for it. If you ask me to stop working all of a sudden, I think I'll just shrivel up, face the wall and just that..."

"At my age, I may have aches and pains but I can keep going."

"Many of our workers have a preferred retirement, and then they die early! If you start saying, 'Oh, I'm old!' And you start reading novels and playing golf or playing chess or scrabbles, well, you're on the way down."

"The Chinese saying says 'You live long, you learn long'. Never stop learning. The day you stop learning, that's the day you begin to die, atrophy, and I'm still learning."

Sound advice from an elder statesman who is living proof that lifelong learning and purposeful living are hallmarks of longevity.

To view a video clip of excepts from LKY's speech, click here

Related article:
LEE KUAN YEW ON AGEING

2 comments:

foodbin said...

I am all for it!

LC Teh said...

Depends on what you mean by 'work'. I've heard that line before that went: "I used to work 18 hours a day..." And all the guy did was add up a few numbers, talk to other business men about everything under the sun and drink tea in air-conditioned comfort. He called that work, while other folks had to sweat in the humid air, breathe in the pungent stink of chemicals, and break their backs with heavy loads.