HOW SHOULD WE REFER TO OLDER ADULTS?

Would older adults accept being addressed as 'perennials'? 

When I started this blog in May 2008, I had several names in mind for the blog. Unfortunately all of them were already taken. I must have tried at least 20 names in total, with the same result each time - 'not available'. In frustration I gave it one final go with 'SeniorsAloud'. The name had popped into my mind at that last minute. To my surprise, it was accepted.

Both my daughters didn't like the name at all. They probably felt that with a name like SeniorsAloud, the blog would interest only old people. Of course, I went on the defensive. What did they mean by 'old'? I was about to turn 60 at the time, and didn't feel at all a day over 40. Neither was I frail, and definitely nowhere close to being senile.

Let me ask my readers, does the word 'senior' have a negative connotation? What sort of image springs to mind at the mention of 'senior citizen'? I have good friends who would cringe with horror at being referred to as one, even though they are 60+ and retired. To them, that's as good as sounding the death knell!

The problem with labels is they are generic. 'Old' people are painted with the same brush, and in the same grey colour. But there are so many different shades and hues of grey. If the 50+ and 60+ are not quite ready to be called old, how then would you address them? The 'young old'? That doesn't work either. And are the 70+ the 'old old'? These are terms used by researchers in social sciences and gerontology. What other terms of reference do we have? The pre-war and post war generations? Baby Boomers? Equally cumbersome and inadequate. (Photo: My cousins - no way would anyone in their right mind call them 'elderly'! Henry is about the coolest dad I know, and Siew Kin is one fabulously gorgeous mom, inside out. Both are in their early 60s at the time of writing.)

People are living longer so new age categories are needed. I am now considered 'middle-aged'.

Quite often the media is guilty of mislabeling. "Elderly man victim of snatch thief", says one headline. You read the news report and find that the victim was aged 63. I am turning 70 soon. I can deal with being called a senior citizen as that is what I am. But 'elderly'? Not by a mile. But young reporters are incapable of making that age distinction. To someone in their 20s, 63 is practically ancient.

So until we come up with age appropriate labels, I suppose baby boomers like us will have to forgive the young for addressing us as 'old' and 'elderly'.

I'm glad I stuck with the name "Seniorsaloud" for this blog. It has garnered a readership that is steadily growing. It has caught the attention of certain policy-makers on ageing issues in Singapore and Malaysia. It has been mentioned in the local media on several occasions. Some of the articles have been published in reputable magazines. Some years back, I received an email from a program producer at CNN asking for my views on a seniors-related topic. That was a real morale booster!

My SeniorsAloud card which I refer to as my 'passion card', rather than my business or name card.

All those hours of writing and researching are finally paying off in terms of recognition. Now we are hoping some big corporations would step in and sponsor a Seniorsaloud event. That would be taking Seniorsaloud to the next level where it can harness the expertise and experience of retirees for projects that would benefit the community of senior citizens. Seniorsaloud has no shortage of ideas to achieve this objective, and we welcome collaborations with organisations and companies to promote active, healthy living for seniors.

Here's what Prof Laura Carstensen of Stanford University's Centre on Longevity says about the term 'perennials' for older people.

Click HERE to read the full article (Straits Times 2 Jan, 2018)

"Perennials make clear that we are still here, blossoming again and again. It also suggests a new model of life in which people engage and take breaks, making new starts repeatedly. Perennials aren't guaranteed to blossom year after year, but given proper conditions, good soil and nutrients, they can go on for decades."

I personally like 'perennials'.  It has a youthful, forever-spring feel to it. But I am not too sure if the word will gain wide acceptance. What do readers think?

(Postscript: The above is an updated version of an article first posted in April 2011. An edited version was subsequently published in the Star.)

THE AMAZING SUPER SENIORS

Yuichiro Miura, 80

Seniors are certainly pushing the boundaries in all areas. We have Yuichiro Miura, 80, the oldest man to climb Mount Everest, Fajar Singh, 102, the oldest man to run a marathon, and Dilys Price, 81, the world's oldest woman skydiver.

There's also Johanna Quaas, 86. The Guinness Book of World Records named her the world's oldest gymnast. Her display of strength and agility on the parallel bars is simply jaw-dropping.

Dilys Price, 81

The current crop of octogenarians and nonagenarians are re-defining the meaning of "old". They have changed forever our perception of the elderly. The traditional image of grandma sitting in the rocking chair by the fireside has long disappeared together with knitting socks. Dancers, models, yoga instructors, chefs, divers, surgeons, body builders - the sky, not age, is the limit to what the 'elderly' can do these days. We need new labels for these active senior citizens who simply refuse to age.

Ernestine Shepherd, 76, oldest woman body builder

Fajar Singh, 102, the undisputed oldest runner ever

As for youthfulness, who can beat the evergreen Grammy award-winning Tony Bennett? At 86, he has retained his good looks and is still making waves on the music scene, collaborating with much younger artistes like Lady Gaga, 27. By the way, he will be in Kuala Lumpur for a concert at the KL Convention Centre on September 9. 

The oldest actress is Betty White, 91. She recently made a comeback in the comedy series "Hot in Cleveland" now showing on Astro Channel 702. The world's oldest fashion model is Carmen Dell’Orefice, 82. She has been a model for nearly 70 years, and shows no signs of slowing down.

Carmen Dell’Orefice, 82, supermodel. 
Click here for more photos.

The new elderly are not only capable of amazing physical feats, but also of mental agility and sharpness. An excellent example is Israel's prime minister, Shimon Peres. He celebrated his 90th birthday last month.

And for fitness and good health, it would be hard to beat Prince Phillip, 92. He recently underwent abdominal surgery, and after 11 days recovered well enough to walk out of the hospital unaided!

Shimon Peres celebrating his 90th birthday with Barbra Streisand, Clinton and Netanyahu

Prince Phillip leaving the hospital 11 days after surgery

And right here in our midst we have our very own Dr S. Subramony, 77. He was featured in the article "Punching Fit" recently. The septuagenarian works out at the gym daily and follows a rigorous exercise regime that would put to shame men half his age.

Iron man: ‘Go on, punch me ... hard!’ Dr S. Subramony, 77, seems to be saying as
he invites trainer Nabil Afiq to punch him in the stomach. – SHAARI CHEMAT/The Star

So the next time someone asks you, "How long would you want to live?", your answer should be "At least 100!" If we take care of our health, who is to say that we can't all live to a ripe old age, still fit and still living life to the fullest.

Banish forever the thought that growing old means growing frail and senile. It doesn't have to be so, as these 'elderly' men and women above have shown.

Related articles:

Age-Defying Role Models

Age is just a Number... 

THE GOOD AND THE BAD OF LONGEVITY

Straits Times May 11

Thanks to better healthcare and medical advances, we now enjoy a longer life span. Unfortunately, not everyone benefits from the longevity bonus. There will be some among us who may suffer from chronic health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis and diabetes. Or face varying degrees of functional decline like impaired vision, incontinence, loss of hearing and libido. The list goes on.

According to the research findings presented at the annual Singapore Conference on Ageing held on May 10, there is much we can do to ensure we live to a ripe old age and still enjoy relatively good mental and physical health.

Here are the recommendations based on the research studies:

Slide from Reuben Ng's presentation on "Increase Longevity from Positive Perception of Retirement" . Reuben is a Fulbright scholar currently doing his PhD in Public Health at Yale University.

• Manage your anger. Keep your temper and your impatience under control. Or suffer the risk of high blood pressure which can lead to stroke, and which in turn puts you at higher risk of getting dementia.
• Develop a positive self-perception of ageing. If you do, you get to live several years longer compared to people who have a negative attitude towards retirement and ageing.

Slide from Christine Fock's presentation on "Rise of the Silver Generation - Building a Healthy Population". She is Deputy Director, Ageing Division of the Health Promotion Board, Singapore.

• Drink lots of tea. It lowers the incidence of depression.
• Watch your diet. Go for healthier methods of cooking like steaming and boiling rather than deep frying.

From Health Promotion Board. Plenty of useful tips on their website for healthy ageing. Click on  http://www.hpb.gov.sg/healthyageing/default.aspx .

• Do strength training. It will give you strong bones and reduce the risk of fractures in falls.
• Opt for daily brisk walking to keep fit.

Dr Lee Chong Kau, founder of the Institute of Elders, spoke on the positive effects on mental health of joyful group singing and the camaraderie generated during rehearsals.

• Take up a hobby, especially one that involves social interaction with others e.g. art classes, choral singing, community services, etc.
• Get involved with support groups if you are a caregiver. If you are stressed out, you may a poor caregiver. Know when to take a break and not feel guilty about letting someone else help out.

A/Prof Goh Lee Gan shares the 7 Steps to Mind Your Mind for early prevention of dementia. Find out more from the website at http://mindyourmind.org.au/

To sum up, there's nothing like education, awareness and early preparation to increase our chances of living a long and healthy life. Retirement planning should not focus mainly on financial preparation, but also on the physiological and pyschological aspects as well.

GOOD FRIENDS HELP BOOST LIFE SPAN

 

Friends on an outing at Lake Gardens, KL

What better way to celebrate Friendship Day today than with a toast to good friends everywhere! Did you know that having good friends adds years to our lives? "50% boost in survival chances," claims the Brigham Young University team in a BBC report dated 28 July 2010. The team had based their findings on 150 studies carried out on over 300,000 people from four continents over a period of seven years. It's hard to dismiss such impressive numbers.

Says Michelle Mitchell of Age UK, "It's well known that social relationships are extremely important to older people's well-being, yet sadly one-in-10 over-65s say they always or often feel lonely. Many people in later life struggle to maintain social networks due to mobility difficulties, access to transport or following the death of a spouse. The isolation and loneliness many face can also lead to symptoms of depression, affecting one-in-four older people."

That's one reason why Seniorsaloud came into being - to provide older folks, especially those in Malaysia and Singapore, a platform to network. It's reassuring to know we have friends out there who share similar life experiences. Whether we like it or not, there will come a time when we are less mobile. The internet will be our main link to our friends and the world outside our home.

So while we are still physically able, let's not sit around at home and mope. Get in touch with old friends. Organize fun outings. Volunteer your services to community-based NGOs. Extend your network of friends. You get to live longer. Having few friends is as damaging to survival as smoking 15 cigarettes a day or being alcoholic, reports PLoS Medicine.

Here's to good friends everywhere. May we all see many more returns of this day!

Cheers!

Related article:

MAKE TIME FOR OLD FRIENDS

HOW TO LIVE TO A HEALTHY 100

There was a time when I would skip the obituary pages in the newspapers. No one in my social and family network would be there. That was what I thought. Then my beloved sister passed away at 55 of a heart attack. It happened early in the morning while she was getting ready for work. That was three years ago. Since then I have lost several friends and family members. None of them died of old age.

A few days ago, my cousin suffered a fatal heart attack. He was only 43. It was a wake-up call for the younger generation in the extended family network. I am glad my adult children are taking their health more seriously now

Singapore's Teresa Hsu at 100, and at 111 today with Anthony Robbins at last weekend's 
"Unleash the Power Within" event in Singapore. (Photo credit: Belle Lee)

Young people in the prime of their lives often assume that ill health and disease affect only the elderly - until someone in their age group is struck down. Healthy living should start right now, and we should get our children and grandchildren actively involved before they wind up addicted to fast food, junk food and fizzy drinks.

Here are some health tips based on Dan Buettner’s “Blue Zones”.

1. Stop eating when you’re 80% full. There are NO obese centenarians.
2. Opt for a plant-based diet that includes nuts and whole grains.
3. Treat yourself to a glass or two of red wine a day. Asians prefer tea. It is a good anti-oxidant too.
4. Know your purpose in life and be driven by it.
5. Have in place a belief system - spiritual or religious.
6. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
7. Keep physically active.
8. Be part of a healthy social network.
9. Maintain good family ties.

Time for me to dust off the cobwebs on my weights and dig up those vegetarian cook books. I am 61 going on to a healthy 100 and beyond, God willing.....

Related article:

Meet Angel of Compassion - Teresa Hsu

MEET ANGEL OF COMPASSION - TERESA HSU

Teresa with adopted son Sharana Rao.

The first time I met Singapore’s supercentenarian, Teresa Hsu, was on Oct 20, 2008, a day after attending the MIM- RAMLEAN life enrichment programme. I had just spent four days with 32 senior citizens ranging from 50 to 70 years of age. We were all looking to discover meaning and purpose in our sunset years, and here was a 110-year old woman who had already found her calling early in life.

Teresa had been invited by YPO (Malaysia Chapter) for a dialogue session on “Healthy at 110”. 110 and still actively involved in community work and traveling around to give motivational talks. How does she do it? I most certainly wanted to find out from her.

My daughter, Belle, with Teresa.

I was half expecting to see a frail, wrinkly old lady with fading eyesight and hearing loss. When I finally met her, I was completely bowled over by her clarity of vision, her infectious laughter, her natural wit and her mental agility. She could have easily passed for 40 years younger.

Teresa’s life story makes for fascinating reading. Born in 1898 in Guangdong, China, she has lived in three different centuries and seen more than she wanted of the horrors of war, hunger, poverty and disease.

From the age of four, Teresa learned to make herself useful with a broom. Her world was one of constant sweeping, cleaning and doing housework. She was deprived of an education in China where only males were allowed to attend school. But when her family moved to Penang in 1927, she managed to persuade the nuns at the convent where she was working as a cleaner to let her study with the children. Four years later, she passed her Senior Cambridge. With that under her belt, she left for Hongkong, and later Chongqing to work as a stenographer and bookkeeper with a German news agency.

In 1937, she quit her job and volunteered to help the injured soldiers during the Sino-Japanese War. When World War Two broke out, Teresa was once again witness to the suffering of the sick and wounded. Determined to learn nursing so that she could better help those in need of medical attention, she left for London in 1947. Despite being overaged at 47, her sincerity and dedication helped her gain acceptance into the Royal Free Hospital where she developed her nursing skills over the next eight years.

While in London, she joined the International Voluntary Service for Peace and travelled around Europe to help the needy and promote peace. Hearing about her willingness to serve in return for food and lodging, Bruderhof, a German charity group, invited Teresa to work with German Jewish refugees in hospitals and homes in Paraguay. She was to remain there for the next eight years.

Teresa and her volunteers dishing out food for the poor and hungry.

In her mid-50s, Teresa returned to Malaysia to see her ailing mother. While there she also helped her brother start the Assunta Foundation in Ipoh. She later went on to establish three homes for the elderly and two homes for young girls and the neglected, all in Ipoh.

In 1961, Teresa went to live with her older sister, Ursula, in Singapore. Seeing how devoted Teresa was to helping the less fortunate, Ursula bought a piece of land with her savings from her work as principal of the Convent for the Holy Infant Jesus in Bukit Timah. There Teresa started Singapore’s first Home for the Aged Sick in 1965 at the age of 67.


In 1970, with the increase in the number of inmates and the lack of funds to keep the Home running, the sisters signed over the deeds of the Home to the Rotary Club which then took over the management of the Home. It was renamed Society for the Aged Sick. Teresa stayed on as matron till 1980 when she was asked to retire at age 83.


Not one to settle for passive retirement, Teresa started the Heart-to-Heart Service with her co-worker Sharana Yao from her sparsely-furnished house next to the Society for the Aged Sick. Today she remains actively involved in the weekly distribution of food and provisions to the elderly in need.


A keen practitioner of life-long learning, Teresa continues to expand her knowledge by reading and learning new skills. She has a collection of more than 2000 books all donated, and is currently reading the Bhagavad-Gita for the eighth time. It’s incredible that at her age she reads without the aid of glasses. At 69, she learned yoga and has incorporated it into her daily rituals. At 90, she embraced Buddhism. At 100, she picked up Mandarin and now speaks it fluently. She also speaks Malay, French, German, Spanish and four Chinese dialects. At present, Teresa is busy learning Sanskrit.

When asked about her longevity, Teresa attributes it to a spartan lifestyle, a vegetarian diet, healthy habits, and a positive outlook on life.

Some quotable quotes from Teresa:

"I never harbor negative thoughts as this will distract my focus in getting on with life and work."

“There are no naughty children – only naughty parents.”

“When you greet people with a smile, people will feel happy and smile back. If you pull a long face, people will not feel happy and pull a long face back at you.”

“Crying wastes tissue paper, and cuts down trees. It’s better to laugh.”

“If you see someone fall, you do not ask him why he did not see the stone. You help him up and ask him to be more careful next time.”

“If I’m married, I make only one man happy. If I’m not married, I make many people happy.”

“The answers are not from me. They are just out there.”

“The world is my home, all living beings are my brothers and sisters, selfless service is my religion.”

“I prefer to laugh than to weep. Those people who cry to me, I say is your body full of water? I always tell them it is better to laugh than to use tissue paper, as laughing is free but tissue paper costs five cents. 'Ha ha ha' costs no cents.”

“If I stay at home, I just ha-ha to myself. If I go out and ha-ha with 20 people, I make 20 people happy.”

“I don’t give. Giving means I have and you don’t have. I share – I share all I have, except ice cream and durians!”

“The whole world is one big family. All human beings are related to me. We may not have the same surname, but we share the same universal surname – human beings. And that’s good enough for me.”

“What do I think about death? I don’t know. I haven’t been there yet. Have you?”

"No one has ever explained religion or spirituality satisfactorily to me. My religion is my conscience, and my conscience guides me."

“If you think old, you are old. If you think young, you are young. Even when you are 100+, you can still do a lot.”

“Why am I a vegetarian? Do you want to cause pain for your pleasure? Ask yourself that, and you won’t dare to put a knife to their (animals and fish) throat.”

“It’s good to have a black man in the White House who rules with grey matter.”

Over the years, Teresa has received numerous accolades in recognition of her humanitarian work. But she remains humble, preferring to shift focus from herself to her work at Heart-to-Heart Service.




My daughter, Belle, and I recently spent one whole morning with Teresa and Sharana in Singapore. Teresa graciously welcomed us into her home and even sang a jolly German song and a traditional Cantonese nursery rhyme to entertain us! Teresa enjoys laughing and we had plenty of it that morning.

She was delighted when Belle gave her a pen from an Anthony Robbins seminar she had attended. Teresa amazed us when she proudly read aloud the small inscription "Living is Giving". No need for eye glasses. "I like that," she said simply of both the pen and the inscription.

Later, we joined Teresa and Sharana on their weekly visit to distribute provisions to some elderly ladies in Chinatown. It was a truly enriching and inspiring experience for us to be in Teresa's company and listen to her words of humour and wisdom.

Teresa distributing provisions to the elderly in Chinatown.

Teresa is proof that it really doesn’t take much to live a long, happy, healthy and fulfilling life. As for Teresa herself, she says, “I hope to live till 250! In this world, there are still many poor people who need help from others. I can't leave too soon!"

May you enjoy double happiness and double longevity, Sister Teresa!

LEE KUAN YEW ON AGEING

In case some of you haven't read this, I've taken the liberty to re-produce it here as there is an important message for all of us. This story was first published in The Straits Times on Jan 12, 2008.

"Stay interested in the world, take on a challenge": Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, 85.

MY CONCERN today is, what is it I can tell you which can add to your knowledge about ageing and what ageing societies can do. You know more about this subject than I do. A lot of it is out in the media, Internet and books. So I thought the best way would be to take a personal standpoint and tell you how I approach this question of ageing.

If I cast my mind back, I can see turning points in my physical and mental health. You know, when you're young, I didn't bother, I assumed good health was God-given and would always be there. When I was about - 1957 that was - I was about 34, we were competing in elections, and I was really fond of drinking beer and smoking.

And after the election campaign, in Victoria Memorial Hall - we had won the election, the City Council election - I couldn't thank the voters because I had lost my voice. I'd been smoking furiously. I'd take a packet of 10 to deceive myself, but I'd run through the packet just sitting on the stage, watching the crowd, getting the feeling, the mood before I speak. In other words, there were three speeches a night. Three speeches a night, 30 cigarettes, a lot of beer after that, and the voice was gone.

I remember I had a case in Kuching, Sarawak. So I took the flight and I felt awful. I had to make up my mind whether I was going to be an effective campaigner and a lawyer, in which case I cannot destroy my voice, and I can't go on. So I stopped smoking. It was a tremendous deprivation because I was addicted to it. And I used to wake up dreaming...the nightmare was I resumed smoking. But I made a choice and said, if I continue this, I will not be able to do my job.

I didn't know anything about cancer of the throat or oesophagus or the lungs, etc. But it turned out it had many other deleterious effects. Strangely enough after that, I became very allergic, hyper-allergic to smoking, so much so that I would plead with my Cabinet ministers not to smoke in the Cabinet room. You want to smoke, please go out, because I am allergic.

Then one day I was at the home of my colleague, Mr Rajaratnam, meeting foreign correspondents including some from the London Times and they took a picture of me and I had a big belly like that (puts his hands in front of his belly), a beer belly. I felt no, no, this will not do. So I started playing more golf, hit hundreds of balls on the practice tee. But this didn't go down. There was only one way it could go down: consume less, burn up more. Another turning point came when -this was 1976, after the general election - I was feeling tired. I was breathing deeply at the Istana, on the lawns.

My daughter, who was at that time just graduating as a doctor, said: 'What are you trying to do?' I said: 'I feel an effort to breathe in more oxygen.' She said: 'Don't play golf. Run. Aerobics.' So she gave me a book, quite a famous book and, then, very current in America on how you score aerobic points swimming, running, whatever it is, cycling.

I looked at it skeptically. I wasn't very keen on running. I was keen on golf. So I said, 'Let's try'. So in-between golf shots while playing on my own, sometimes nine holes at the Istana, I would try and walk fast between shots. Then I began to run between shots. And I felt better. After a while, I said: 'Okay, after my golf, I run.' And after a few years, I said: 'Golf takes so long. The running takes 15 minutes. Let's cut out the golf and let's run.'

I think the most important thing in ageing is you got to understand yourself. And the knowledge now is all there. When I was growing up, the knowledge wasn't there. I had to get the knowledge from friends, from doctors. But perhaps the most important bit of knowledge that the doctor gave me was one day, when I said: 'Look, I'm feeling slower and sluggish.' So he gave me a medical encyclopaedia and he turned the pages to ageing. I read it up and it was illuminating. A lot of it was difficult jargon but I just skimmed through to get the gist of it.

As you grow, you reach 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and then, thereafter, you are on a gradual slope down physically. Mentally, you carry on and on and on until I don't know what age, but mathematicians will tell you that they know their best output is when they're in their 20s and 30s when your mental energy is powerful and you haven't lost many neurons. That's what they tell me. So, as you acquire more knowledge, you then craft a programme for yourself to maximise what you have. It's just common sense.

I never planned to live till 85 or 84. I just didn't think about it. I said: 'Well, my mother died when she was 74, she had a stroke. My father died when he was 94.' But I saw him, and he lived a long life, well, maybe it was his DNA. But more than that, he swam every day and he kept himself busy. He was working for the Shell company. He was in charge, he was a superintendent of an oil depot. When he retired, he started becoming a salesman. So people used to tell me: 'Your father is selling watches at BP de Silva.'

My father was then living with me. But it kept him busy. He had that routine: He meets people, he sells watches, he buys and sells all kinds of semi-precious stones, he circulates coins. And he keeps going. But at 87, 88, he fell, going down the steps from his room to the dining room, broke his arm, three months incapacitated. Thereafter, he couldn't go back to swimming. Then he became wheelchair-bound. Then it became a problem because my house was constructed that way. So my brother - who's a doctor and had a flat (one-level) house - took him in. And he lived on till 94. But towards the end, he had gradual loss of mental powers.

So my calculations, I'm somewhere between 74 and 94. And I've reached the halfway point now. But have I? Well, 1996 when I was 73, I was cycling and I felt tightening on the neck. Oh, I must retire today. So I stopped. Next day, I returned to the bicycle. After five minutes it became worse. So I said, no, no, this is something serious, it's got to do with the blood vessels. Rung up my doctor, who said, 'Come tomorrow'. Went tomorrow, he checked me, and said: 'Come back tomorrow for an angiogram.' I said: 'What's that?' He said: 'We'll pump something in and we'll see whether the coronary arteries are cleared or blocked.'

I was going to go home. But an MP who was a cardiologist happened to be around, so he came in and said: 'What are you doing here?' I said: 'I've got this.' He said: 'Don't go home. You stay here tonight. I've sent patients home and they never came back. Just stay here. They'll put you on the monitor. They'll watch your heart. And if anything, an emergency arises, they will take you straight to the theatre. You go home. You've got no such monitor. You may never come back.'

So I stayed there. Pumped in the dye, yes it was blocked, the left circumflex, not the critical, lead one. So that's lucky for me.

Two weeks later, I was walking around, I felt it's coming back. Yes it has come back, it had occluded. So this time they said: 'We'll put in a stent.' I'm one of the first few in Singapore to have the stent, so it was a brand new operation. Fortunately, the man who invented the stent was out here selling his stent. He was from San Jose, La Jolla something or the other. So my doctor got hold of him and he supervised the operation. He said put the stent in. My doctor did the operation, he just watched it all and then that's that. That was before all this problem about lining the stent to make sure that it doesn't occlude and create a disturbance.

So at each stage, I learnt something more about myself and I stored that. I said: 'Oh, this is now a danger point.' So all right, cut out fats, change diet, went to see a specialist in Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital. He said: 'Take statins.' I said: 'What's that?' He said: 'They help to reduce your cholesterol.' My doctors were concerned. They said: 'You don't need it. Your cholesterol levels are okay.'

Two years later, more medical evidence came out. So the doctors said: 'Take statins.' Had there been no angioplasty, had I not known that something was up and I cycled on, I might have gone at 74 like my mother. So I missed the deadline. So next deadline: my father’s fall at 87.

I'm very careful now because sometimes when I turn around too fast, I feel as if I'm going to get off balance. So my daughter, a neurologist, she took me to the NNI, there's this nerve conduction test, put electrodes here and there. The transmission of the messages between the feet and the brain has slowed down. So all the exercise, everything, effort put in, I'm fit, I swim, I cycle. But I can't prevent this losing of conductivity of the nerves and this transmission. So just go slow. So when I climb up the steps, I have no problem. When I go down the steps, I need to be sure that I've got something I can hang on to, just in case. So it's a constant process of adjustment.

But I think the most important single lesson I learnt in life was that if you isolate yourself, you’re done for. The human being is a social animal - he needs stimuli, he needs to meet people, to catch up with the world. I don't much like travel but I travel very frequently despite the jet lag, because I get to meet people of great interest to me, who will help me in my work as chairman of our GIC. So I know, I'm on several boards of banks, international advisory boards of banks, of oil companies and so on. And I meet them and I get to understand what's happening in the world, what has changed since I was here one month ago, one year ago. I go to India, I go to China. And that stimuli brings me to the world of today.

I'm not living in the world, when I was active, more active 20, 30 years ago. So I tell my wife. She woke up late today. I said: 'Never mind, you come along by 12 o'clock. I go first.' If you sit back - because part of the ending part of the encyclopaedia which I read was very depressing - as you get old, you withdraw from everything and then all you will have is your bedroom and the photographs and the furniture that you know, and that's your world.

So if you've got to go to hospital, the doctor advises you to bring some photographs so that you'll know you're not lost in a different world, that this is like your bedroom. I'm determined that I will not, as long as I can, to be reduced, to have my horizons closed on me like that. It is the stimuli, it is the constant interaction with people across the world that keeps me aware and alive to what's going on and what we can do to adjust to this different world.

In other words, you must have an interest in life. If you believe that at 55, you’re retiring, you’re going to read books, play golf and drink wine, then I think you’re done for. So statistically they will show you that all the people who retire and lead sedentary lives, the pensioners die off very quickly. So we now have a social problem with medical sciences, new procedures, new drugs, many more people are going to live long lives.

If the mindset is that when I reach retirement age 62, I'm old, I can't work anymore, I don't have to work, I just sit back, now is the time I'll enjoy life, I think you're making the biggest mistake of your life. After one month, or after two months, even if you go travelling with nothing to do, with no purpose in life, you will just degrade, you'll go to seed.

The human being needs a challenge, and my advice to every person in Singapore and elsewhere: Keep yourself interested, have a challenge. If you’re not interested in the world and the world is not interested in you, the biggest punishment a man can receive is total isolation in a dungeon, black and complete withdrawal of all stimuli, that’s real torture. So when I read that people believe, Singaporeans say: ‘Oh, 62, I’m retiring,’ I say to them: ‘You really want to die quickly?’ If you want to see sunrise tomorrow or sunset, you must have a reason, you must have the stimuli to keep going.