Bad place to grow old in...

something struck me when i was on the way home... it's a terrible thing to grow old in Singapore! i think the environment and pace of Singapore is sometimes so unsuitable for the elderly. i shudder to think that one day i'll be an ol' granny struggling on this island...

Too fast!
the pedastrian pathways are usually big enough for 2 files of ppl, one in each direction. all these young and able-bodied men and women can't wait to get to their destinations, so they wanna walk as fast as possible. if it's really crowded and there i am, inching slowly with a walking stick, i can so foresee ppl getting impatient behind me.

the overhead bridges are another problem. with their osteoarthritis, climbing up and down stairs becomes such a chore. they have to do it really slowly otherwise it gets real painful. again, they can just feel that they're slowing down the whole crowd, making everyone climb at their own snail pace. that just contributes more to their feeling of burdening the society.

No seats!
the situation is not all that bad but i still see strong, healthy teenagers and working class adults hog the seats on the mrt trains. are they oblivious to the fact that this old ah peh can hardly keep his balance on this moving vehicle? the worst are the great pretenders... they turn their heads towards the door, see an elderly walk in, then shut their eyes tight to pretend they're sleeping.

then there are the seat snatchers. the minute the door opens, those ppl who can walk damn fast rush in and of course, manage to grab a seat. if they can walk so fast, do they need the seat? no... the poor old lady who barely made it through the door before it closes is left to stand for the next 10 stops.

Escalators
they're a horror to old folks. the shopping centre ones are already a big challenge but those at the mrt stations are worse! they go at such an alarming speed which is perfect for ppl in a rush but definitely not for elderly whose psychomotor skills have deteriorated tremendously. they see the step coming out, the next split second it's gone and they're so afraid that they'll step onto it, lose their balance and fall!

that said, it's great that now nearly all the mrt stations have got lifts to help the elderly and the disabled.

Smaller and smaller
haha! this is something close to my heart. my mom and dad have been trying to persuade my single elderly aunt to get a handphone so that we can contact her conveniently. what does she say? aiya... the numbers so small and the screen so small too. by the time i get my "lao3 hua1" spectacles, i would've missed the call already! and my fingers are so huge (she's quite erm... big-sized), i want to press 1, end up pressing 4 as well! forget it la!

things are getting smaller and smaller. gadgets meant for convenience, like remote controls, phones, etc. are all shrinking in exponential speed. for the elderly whose fingers are less dextrous and eyesight is getting worse, they're not userfriendly at all!

Useless at work
employers would rather employ younger, faster and computer literate workers and forget that the elderly have their qualities too, such as those of experience and dedication. A particular healthcare centre recently went paperless and all the patients' medical records were computerized. prescriptions and diagnoses are done with a keyboard and a mouse nowadays. haha! how we laughed at those old fuddy duddy senior consultants who type alphabet by alphabet while the patient waits silently in the clinic for 10 minutes. but are they any useless at their job? definitely not! they haf the vast amount of experience to diagnose any condition with a snap of their fingers and implement absolutely effective treatment that'll solve the patients' problems!

What is wrong with us??
these are just small lil snippets i've observed around me in the streets, in public places. there are definitely more instances whereby the elderly are marginalized and not seen as equals in the society.

being old is difficult... even more so if the society and environment are so unforgiving towards the elderly. constant change and improvement is definitely beneficial to the country as a whole but if it forsakes a group of ppl and impinges on their wellbeing, there must be something wrong we're doing. Maybe we're not doing enough for them, maybe we're changing too fast and not giving them allowances to adapt slowly, maybe we're not learning to see them as part of the society, maybe we need to learn how to empathize with them, lots of maybes...