Changing Landscapes of Singapore: Forgotten Landscapes

Changing Landscapes of Singapore: Forgotten Landscapes

Past-Year Questions:1. Spatial planning for older people in Singapore reflects that the elderly are largely a “forgotten” group of people in the country. How true is this statement? Do you think this style of planning for the elderly will continue to gain popular support in Singapore in the next twenty years? (2009)2. By making reference to landscapes for the elderly in Singapore, discuss the extent to which you agree with the statement that "the older population are by and large 'forgotten' lot". (2010)

Outline: Introduction, Background of Singapore's Ageing Population & Predicted trends, Definition of “forgotten”, Stand

Agree/True: Elderly/Older Population is forgotten.
(How?) Policies/Initiatives that do not cater to the needs to elderly? Disagree/Untrue: Elderly/Older Population is not forgotten.
(How?) Various policies that deals with elderly, making our environment elderly-friendly
However! Despite all the efforts/facilities/initiatives, government does not tackle the issue effectively?

Conlusion: Re-iterate Stand, Provide possible improvements?

9.3%; a figure seemingly small and marginal. However, this is the percentage of Singapore residents that are aged 65 years and above as of 2011, which is equivalent to more than 480,000 people. This is especially worrying; specialists are already predicting that by 2030, this percentage will continue to rise to about 19-20%. This means that most probably by 2030, 1 in 5 Singaporeans will be aged 65 years or above. Hence, the government came up with various initiatives and policies aimed at elderly which are comprehensively designed and carefully planned. However, there is still deficiency in the understanding of critical social gerontological issues like the preferences, attitudes and circumstances of older persons, or how society should respond to them. Therefore, we can conclude that the elderly are a “forgotten” group of people in the country to a large extent. Landscapes of older people in Singapore may be called forgotten landscapes because they reflect the marginal position of older people in Singapore society. Older people are not considered as important as the young as they play peripheral roles in country's economy and also deemed as a burden to society. Thus, we see a neglect of the needs of, and diminishment of space and resources dedicated to, the elderly in Singapore, particularly as provided by the state. One of the driving reasons for this forgotten landscape is due to Singapore's shrinking young population. Singapore's young population has shrunk tremendously in the last 30 years as seen from its low fertility rate of 1.15 births per woman, all these years, the Singapore government focuses very much on trying to encourage Singaporeans to procreate through a series of incentives and policies, rather to target in improving the overall well-being of the elderly population. However, the policies were ineffective and this further aggravated the effects of an ageing (and forgotten) population in Singapore. This can be indicated by the decrease in Singapore's Old Dependency Ratio. In the 1980s, the old dependency ratio was 16.4 young person to 1 working elderly. However, this number decreases to about 8.7 and it is projected to fall to 3.5 by 2030. A decreasing trend in the old dependency ratio shows that Singapore would be placing a stronger economic burden on the young.

However, it will be unfair that the government did not come up with any solutions to this predicted ageing population of Singapore. We can review the effectiveness of the Singapore government through 3 landscapes - Economic Landscapes, Landscapes of Care and lastly Landscapes of Socialisation and Entertainment. (See Slides)