Where I live in Bedok Reservoir Road, there are plans to build 3 blocks of elderly studios. It will be on a piece of land that used to be the venue of political rallies during general elections. When it was first announced, I had visited the HDB website to find out more regarding such studios.
I have friends whose parents live in such flats. Though I have never visited one, I heard the conditions are pretty decent. Many of these elderly are wise - they sold their original HDB flats to downgrade to these studios as their children married and moved out. Their original flats had become too big. At the financial level, they have 'monetized' their assets and are living on these retirement funds.
To be clear, all these elderly are ambulant and independent. Many enjoy their freedom and the convenience that a smaller flat offers in terms of maintenance. Furthermore, such flats are equipped with grab-bars and other elderly friendly amenities.
Which brings me to the current fracas overly the elderly studios at Toh Yi estate and the elderly corner at Sembawang. Many misconception regarding the elderly facilities are perpetuated by hearsay or heartland rumor. These are of course rooted in actual experiences of people who lived near elderly or had elderly family members.
One such neighbor who lives in the block that would face the the new elderly studio flats told Huat, my 3rd brother that 'it is terrible to live near the elderly'. Mind you, this neighbor is himself in his early 60s. He related that his old neighbor used to take care of an elderly woman who is the grandmother. She was demented and with many ailments. This neighbor went on to describe animatedly how the family members of this house neglected the old lady to the extent of not even bathing her and letting her defecate as well as urinate in the hall. The stench from the poor hygiene was carried into their neighbors' houses too. In fact, the family was so exasperated with her condition, they left her stark naked most of the time - perhaps to save on the trouble of cleaning up after her.
The first thing that crossed my mind when I heard the account, was - perhaps they family could not afford some kind of domestic help, let alone sending her to a living facility such as an old folks home? But the domestic situation of each family is different and as outsiders, we are in no position to comment nor judge.
All these bad experiences of family members or their friends will surely perpetuate the negative perception of living with the elderly.
At the macro-level, what is clearly in dire shortage is our social network that provides for such eventual needs of the elderly. This topic has been discussed extensively and no satisfying solution seems to be in the horizon given the escalating costs of everything especially land.
At the individual level, we need to understand the dynamics of living with an elderly and vice versa. Family members have to make conscious efforts to As a surely potential elderly myself - I dread the kind of society that I am aging into if the controversy over the facilities is anything to go by.
