I have always wondered  what is more heartbreaking  :  attending a funeral or watching our elders grow old and slowly move towards the end of their life, and not being able to stop this inevitable truth of life, which is ageing. Where have our young, vigorous, energetic and happy parents gone?  They... have aged.

How must They, our parents, feel about now being simply tagged as elderly persons and being brushed aside from the productive-lot of the society just because they have now reached retirement age? Ageing is an unavoidable truth of life set by God and in which we have no say, no action.  All I wish is for us to consider what the feeling must be, after retirement, for those who are still highly active physically and mentally.

Retirement age is another painful truth in life but, set by us, humans.  It is meant to give rest to those who have spent the best years of their life contributing to the progress of their country and to make way for the new generation. 

To some, it is a well-awaited rest but to many, the doors just slammed shut – those same doors that once allowed them to put their knowledge, their strength, and their life to productive use. To meaningful use.

Have we ever thought about the self-esteem of our people after retirement? 

How must it feel to be once very active and highly respected members of the society but suddenly reduced, after retirement, to being just  anonymous members of the public… How must it feel to have been, once, pride of their profession, but now confined to being just ‘elderly persons’?

How must it feel to be expected to ‘just keep themselves busy’ with activities limited to driving grand-children to school, babysitting, gardening, reading, attending prayers and weddings or old-age group excursions?

Not all retired persons have the financial means to join private clubs, to set up a new business or to go on holiday overseas to fill in the vacuum. Many do not have the necessary network to secure an alternate job that will give them at least the mental satisfaction that they enjoyed while they were employed.

What many of our retirees yearn for is NOT money but to continue to have …a purpose in life. To wake up every day feeling that they are still highly skilled and talent-endowed persons who can still contribute to the society.  Above all, what they wish for is to continue living… with dignity!

Have we ever thought that this may be …OUR future life after WE retire?

 Our Society can still highly benefit from the experience and potential of the retired persons who still want to be productive.  While the young generation is working for the growth of our country, why not use our retired persons to look after our society?

We could group the mentally and physically active retired persons who still want to do something for the society into an association to be supported by the CSR program and/or sponsors.  Those retired people can then reach out to help our society, especially our young generation, to address their increasing challenges. 

Retired teachers can assist to design and run moral values and civics classes in schools to re-instil basic values into our children and address the growing indiscipline challenges. Retired police officers can put their long-earned experience to help spread awareness in schools especially about the dangers of substance abuse; to educate the public on safety and security measures and assist to address the alarming issues on law and order. Retired women can assist in putting up programs to educate the young generation and help reduce teen-pregnancy. So much more can be done…

All we need is a change in mindset and, above all, the desire to make it happen and pave way for a new life for our retired persons. 

Life has an expiry date!  So let’s help them and us in future to live a dignified life till the end!