Boom in interest groups for seniors

Boom in interest groups for seniors

They want to keep active, learn new skills and help the needy

By Melissa Sim & Ang Yiying

GOING against negative stereotypes of seniors as weak or dependent, there is a growing community of retirees who live life to the fullest.
Their aim is to make friends, keep active, and give to the community.

There are at least 60 such interest groups for seniors, said the Council For Third Age (C3A), which is forming a network of groups for active seniors.

The council was set up in 2007 to promote active ageing. One in five Singaporeans will be 65 or older by 2030.

Its executive director, Mr Henry Quake, said an increasing number of these interest groups are formed as seniors come to know of the organisations they can tap for funding and support, such as the People’s Association, grassroots groups or C3A.

Baby boomers are also looking to do something different, he added. ‘The exact nature of the activities doesn’t matter too much. What matters is whether seniors find them meaningful and enjoyable.’

One group, for example, meets every Saturday to learn and perfect magic tricks.

The group, which has performed at grassroots events and orphanages, was established after a class last year, where they learnt how to stack four dice using a tube and swift back-and-forth movements - similar to feats seen in Hong Kong gambling movies.

Now, the 22 members, who meet at Jurong Spring Community Club, have come up with new and improved tricks.

Businessman Lee Khang Teng, 62, used a larger tube, and practised for two months to incorporate even more dice in his trick.

To get metal rings for another trick, he even asked a friend to dismantle her old handbag.

On why he joined the group, retired crane operator Lee Ngak Wee, 71, said: ‘We spend a bit of money on this, but it’s better than spending money on cigarettes.

Such activities do more than teach new skills.

Mr Kelvin Ng, 59, a part-time subcontractor who heads a herb garden interest group in Jurong, said he helps residents who want advice on herbal remedies for tummy aches, rheumatism or even high blood pressure.

The small plot of land, which is about 1m wide and 10m long, has 60 different herbal plants. It is tended by 25 members, who do not expect to keep the harvests for themselves.

Another group which has linked up with schools is the OCBC2 grandparents’ interest group. OCBC2 stands for Old Can Be Cool - or Concerned, or Caring, or Contributing, or Creative, adds the group - Too. Its members meet at Wellness@Punggol South, an activity centre in Hougang for residents aged above 50.

There, they meet with a coordinator to plan different projects to learn new things or help the needy.

For example, they make handicrafts for sale and once organised a newspaper collection, where the proceeds went to buying food hampers for 22 low-income families.

Led by a core team of 10 seniors aged 58 to 88, the group was formed after one of them overheard a disparaging remark about the elderly.

Said feisty Madam Yong Sooi Fun, 88, in Cantonese: ‘Who says old cannot do anything? What you can do, I also can do.’

At a recent group project, 10 Hai Sing Catholic School students taught 20 seniors English, while the seniors taught the students Hokkien.

Source : Straits Times - 11 April 2009

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Thai protesters storm Asean summit venue

Thai protesters storm Asean summit venue
 
But they withdraw after registering a challenge to Abhisit’s legitimacy 

By Nirmal Ghosh & Clarissa Oon 
  
Pro-democracy demonstrators breaking through a cordon near the summit venue in Pattaya yesterday, in an attempt to disrupt the meetings. PM Lee and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak were among those who had to use alternative routes to enter the Royal Cliff Beach Resort. — PHOTO: REUTERS

PATTAYA: Protesters yesterday forced their way through a security cordon and besieged the venue of a meeting between Asean leaders and their regional counterparts, beginning here today.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was among those who arrived in this seaside town yesterday, as the anti-government protesters tried to disrupt the two-day summit meetings.

Nearly 2000 pro-democracy ‘red-shirt’ demonstrators got into the sprawling grounds of the venue and faced off with as many riot police and soldiers. The group is calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and key Privy Councillors - advisers to the King.

Waving placards and Thai flags and chanting ‘Abhisit, get out’, they blocked the main entrance to the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, the venue for the Asean Plus Three and East Asia summits.

PM Lee and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak were among those who had to use alternative routes to enter the resort.

But Mr Tharit Charungvat, a spokesman for Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, said ‘every leader arrived on schedule’ and the protesters had not succeeded in disrupting the meetings.

‘Concern is there, but…nothing is beyond expectation. We have known the red shirts were coming for weeks.’

Leaders from 15 countries - the 10 Asean nations plus China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand - are either already in Pattaya or on their way here for meetings today and tomorrow. India is represented by Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is campaigning at home for elections next week.

To lay the groundwork before the leaders’ summits, Asean foreign and economic ministers - including Singapore’s Foreign Minister George Yeo and Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang - gathered at the Pattaya resort for meetings yesterday.

Security on the roads that lead to the hilltop resort had been sharply beefed up. Some 8,000 police and soldiers have been deployed after a shock attack on Mr Abhisit’s car in Pattaya earlier this week.

There was no violence yesterday. Army officers and senior police officers with sidearms supervised the security operation, and the red shirts did not attempt to force their way into the building - retreating shortly after 5pm in a heavy downpour after submitting a letter to the Asean Secretariat.

The letter challenged the legitimacy of Mr Abhisit to represent the country, saying he had conspired with the royal advisers to overthrow the democratic system.

Red-shirt spokesman Sean Boonpracong said ‘we wanted to make our presence felt’, and added that the protesters had shown restraint and discipline by not trying to storm the hotel.

Meanwhile, in Bangkok most of the thousands of red shirts who had occupied the Victory Monument - one of the Thai capital’s biggest intersections - and other key spots in the city the day before had dispersed and withdrawn to their more permanent rally site at Government House.

 
Source : Straits Times - 11 April 2009

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