High inflation and recession. News of their impending arrival dot the landscape of print, broadcast and online platforms non-stop and practically every day.  According to the World Bank, global growth is expected to slump from 5.7 per cent in 2021 to 2.9 per cent in 2022. It will also hover around that pace over the…

To help Singapore’s elderly population age in place, the Government is looking into various alternatives to provide adequate, affordable and comprehensive care for this rapidly rising demographic. Home is where the heart is According to the findings of the latest Sample Household Survey of 2018, more elderly residents of Housing Development Board (HDB) flats hope…

Are Singapore’s elderly ageing in place comfortably as the silver tsunami hits and elderly healthcare costs rise nearly tenfold by around 2030? According to a 2016 report by Marsh & McLennan Companies’ (MMC) new Asia Pacific Risk Center,  assuming that current medical cost inflation remains constant, Singapore is projected to spend an average of US$37,427…

Elderly Singaporeans are ageing in place as they live longer now, compared to the situation a decade ago. In fact, the island republic is one of many Asian countries facing a “silver tsunami”, or the rapid increase in the number of elderly citizens. Referring to a Healthcare Asia report in 2019, then Senior Minister of…

In today’s context, retired civil servant Er Kwong Wah could be seen as a “roadie”, someone who set the stage for the Social Development Unit (SDU), the government’s matchmaking division, in the 1980s.  The 76-year-old tells TheHomeGround Asia that it was the one role he played in the 1980s that brought him closer to the…

Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness, according to Irish poet Oscar Wilde. Or is it? It can be a humiliating experience when you worked hard on an article, novel, artwork, or song and are looking forward to the royalties that will come in, but have the rug pulled…

At the 2019 “Building Our Future Singapore Together” dialogue, Deputy Prime Minister and then Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat brought up the importance of civil society when he said, “We need to shift from a government that focuses primarily on working for you, to a government that works with you. Working with you, for…

Grassroots organisations (GROs) usually use collective action to drive change at a local, regional or even national level and in Singapore they are made up of the ordinary people rather than the leaders. In Singapore, GROs are relied on for mass mobilisation and surveillance. They include the Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCCs), Community Club Management Committees (CCMCs),…