A video of an elderly Singaporean, who appears to have difficulty walking, clearing tables at a food court is going viral online. The video, which was published on social media last week by Facebook user Melvin Tan, has already accumulated over 270,000 views.
https://www.facebook.com/tanwmmelvin/videos/149568119545087/
In the video, an elderly man can be seen moving slowly and shuffling forward while he pushes a tray that holds dirty dishes. In the crowded food court, he can be seen approaching a table and clearing a coconut drink that a patron left behind.
Sharing that the video shows “the elderly in Singapore working hard,” Mr Tan indicated that he felt emotional at seeing the senior citizen doing such work in his twilight years.
Netizens responding to the post were also heartbroken and said that it is devastating to see older Singaporeans having to work so hard instead of being able to rest and retire:
Earlier this month, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said that “People living longer and generally healthier lives is a key reason that they work longer – this is a trend that we observed across many developed countries.”
In January this year, Ms Teo cited trends in other developed countries as she explained why the Government would not lower the minimum Central Provident Fund (CPF) withdrawal age, also known as the Payout Eligibility Age (PEA), at this time.
Asserting that the PEA will remain at age 65, Ms Teo indicated in Parliament last week that this is because employees seem to prefer to work longer and save more than take out their CPF earlier.
She further hinted that the PEA may instead rise in the future since more than half of the OECD countries have set their pension withdrawal age at 65 or older.
Citing the examples of the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany that are raising their pension withdrawal ages gradually to reach 67 in the next decade, the ruling party politician cautioned: “So against such a backdrop, we must really ask if it is wise to lower our own PEA.”
This month, Ms Teo said that the Government’s Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers, that was set up in March, has decided to raise the Retirement Age and Re-employment Age.
Revealing that there has been good progress on “how far and how fast we should raise both ages,” Ms Teo said that there are just some “loose ends” to tie up and that the Workgroup hopes to release an update before September this year.
https://theindependent.sg.sg/manpower-minister-claims-people-living-longer-is-a-key-reason-that-they-work-longer/