A study of the government and media discourse on active ageing in Singapore and its effects on the lived experiences of Singapore seniors
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.17.447Keywords:
Active ageing, sport participation, governmentality, embodiment.Abstract
Similarly to other countries around the world, Singapore is facing the problem of an increasingly ageing population. The number of elderly is expected to triple in the next two decades. One effect of this is the requirement of an elderly workforce to maintain social and economic stability. However, for this to be an effective solution to the demographic dilemma, the elderly must be healthy. Thus, an emphasis on active ageing through engagement in sport participation is encouraged. However, it seems that despite the government’s rhetoric that it is implementing diverse and wide-scale programmes in a bid to help the elderly age successfully, actual participation among seniors in these activities, remains low. One reason for this, emerging from empirical interviews, is that despite knowledge of the ageing population, and the benefits of regular exercise, seniors are not sufficiently aware of the programmes implemented by the government. Based on the data compiled from this study, it is therefore recommended that more be done to maximise the potential of sporting campaigns at community and wellness centres.
References
Asher, M. G., & Nandy, A. (2008). Singapore’s policy responses to ageing, inequality and poverty: An assessment. International Social Security Review, 61, 1-20.
Bosworth, B., Burtless, G. & Steurele, E. (1999). Lifetime Earnings Patterns, the Distribution of Future Social Security Benefits, and the Impact of Pension Reform. The Center of Retirement Research at Boston College.
Burchell, G., Gordon, C., & Miller, P. (1991). (Eds.). The Foucault effect: Studies in governmentality. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.
Cohen, S. (2002). Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. 3rd Edition. London: Routledge.
Council of Third Age. (2013). Physical fitness for seniors part 1. Retrieved 24 October, 2013 from http://www.c3a.org.sg/Aboutus_process.do. Last accessed June 2014.
Dannefer, D. (1984). Adult development and social theory: A paradigmatic reappraisal. American Sociological Review. 49, 100-116.
Dean, M. (1999). Governmentality: Power and Rule in Modern Society. London: SAGE.
Department of Statistics (2005). http://www.singstat.gov.sg/publications/publications_and_papers/GHS/ghrs1.html. Last accessed June 2014.
Department of Statistics (2013). (http://www.singstat.gov.sg/publications/publications_and_papers/population_and_population_structure/population_trend.html). Last accessed June 2014.
Department of Statistics. (2013) Resident old-age support ratio. Retrieved October 29, 2013, from http://www.singstat.gov.sg/statistics/visualising_data/chart/Old_Age_Support_Ratio.html. Last accessed June 2014.
Estes, C. L. & Linkins, K. W.; & Binney, E. A. (1996). The Political Economy of Aging. In Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, 4th ed. Edited by R. H. Binstock and L. K. George, San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press. Pp. 346–361.
Estes, C.L. & Linkins, K. W., (2001). Critical Perspectives on Health and Aging. In Harrington, C. and Estes, C. L. (Eds.). Health Policy. Boston: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Pp. 97-101.
Foucault, M. (1973). The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception. London: Random House.
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. New York: Pantheon Books.
Gaullier, X. (2002). Retraites, préretraites et temps de la vie. Gérontologie ET société. 102, 67–85.
Gilleard, C. & Higgs, P. (2007). The Third Age and the Baby Boomers: Two Approaches to the Social Structuring of Later Life. International Journal of Ageing & Later Life. 2, 13–30.
Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Social Sciences Research Centre; Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma; notes on the management of spoiled identity. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall.
Gubrium, J. F. (1986). Oldtimers and Alzheimer's: The Descriptive Organization of Senility. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press.
Guillemard, A. & Jolivet, A. (2006). “De l’emploi des seniors à la gestion des âges.” Problèmes politiques ET sociaux 924, mai, 110.
Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (1983). Ethnography: Principles in Practice. London: Tavistock.
Harkin, J. & Huber, J. (2004). Eternal Youths: How the Baby Boomers are having their Time Again. London: Demos.
Hazan, H. (1994). Old Age: Constructions and Deconstructions. Cambridge, U.K. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Katz, S. (1996). Disciplining Old Age: The Formation of Gerontological Knowledge. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Laliberte Rudman, D., & Molke, D. (2009). Forever productive: The discursive shaping of later life workers in contemporary Canadian newspapers. Work, 32, 377-389.
‘Littlespeck’ (http://www.littlespeck.com/content/people/CTrendsPeople-070304.htm). Last accessed June 2014.
Mastrobuoni, G. & Taddei, F. (2011). Age before Beauty? Productivity and Work vs. Seniority and Early Retirement. Center for Research on Pensions and Welfare Policies CeRP Working Paper, 120/11.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of Perception. London: Routledge Kegan Paul.
Meusel, H. (1984). Developing physical fitness for the elderly through sport and exercise. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 18, 1, 4-12.
Ministry of Social and Family Development. (2009) State of the Elderly in Singapore. Singapore: Ministry of Social and Family Development.
http://app.msf.gov.sg/Portals/0/Summary/research/State%20of%20the%20Elderly_Release%203.pdf). Last accessed June 2014.
Mirowsky, J. (1995). Age and the Sense of Control. Social Psychology Quarterly 58, 1, 31-43.
Moulaert, T. & Paris, M. (2013). Social Policy on Ageing: The Case of “Active Ageing” as a Theatrical Metaphor. International Journal of Social Science Studies. 1, 2, 113-123.
Moulaert, T. & Biggs, S. (2013). International and European policy on work and retirement: Reinventing critical perspectives on active ageing and mature subjectivity. Human Relations, 66, 1, 23-43.
National Population and talent division White Paper. (http://www.nptd.gov.sg/content/NPTD/news/_jcr_content/par_content/download_98/file.res/population-white-paper.pdf. Last accessed June 2014.
Ngiam T. L., (2005). Population ageing in Singapore: The challenge of using the Central Provident Fund for retirement needs. In Ageing Matters: European Policy Lessons from the East. (Eds). J Doling, C Jones Finer and T Maltby. Adlershot: Ashgate.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) entitled its global report on ageing: Ageing and Employment Policies. Live Longer, Work Longer (http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/36511265.pdf). Last accessed June 2014.
Our Community. http://www.ourcommunity.sg/. Last accessed June, 2014.
Pike, E. (2011). Sport and the (Re) Production of Knowledge and Power Relations within a Global “Agequake”. East Asian Sport Thoughts. December, 2, 101-116.
Phillipson, C., & Walker, A. (1987). The Case for a Critical Gerontology. In Social Gerontology: New Directions. Edited by S. Di Gregorio. London: Croom Helm. Pp. 1–15.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (2005). (http://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overseasmission/pretoria/press_statements_speeches/2005/200508/press_200508.html). Last accessed June, 2014.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. (http://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overseasmission/washington/newsroom/press_statements/2007/200708/press_200708_03.html). Last accessed June, 2014.
Rail, G. and Harvey, J. (1995). Body at Work. Sociology of Sport Journal. 12, 2, 164–79.
Rarick, C., A. (2007). Confucius on Management: Understanding Chinese Cultural Values and Managerial Practices. Journal of International Management Studies. 30, 7/8, 709 – 723.
Real Singapore: voices of average Singaporeans (http://therealsingapore.com/content/national-action-plan-ageing-age-discrimination. Last accessed June 2014.
Rose, N. S. (1999) Governing the Soul. The Shaping of the Private Self. London: Free Association Books.
Rowe, J.; Kahn, R. (1987). "Human aging: Usual and successful". Science, 237, 4811, 143–9.
Rozanova, J. (2010). Discourse of successful aging in The Globe & Mail: Insights from critical gerontology. Journal of Aging Studies 24, 4, 213–222.
Singapore Council: Active Singapore https://www.myactivesg.com/about-activesg. Last accessed June 2014.
Singapore Council of the Third Age (2014) http://www.c3a.org.sg/Aboutus_activeage.do?id=71. Last accessed June 2014.
Straits Times, (January, 2014) http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/programme-help-seniors-take-charge-their-health-20140127). Last accessed June 2014.
Teo, P. (2006). Ageing in Singapore: Service needs and the state. Routledge contemporary Southeast Asia series 10. GB: Routledge Ltd.
The Real Singapore: http://therealsingapore.com/content/national-action-plan-ageing-age-discrimination). Last accessed June, 2014.
Townsend, P. (1986). Ageism and Social Policy. In: Phillipson C and Walker A. (Eds). Ageing and Social Policy. Aldershot: Gower, Pp. 15–44.
Vision 2030 (http://www.vision2030.sg/topic/seniors/). Last accessed June, 2014.
Waddington, I. (2000). Sport and health: A sociological perspective. In Handbook of Sports Studies. SAGE Publications Ltd.
Walker, A. (2006). Active ageing in employment: Its meaning and potential. Asia-Pacific Review, 13, 1, 78-93.
Wendell S (1996). The Rejected Body: Feminist Philosophical Reflections on Disability. New York, Routledge.
World Health Organization. (2002). Active Ageing: A Policy Framework. Geneva: World Health Organization.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.
