A typical day for 88-year-old retiree William Chua goes like this: He leaves his one-room Housing Board flat in Bukit Merah View to go to the senior activity centre at the void deck.
There, he eats his meals, plays mahjong with his neighbours and uses the computer to exercise his brain and eyes. Once a week, he takes a bus to church.
‘I used to just idle away my time, but now I am learning to use the computer and I play mahjong daily. I keep my mind alert,’ said Mr Chua, who is single.
Thing is, he is living in a senior citizens’ home.
The Henderson Senior Citizens’ Home (HSCH) he lives in takes up the entire floor above the void deck of Block 117, Bukit Merah View. It has 20 one-room units.
The Chinese Women’s Association runs the HSCH. NTUC Eldercare will take over the management of the home next month.
HSCH is one of two homes for the elderly that are housed in an HDB block. The other operator, the Asian Women’s Welfare Association (AWWA), runs the AWWA Community Home in Ang Mo Kio. This sheltered home for the elderly has 72 one-room units on the second, third and fourth storeys of Block 123, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6.
Mr Chua said his life changed for the better when he applied to HSCH 25 years ago.
He used to work as a bookkeeper in a shipping company and moved in after he retired as he had no one to look after him. He used to live in a rental flat in Balestier.
Both homes have much in common. They both operate out of one-room rental flats. Elderly residents – they live in groups or by themselves – pay a monthly fee to the homes, ranging from $40 to $400 depending on the level of their finances. A number are on the public assistance scheme.
Residents are usually there for the long term, moving out only when they need treatment in hospital or nursing home care. A minority move back with their families.
The HSCH has 19 residents now while the AWWA Community Home has on average 130 to 135 residents.
Some were referred by hospitals, others approached the homes themselves or with their families. Still others were homeless.
The homes are retrofitted to be elderly-friendly: Corridors have railings to aid the elderly in walking and the units have been modified. Bathrooms, for instance, have railings, and an alarm system in each flat enables residents to get help if needed.
Independent living is encouraged.
Said an AWWA Community Home spokesman: ‘We even have residents holding jobs such as working in a canteen or distributing mail.’
Mrs Betty Chen, president of the Chinese Women’s Association, said: ‘We encourage residents who can cook for themselves to go marketing and make their own meals.’
In both homes, help is given to residents who have become less mobile or need assistance with tasks such as getting food.
Residents interviewed by The Sunday Times said they liked living among new-found friends and pursuing their own lifestyle.
Some have even found love. Thirteen years ago, Mr Eddie Cheong, 83, married fellow resident Kim Cheong, 78, a year after he moved into the AWWA Community Home.
Said Mr Cheong: ‘I’m very happy. We have each other’s company and she looks after me.’
An HDB spokesman said that for now, the board is not allocating more such flats because vacant rental flats are no longer available.
Mr Lim Boon Heng, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, said that this ‘ageing-in-place’ concept enables people to continue to live in the homes they have grown old in.
He added that using HDB rental flats as communal housing is just one aspect of ageing-in-place.
‘There are some people who will need to move to communal housing or sheltered homes. These are a minority, mostly singles without close relatives. For them, communal housing is one solution.
‘This forms one aspect of ageing-in-place, for a small group… For the vast majority, support services will emerge to enable even the old to age in place, in their normal HDB flats, in condominiums or private property.’
Dr James Low, head of Alexandra Hospital’s Department of Geriatric Medicine, said sheltered homes in HDB flats are one option for ageing-in-place, though not the only one.
The sheltered homes felt that expanding their premises could benefit more elderly people.
Said the AWWA Community Home’s spokesman: ‘It would be good if we could help more residents.’
Agreeing, Mrs Chen said: ‘It would be great if we could have another floor so that we could take in more residents.’
Source: Sunday Times, 6 Dec 2009
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