Nightmare in the twilight years

By Daniel Yam,

December 2014

 

The struggles of Singapore’s pioneer generation. Nation builders beco,e unwanted citizens. In conjunction with the SG50 celebrations, I covered the pioneer generation of Singaporeans who had worked to build the nation and are currently facing adversity even in their golden years.

 

 

First steps in Singapore

Growing was never easy for Tan Ting Tim, the overcrowded and cramped streets of Singapore filled with migrants of different nationalities all looking for a better life through work. The blistering sun squeezed every last drop of sweat out of Mr Tan, soaking his thin white fabric shirt. The crowd tussled their way pass one body after another along the rows of shop houses lining up the streets. Their ethnicities as diverse as any society found across Asia. Of course with this diversity, comes with its challenges.

 

Language was always going to be a barrier for the young Mr Tan but that never stopped him from migrating to the new thriving nation from his home in China. The state of the Singaporean society at 1960, a hotspot for migrants coming from all over Asia in search of a better life, a “Singaporean Dream”. Working in a labouring job as a delivery man transporting sacks of rice on a daily basis, he prayed his tough, physical work would pay off for him and his family to one day have a better life. That was the plan for Mr Tan.

 

Unexpected outcomes

Fast forward 55 years, it is 2015 and Mr Tan still finds himself toughing it out, this time, as a cleaner in his neighbourhood coffee shop. Since his first job in Singapore, the now seventy-three-year-old hasn’t stop working simply because he hasn’t been able to earn enough for his retirement, let alone to provide for his family. The now elderly Mr Tan finds himself working twelve hours a day, six days a week.

 

He explains using a mixture of broken English and Chinese, “usually the coffee shop I work at would open from five in the morning till two the next day, every day. I definitely would work every hour if I could, to earn every dollar I can, but at this age, my body simply cannot handle the workload anymore.”

 

The now wrinkled and exhausted looking old man explains his current predicament, “money is still the main factor, the job I worked as in my youth simply hasn’t produced enough to provide for me in life. On top of that I now have a large family, I invested so much in my children’s education which wasn’t cheap. Also, daily living expenses aren’t as cheap as before, so me and my wife have to settle for the basic necessities, no room for luxury.”

No room for luxury indeed. Mr Tan lives with his wife in a three-room flat in Woodlands, the most basic of living quarters you can get in Singapore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope gone

When asked if he felt if the government neglected the hard work and sacrifices his pioneer generation gave for the country, a change in the tone of voice showed and the emotions behind the wrinkled face sparked to life, “the government promised the people when I was a young working man that they would fight for a better living standards for all Singaporeans.  Now, of course we can see better living conditions in Singapore, but what about us? What about those who worked their whole life to make these changes happen? I’m still not living any better than what I had 55 years ago.”

 

Mr Tan worked as a delivery man from 1944 to 1952 and then found a new job as a mailman in 1954. When asked how his skinny body frame could cope with such high physically demanding jobs, Mr Tan replied, “back then everybody was as skinny as me but the thing about my generation was that we didn’t complaint, we knew we had a job to do to earn the money we needed. Imagine your family with nothing to eat and you completing your job gave them their only food for the day, how can you stop working?”

 

 Sad to say, that’s the situation an elderly and frail Mr Tan still finds himself in, 55 years down the road.

I introduced Mr Tan to Singapore’s new pioneer generation assistance scheme, explaining in detail the benefits he could receive like reduced prices for healthcare, top ups in Medisaves and Medishields and various others subsides.

To my humble surprise Mr Tan gave me a calmed, rationale response, “yes I heard about it. But while it does help me a little bit here and there, the story still remains the same for me. I’m still just a poor old man struggling to make ends meet.”

 

Unfair fact of life

Mr Tan’s story is tragic and concerning and certainly not an uncommon one. A concerning amount of this nation’s pioneer generation is living a second grade lifestyle and still face difficulty in bringing food to the table and are living in undesirable situations. Though a true solution may be hard to come by and requires dramatic and unrealistic changes, it is definitely a situation we as a nation need to address, especially since we, the newer generation of Singaporeans, are enjoying the fruits of their labour while they have never truly tasted it.

 

 

 

 

This feature story article was written in conjunction with the theme of SG50 where Singapore celebrates it's pioneer generation and say thanks to them during this year of celebration.