More help for seniors to lead active lives: Indranee

Singapore

BUDGET 2020 will see the government offering more incentives to encourage voluntary work, along with the rollout of measures to take care of retirees and allow them to continue living a fulfilling life, according to Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Indranee Rajah.

"We will certainly have something in the Budget to promote volunteerism across the board, but also looking at what we can do for seniors," she told reporters at the end of a visit to RSVP Singapore on Tuesday.

RSVP is an organisation of senior volunteers which has been actively engaging seniors in "purpose-driven" volunteerism.

"We also want to make sure that retirees have assurance in retirement. We want to build a place where somebody retiring can feel assured, you know that going forward you'll be taken care of but at the same time, you can still contribute," said Ms Indranee, who is also the Second Minister for Finance and Education.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who is expected to deliver this year's Budget, has been reported to have said that the government is studying how to better help lower- and lower-mid income Singaporeans, including current and future seniors to meet their retirement in a sustainable way. Mr Heng, who is also finance minister, said more details would be announced in Budget 2020.

On volunteerism, Ms Indranee said: "What we want to do is see how you can make it easy for people to volunteer. The other thing is to help connect those who want to volunteer with the kind of causes or purposes that they would like to do ... That's what we should focus on."

There is already a National Seniors' Volunteerism Movement in place, championed by the President's Challenge. A S$40 million Silver Volunteer Fund (SVF) was set in 2016 as part of the movement to help community-based organisations and healthcare clusters create more opportunities for seniors as well as train and recognise senior volunteers.

The government could provide the SVF with more money in Budget 2020.

According to Ms Indranee, Budget 2020 has three main priorities - transforming enterprises and the workforce, supporting and nurturing Singaporeans, and having a sustainable future. Working with seniors and retiring come under "supporting and nurturing Singaporeans".

"Our aim for older Singaporeans is really to (have them) live a fulfilling life at every stage," she said. "For those who are either retiring, planning ahead or already retired, we want to make sure that people understand this is not the end of your useful and productive life. This is in fact the beginning of a new chapter and it actually could be the beginning of a new golden age."

During her visit to RSVP, Ms Indranee found the volunteers to be very enthusiastic for life and doing things. "They seem to have found a new lease, a new purpose - and that's what we would like for seniors in Singapore," she said.

Ms Indranee noted that RSVP volunteers not only apply their lifetime skills in voluntary work, they also picked up new skills and expanded their horizons.

She said Budget 2020 will also "pay a lot of attention" to equip workers with new skills for new industries through the SkillsFuture training programme.