THE BROAD VIEW
A protected life is not yet a full one
Advance planning secures choice and safety, but says nothing about domains such as identity or connection
[SINGAPORE] Jeffery Tan’s commentary “In a super-aged Singapore society, we must learn to differentiate independence from dignity” on Sep 19 made an argument that Singapore’s ageing debate badly needs: Independence and dignity are not the same thing. Independence may diminish, but dignity should not follow.
He is right about the mechanism, too.
Care can turn into control gradually, through a sequence of individually sensible decisions – a child takes over the appointments, a helper decides the bath time – until “a life gets organised around a person without being lived with them”, as he put it.
