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SINGAPORE: Insufficient savings and re-employment matters are among the top concerns of older Singaporeans.
Minister Lim Boon Heng said senior citizens are hoping some of these issues will be addressed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his upcoming National Day Rally.
Mr Lim, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the kidsREAD club in Jurong.
Helping older Singaporeans stay employed is one key area that needs to be addressed.
Mr Lim said the push to get people to work beyond retirement age is underway, with employers offering re-employment to those above 62 years old.
He said the Manpower Ministry is also looking at drafting a legislation on re-employment, just as the Japanese have done.
"What the Japanese have done is that the law requires an employer to offer re-employment, in the case of the Japanese, when the person reaches 60. The law doesn't specify how it has to be done; the law therefore provides the opportunity for employer and employee to sit down to discuss the different methods it could be done," Mr Lim said.
"For the employer, the concern would be possibly about cost; for the employee, the wish, maybe, for lesser working hours in a week so that he has time for other things," added Mr Lim.
The way Japanese firms do it, is by keeping workers in the same job or offering other positions within the company or at its subsidiary.
The model, Mr Lim said, will be adapted to fit Singapore.
Besides employment, it is also important that senior citizens learn to manage their savings and get better returns.
Mr Lim hinted that this issue will be covered in the Prime Minister's National Day Rally Speech on 19 August.
Mr Lim said: "The majority of people are not able to invest their own money and get a higher return than (what the) CPF (is paying). So, how to get better returns? That is something that is not easy, because to get higher return, there's higher risk and most people don't know how to manage the risk. They have not enough knowledge of the markets to do it themselves. So it's a difficult question. But let's see what the Prime Minister has to say about this."
To keep senior citizens active, Mr Lim said, there must also be activities to engage them, just like the National Library Board's new storytelling competition for those aged 60 and above. - CNA/ir
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