Growing Old

Every working morning for as long as I can remember, I’d walk to the MRT from the bus interchange. And just before the entrance of the MRT, there’d be an old lady selling tissue paper to commuters and passers-by. She’s been there for the last few years. Ever ready with a cheerful grin and chirpy greetings of “Mister, Miss, Good Morning! Thanks!” or “Xian Sheng, Xiao Jie, Zao An! Xie Xie!”

It struck me this morning that I’ve seen her evolve from being a robust lady to now being a little frail. Her hair’s gone from dark brown peppered with strands of white and grey to now being mostly grey and peppered with strands of white.

She’s gone from fairly chubby to being a lot less chubby and her cheeks no longer have as much meat on them as they used to. She’s lost a tooth or two as well. And since a few months ago, she’s taken to standing with a walking frame.

But one thing has not changed. She’s still hardworking and every bit as cheerful. Greeting everyone who passes by.

She reminded me of my granny and how I’ve seen her evolve from a strong strong woman to a lady who’s 80% bed-ridden now. How I’ve seen her move along from feet to walking frame to wheelchair. From being quick and crafty in her mind to having sporadic bouts of dementia and extreme forgetfulness now. From being able to whip up numerous dishes of food and snacks and desserts single-handedly in the kitchen to having to settle for mashed and blended food now.

But she’s still got her lovely smile going. And her eyes still light up beautifully when she’s having a bout of silly giggles or a fit of mapcap laughter.

The other two folks at home. Though they get on my nerves more than half the time. I’ve also come to realize that their once formidable bodies are weakening. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, osteoporosis, weakening heart, borderline diabetes, kidney stones, strange aches, yada yada.

But they’ve still got active lives. And they’ve still got more than active minds. (Which incidentally is not very good for me. Haha.)

For a few years now, they’ve taken to scanning the daily obituaries, just in case they see people they know. Yes, they’re at that stage of life now. And this morning, they did see an obituary of someone they know.

Aging is a little scary ain’t it? Inevitable but scary. And watching people around you age can sometimes be a daunting thing.

On a side note, did you know that Singapore is about to be the world’s third fastest aging nation? The proportion of those aged 65 years and above is set to soar to almost 20% by the year 2020. And correspondingly, the average growth in economic output will fall more than 40% over the course of the next 25 years. Possible government support for the elderly could amount to close to 7% of the nation’s GDP.

Looking at the amount of money which has been spent on medical stuff for granny and the folks at home, aging can be a costly thing as well.

Growing old.

I hope I grow old gracefully and happily. And I hope I’d be as healthy as I can be.
And oh yes, I hope I grow old with my loved ones surrounding me too.

p/s: Came across this interesting article on Singapore’s population.
I think this is just a surface skim of the depth of stats that the Department of Statistics maintains. A friend works in there and hearsay the team of people managing population stats is close to 10.
http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/themes/people/popinbrief2009.pdf