NOTE FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM

The Singapore population is ageing. Today, nearly one in five Singaporeans are aged 65 and above and that figure is projected to rise to one in three by 2035. An ageing population is not unique to Singapore – other developed countries and even some less-developed countries like China are facing the same issue.

What are the implications of an ageing population, is it really the new ‘population bomb’ as put forth by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and how can we prepare for it? These are questions that this issue of Economics & Society will examine.

Ageing and the health of a nation are inextricably linked. As such, we are honoured to have Minister Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Health to write the foreword for this issue to set the context of ageing in Singapore.

We are also pleased to have interviewed two experts in the study of ageing – Professor Kua Ee Heok from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS) and Associate Professor Chia Ngee Choon from the NUS Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences’ Department of Economics. Through the interview with each of them, we find out more about gerontological studies done in Singapore, the retirement adequacy of the Central Provident Fund (CPF), and changes in local attitudes towards ageing.

The essays in this issue are contributed by a diverse range of authors and offer multiple perspectives related to an ageing population – Mr Micah Tan and Professor Paulin Straughan from SMU’s Centre for Research On Successful Ageing (ROSA) present their findings about the health and social impact of ageing in the context of Singapore from ROSA’s Singapore Life Panel dataset; Mr Tan Tai Kiat, Chief Operating Officer of SingHealth, shares his reflections about the economics of caregiving; Dr Kelvin Tan from SUSS’s S R Nathan School of Human Development (NSHD) writes about how technology can be used to close the gap between lifespan and healthspan (the number of healthy years) and Singapore’s performance in closing the gap based on the Future Health Index. The final essay is on the economics of ageism and what can be done moving forward by Mr Ryan Wong, an economics student.

In “Perspective”, we converse with Ms Munah Bagharib, a local host and actress who is also a caregiver and one of Dementia Singapore’s Ambassadors. In the conversation, Munah shares her caregiving journey for her mother who was diagnosed with dementia and provides advice gleaned from her experience.

We wish all readers a fruitful journey through these pages.