SilverHairsClub, or (SHC, in short) was conceived in Sept 2004. Officially, started in Oct 2005 in Singapore. This is an informal social group; and, it aims to form a group of friends who are in their SilverHairs or are moving on into SilverHairs years.
A number of our working friends have retired, and when they retire, they forgot their good old friends, and spend the rest of their lives on grand children, the department stores or the coffee shop. Some have started new lives while many are considering new avenues of spending their retirement.
For all of us, reaching SilverHairs have different meanings. Some do have exciting plans, while for some, they cannot wait to enjoy the thought of a quiet retirement. And, for others, the thought of not working the next morning can also be frightening. There is life during SilverHairs.
The SilverHairsClub aims to provide a platform for us to meet new and more friends. The objective of the SilverHairsClub is to enable SHCians to:
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Find new and meet more friends.
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Share common interests.
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Exchange knowledge and information on retirement, and
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Enjoying a fruitful and meaningful retirement.
The SilverHairsClub has friends and members who are mainly Singaporeans and living in Singapore and surrounding countries. We hope to expand this space. In order to meet its objectives, monthly get-togethers, talks, little eat-outs, interests groups gatherings and social/business gatherings are organised by members for members.
Do join us. Contact the administrator at admin@silverhairsclub.com.
Copyright 2004. SilverHairsClub. All rights reserved
June 11th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
How SHC got started?
A number of SHC members have asked about the origin of the SilverHairsClub. I shall go through the background, and then we should look at how to take the club further.
In 1990, I work in Bangkok as an expatriate with the Bangkok Post. The Thai economy then was booming and every piece of visible land became a high rise building. Asia as a whole was booming too. In 1997, the financial crisis came, and down came the cranes. Markets crashed. Thailand and the rest of Asia went through huge economic pains during the subsequent years.
Thousands of Asian expatriates returned to their own countries. Jobs were lost. I continued to stay in Thailand, and started my own business. I felt alone, seeing people leave the country. I was thinking of returning to Singapore too. At the same time, I wanted to continue staying in Thailand. I was hoping to find new Singaporean friends to join me to retire in Thailand. I discussed with Richard Kwok, William Chew, Margaret Lee and Richard Ng about our future years. We talked for years, but little materialised.
Finding people to stay together for short periods of 3 months, outside Singapore hit a snag. After a lot of research work, I came to the conclusion that retirees will not stay together in a foreign place, if they are not familiar with one another. The ideal retirement place will not work, if retirees just live alone. There must be the friendship element.
The second conclusion is that most, and I mean most Singaporeans, have their hearts in Singapore. The families and roots are still here in Singapore. However, many Singaporeans see life is not a garden of roses all the way. Yet, we need to face the challenges. Retirement is one big challenge. We read all about retirement every week in the newspapers.
Three years ago, I tell myself “No, we cannot leave our retirement to the government bodies or retirement organisations”. We must take steps to actively direct our retirement plans. Nothing is ever too late. I am a firm believer that only we, SilverHairs, can decide our own future. Many plans fail because we act as individuals. If we can work, plan and live together, we can have a meaningful retirement. And in order to do so, the founders decided to start the SilverHairsClub.
Of course, we did not know what to do, what are the aims and objectives and how do we organise ourselves. It was our strong urge to gather together as a group, and form a platform for SilverHairs to meet new friends. Blindly or not, we set rigid rules that the minimum age will be 45 and that the SilverHairsClub will not discuss issues on sex, religion, politics, direct selling and Multi-level marketing. The min 45 age means that the SilverHairsClub has members with years of working experience, wisdom and knowledge. Depending on when a member retires, being 45 allows many members to get to know new and more friends. Hopefully, by the time of retirement, the friendship will still continue and that a new life will flourish among SilverHairs.
The SilverHairsClub was intended to reflect a common feature among the members. Some members have requested for a name change, but I hope you will appreciate this is not the most important thing now. We should quickly take the opportunity to address our retirement, and collectively make plans to direct our future. There are hundreds of issues, but in my mind, the important ones are enjoy our SilverHairs years, maintain a fit body and the means to support ourselves.
The club has only one objective, and that is to provide this platform for SilverHairs to meet and make new friends. As a result of new friendship, new activities grow. We have done very well, because of the initiatives of many SilverHairs. Let’s give a big thank you to the many people who have brought the SilverHairs club to what it is today.
I encourage you to follow through SilverHairsClub.com weekly; Use it. It’s our platform of communications. The club does not strive on ideas and suggestions. Instead, we invite you to lead on your ideas and suggestions.
Time to move on. Let’s take Nov and Dec to think how to take the SilverHairsClub forward. I hope you will put your ideas here,and make it the longest thread. So, if I can ask each of you to think about the issues and write your ideas here. We will consolidate these ideas, at the end of December, and put these ideas into our 2007 wish list. I will invite a group of SilverHairs to review the suggestions, and use Jan 2007 to move through the new changes. Remember to respect every fellow SilverHairs’ comments.
Terence Seah
July 12th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
The Page on Founders has been removed, and is now added to History of SilverHairsClub.
I am one of the early members in the SilverHairsClub group. My name is Terence Seah; 53 years of age, and I live and work in Bangkok since 1990. Having spent more than 20 years in newspaper production and a number of years in the callcentre/ econference business, I am definitely not looking forward to an early retirement. In fact, my thinking of retirement is not throwing away the regular 9-5 hours and relaxing on sandy beaches or hanging out in beer or coffee houses. Personally, I think a true and meaningful retirement means finding more time for oneself, being visibly active and financially ok.
Since 1997, many of us had seen the financial crisis, and how this crisis had brought about the fall of companies and countries. Then, there were not many good news. 2004 saw the world economy picking up. It is time to think and plan for ourselves. Many would-be retirees from Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Singapore, not forgetting Europe and North America do look at other countries to settle down for their their retirement. With retirement, comes new issues like the cost of health, new friends, loneliness and the quietness of daylight hours.
Within the SilverHairsClub, we have people who have lived or have the desire to work and live overseas. We do not know your needs; but we hope to provide the platform for you to find new friendship and help you make plans for your SilverHairs years.
The SilverHairsClub has received numerous calls for membership. Even if you have no plans for your SilverHairs years, you might also like to join the club to share the knowledge and company of the other club members. I look forward to your participation.
The SilverHairsClub is the initiative of five people. The other co-founders of the SilverHairsclub include William Chew, Richard Ng, Margaret Lee and Richard Kwok. Each one of us contributed ideas to the development and concepts of the SilverHairsClub; and this has led to where we are today.
Today, our group has grown. The SilverHairsClub is for all of us, over 45, and SilverHairs. Let’s make our SilverHairs years more meaningful and fulfilling.
Join the SilverHairsClub and watch the club grow further.
Terence Seah