A number of SilverHairs have expressed strong interest in retirement villages. So far, we have heard from Jocelyne, KT Wong, Ronald Wi, and KC Lau.
Jocelyne has personally visited a number of such establishments in Australia and the US. Some of her friends have seen some retirement villages in the UK. Jocelyne shares her view that "Retiring to any other these foreign countries may not be an option for many of us. The ones I saw in Australia maybe quite simple. A studio apartment, with house keeping facilities, a little kitchen if one wishes to cook, or a simple meal at a community canteen down below. Some of these establishments are single storey, others are high rise with lifts at every floor.
Some have recreational facilities like games room, hobby room, music in the hall with a piano or keyboard. There’s simple nursing aids and doctors on call. There’s a bus to take house guests for outtings or shopping and activities to cater to various interests."
Jocelyne believes ‘the time has come when such an option is needed. As for retirees continuing to work, I don’t see why staying in a retirement village should hinder this. In fact, we could even help one another to find some work or set up small co-op. for some small businesses. The retirement village my friends and others are thinking of will not be dependent upon charity.
Ronald Wi and KT Wong have also written on this topic. Click here to read about articles written by other members on this topic of retirement village.
Jocelyne would like to initiate a discussion on this topic at her place at Holland Road, on a Saturday afternoon. The exact date is not fixed. Please indicate your interest here, and we would get in touch with you. Limited to 20 SilverHairs.
Hi Terence,
I have being toying with the idea of retiring to other foreign countries for quite many years. In fact I am ready.
Like to be in the discussion.
Cheers,
Ronald Lee
Basically, how does one ‘set up’ a retirement village in a foreign land? Do you mean hiring some form of lodging (sounds feasible) or are you going to be a ‘developer’ of a few houses(Land laws may apply) or what? The idea of ‘time-share’ is good, but how to implement that exactly?. Would love to take this further in other discussions. cheers
Gary,
I have participate in a number of meetings, topic on retirement villages. So far, I see two angles from different SilverHairs. I summarise as follows:
1. Start big, buy a piece of land, build a project, and sell the units to those who would buy the units for a certain term.
2. Start small, get a few rental/leased units. Find groups of people to live together, share resources and enjoy the SilverHairs years.
Not as easy as summarised; but I think this would be a case of like-minded getting together.
We will try to arrange a Saturday afternoon meeting on this topic.
For SilverHairs, share your thoughts. We will collate this for the Saturday meeting.
Though it may sounds simple to either “Stay” or “Migrate” with or without much money-in-the-pocket – the following questions need to be scrutinised :
Security – we need to be protected against the odds and the unexpected
Medical – as we get older, we need efficient and effective medical cares
Affordability – 2~3 meals a day, shelter from rain and sunshine, a comfortable bed to sleep and ability to pay for SP and Conservancy Charges
Mobility – able to move about without the help of others. Can self manage to pass motions and eat as and when is necessary.
Companionship – have friends, buddies or love one to confide with in times of loneliness.
Interest & Hobbies – Continue to endeavour in indoor or outdoor activities
EOL – make sure “will” is made to the love ones or to those who have taken good cares of us during our “Old Age”
We are born into this world “Crying” and we want to depart this world “Smiling” – So live to the Fullest and May God Bless all of us
Hopefully we can find a Retirement Village that have all the answer to those questions above
Cheers
Patrick Yeo
Hi all ,
I hope that we can all think a little out of the box here, it can start small but the ideas should be open to all possibilities. It can be a sort of retirement, eco-friendly , mini-Spore Tourist Promotion Board features,as well as a very small scale Banyan Tree home feel type of concept, maybe start as a Coconut Tree concept. So we need people with experience, ideas and expertise in all fields such as in legal , financial, entrepreneural , organisational, administration, marketing ,teaching , management,etc. It can then also sometimes,function as a Social club where we organised activities to invite local SHC type of people to join in to learn more of the Singapore culture, the food, education system, entreprise city of the future concepts, health plans, education system & tuition, etc. Thus if we can we should try to get some sort of sponsorship from companies to showcase their products, like cookbooks, OSIM chair, Hyflux water treatment, Breadtalk, Yakun, Creative,Informatic, etc. Thus ideally the setup can be made to evolve to provide many other opportunities for SHC members to use their experience, their innovative spirit to lead to many areas of successful interaction that even if it does not lead to huge monetary gain it can lead to a new fruitful kind of long holiday cum work that gives something back to society of both countries, maybe indirect business interaction, etc . Some areas that can be easily started will be cooking classes, maid selection and training, arts, and handicraft promotions,etc. All activities will not have to be ongoing but on a when available basis ,example during school holiday periods,etc .
It is always good to live in a community with all facilities provided, all people around the same age, sharing common interests, etc. I remember asking my friends to buy Studio appts together. One of them said no; because she will be too afraid to go home when her neighbours start dying, one after another. This is what we will have to learn to face when the time comes. I am interested to join in any discussion. Thanks.
I would like to join. When is it ?
For those who have expressed a keen interest in work on the retirement village project, I have fixed a date together with Jocelyne for Saturday, Oct 14 from 1400 – 1700 hrs, along Holland Road.
This meeting is not to discuss the pros and cons of retirement village, but more on ideas and suggestions of a retirement village and how to move ahead with this project.
If you have a place for a RV, a concept, maybe cost, partnership with other RV ideas, etc, please drop a comment here. We would like to invite your participation.
So far, SilverHairs who have a concept of the RV include Ronald Wi, Ronald Lee, KT Wong, Jocelyne Soh, Gary Loke, SB Khoo and Susan Chang.
Due to limited place, invitation will be on a first come basis.
Jocelyne/Terence