Looking for like minded people to live in such retirement community to realise my dream

Hi, this is Lorna.

I look forward to join the activities with the silverhair, the blackhair
& the colouredhair.

I am curious how people decorate their house. It never fail to reflect the
personality of the owner. So, I make a living looking at houses – helping
people buy their home, unlock their asset by selling their house etc.

It is good to be healthy. So an active lifestyle is the way to go. Swim,
cycle, excercise in gym, walk in the park, travel, make friends, eat good food,
draw and paint, reading – are things I love to do.

Will be good to retire far from the madding crowd in Singapore. This place
is getting too crowded and expensive. A quiet place fronting the sea with
natural beach, living close to nature, good friends to engage in meaningful
activities; go back to basic, plant my own food etc is my ideal way to retire.

Looking for like minded people to live in such retirement community to
realise my dream.

Lorna Yee

18 thoughts on “Looking for like minded people to live in such retirement community to realise my dream”

  3. Hi Lorna
    I see something we have in common. I’m not sure about the going back to basics but the idea of getting away from the crowd and nice place by the sea … that’s life!

    Malcolm, what’s Bau/Singai like? By the sea?

  4. Hi Lorna

    Retirement living overseas…. a subject close to my heart but an impossible dream with the SHC! We have had many discussions and all of them came to naught!

    This is because many SHCs are still tied to their jobs, families and friends. They cannot get away for longer than 2 weeks after which they will be shedding tears of homesickness.

    However, if we have more participants like Feztus and Malcolm who may have invested in an overseas destination whether for personal or commercial purposes, we may yet see another surge of interest.

    Well, there’s no better place to start… we already have a tour to Yunnan by Feztus; what about a tour to Sarawak and Bau/Singai? And maybe we could get a small community going!

  5. Hi Kenneth, Lorna,

    You hit the right nail. I hear and read recent reports in the papers that Singapore is close to full employment. This means members past 55 or 62 are still working. This also means most SilverHairs wont be able to stay overseas longer than a few weeks.

    I guess for those who have made overseas a place to be, staying overseas for periods of a few months may still work.

    I hope more people will come up with their thoughts. Thanks Lorna.

    Terence Seah

  7. hi shc folks, as it has been expressed that this thought just float around and doesn’t get firmed up into a program that members can get excited about. of course there are many obvious reasons but i feel that mainly it is because it is not possible for shc to have one place, retreat centre or community village just for shc folks, plus everyone who started this thought has their own “personal agenda” of what they are exploring but not saying it. that agenda restricts the plan as it does not consider the interest/s of the rest. unless someone with deep pocket starts one for the joy of entertaining the rest of the shc folks.

    hence i feel that the easiest idea to start is to have shc members design a 2 weeks travel/retreat program at each destination, observe it for a year and see how it goes. No investment into retreat centre just packaging a 2 weeks program of stay, transport, food and some work if it is more than 2 weeks. such travel is for health recovery; physical or mental, rejuvenation, gastronomical enrichment, reading or writing an autobiography or helping out in community project. Not for hectic package tour or shopping. Tough to go alone, so will be better to have at least 2 pax. Tougher to live together as a group with all our different habits.

    1. Somewhere in Thailand
    2. Sarawak/Sabah
    3. Malaysia
    4. Yunnan
    5. Hongkong
    6. Taiwan
    7. Australia

    Anyone who wish to go and explore/stay anywhere in yunnan for 2 weeks,just let me know. I will set it up. Any month of the year.
    Last month we just came back from a place in Yunnan called Shaxi, near Dali. super layback old town on the tea horse route. very serene and quiet. You can google to find out more.

  9. May & Kenneth

    Bau / Singai is a district and majority of inhibitants are Bidayuh tribe. There are mountains/caves; caves with bird nest; national parks; conservation marine parks for turtle; further north about 40 mins is Lundu and also sea resort et cetera. There are several villages/kampungs around and some have the rivers next to their houses/properties. Visit map for more information http://www.maplandia.com/malaysia/sarawak/bau/

    The place I normally stay in in an extended bamboo longhouse within the property. Mathew and family have a brick house next to it. There is also a pond, fruit trees and currently planning additional rooms/pintus to accomodate home stay guests. Soon clearing an area to plant rice and many more activities in the pipeline that will benefit the community such as clearing the debris of section of the river et cetera.

    This is not per se a purpose built retirement village. Hoever, there are vast land that can be developed for such purpose and intend, This subject is also explore by some Sarawakians.

  10. Hi Malcolm

    Thanks for the info; but count me out for the back-to-nature retirement lifestyle. I need a city-style environment with good facilities, medical access, and everything that a spoilt Singaporean needs and wants!

    With that said, you could arrange a tour package for those interested SHCs to experience a longhouse stay. This could be like what Feztus is offering for Yunnan. And then, when there is enough interest, explore the possibilities of longer-term stays.

  12. I lived in a kampong as a child, so I have experienced life where even some basic needs were not available. My grandpa had quite a bit of land, built two units of so-call “long house” and one of these units was rented out to several Tamil families. The other was occupied by all grandpa’s children’s families (talk about congestion). We also had our own vegetables … here’s the best … our own poultry and pigs … Fun? No way!

    I guess my ideal retirement days will probably be like an ideal getaway (or vacation). Not back to basics, I’m afraid. I don’t want to spend my “then-days” planting vegetables or feeding the poultry, do I even have the energy for it?

    This is not a spoilt S’porean writing but someone who is looking for enough basic needs, reachable medical facilities and carefree lifestyle when I retire. And if this just happens to be a place by the sea, well, it’s paradise for me.

    By the way, Malcolm, thank you for the info. on Bau/Singai. Sounds like a place to trek (and canoe?) and camp? Any plans to organise a trek?

    May Tang

  13. “I make a living looking at houses”. That’s amazing.

    Fortune tellers make a living looking at palms (not Wilmar or Golden Agri type) and faces. But at houses?

    As they say “eat till old, learn till old” so this is 1 trick I must learn.

    “Will be good to retire far from the madding crowd in Singapore”. Verily ans so I’d hv to agree with you absolutely.

    People living in Spore – and they include foreign talents – are becoming very mad. One woman wd quarrel over the smell from a neighbour’s pot of curry oblivious of what greater harm her underarms bring. Sympathisers wd rally behind her and call for this Sunday to be Curry Day. Hurry, let’s quarrel with our neighbours for playing Cantonese opera music instead of Lady Gaga’s National Day intro.

    Maddening behaviour caps a maddening people.

    “We also had our own vegetables … here’s the best … our own poultry and pigs … Fun? No way!….my ideal retirement days will probably be like an ideal getaway (or vacation). Not back to basics….. I don’t want to spend my “then-days” planting vegetables or feeding the poultry……This is not a spoilt S’porean writing but someone who is looking for enough basic needs, reachable medical facilities and carefree lifestyle when I retire. And if this just happens to be a place by the sea, well, it’s paradise for me.”

    No quarrel with that and certainly wont refer it to mediation. It’s a matter of ambition which needs the support of $. And plenty of it.

    The ambitious, retired, retiring or planning their retirement as early as in their 20s, have thronged the 2 new and beautiful casinos for a shot to realise this halo dream.

    They look a picture as they enter the casinos and shout for pictures in card games only to be rewarded with fissues to their ego, ambition and savings. Sadly, almost all walk out with hollow looks and hollow pockets, wallets.

  15. I had a visit from a group of 4th year Architecture students and their Professor. They wanted to talk about Sustainable Urban Development. The subject of aging population arises and how best to house retirees. This led to the question of what do retirees really want.

    My needs are simple. All I need is somewhere I can take a solitary walk each day and be able to meet up with friends occasionally. I have that now.

    If you have dreams of what your ideal retirement home would be, please share. I promise to contribute to them further but I have no idea. One of these smart young students may one day come up with the ideal retirement home for us.

  16. #15, Hi Tian Soo,

    May I add — retirement homes are rare in Spore, even in Asian countries. Of cos, they exist in the west, more so in the european countries, where every retiree eats into their social security system (plus also alot of ‘foreign’ retirees – do not contribute to the tax system) – whereby they age on and thus sinking and destroying the retirement scheme.

  17. Celia. Thanks for your input.

    Just to clarify, we are only concern with the stage from when we stop work until we become invalid. It does not cover when we need nursing homes and hospices. If we retire at 55 and are lucid till 85, it is 30 years of life.

    This group of people are proportionally becoming very significant in many countries. Politicians fear we are a strain to the economy but I tend to think that there is an economy built around this age group. The total wealth of baby boomers is high.

  18. Hi Lorna, Tian Soo, Celia, May, Feztuz, Malcolm, Abel and Kenneth,

    After getting to know more SHC members, I have come to believe that many Singapoeans look forward to retirement and plan to do all the things they couldn’t do. Instead of a time for leisure, other members look forward to a life transition eg a time to explore a new career.

    Perhaps for some of us. But for many retirees, we need to work after 55 or even 62. They can expect to work during retirement out of necessity, to maintain their lifestyles. Many try to return to their place of employment from which they have retired, but on a part-time basis. Some dont have this option or they may choose not to take it. Instead they take new paths.

    Unfortunately finding a job as an older worker isn’t easy. It takes a longer time, and often, we have to accept a lower salary, despite older workers being able to bring something to their jobs that younger workers cannot eg a lifetime of experience, knowledge and skills.

    Part of the difficulty facing older job seekers lies in the fact that many require retraining in order to adapt to the changes in the market. While the skills of retirees are abundant, they sometimes do not have technical skills, which are very important in today’s market. While I may not agree, this may be a reason for the influx of FTs.

    For those who planned well for retirement and have no desire or need to earn money. They still feel like they can make a contribution to society and therefore seek out volunteer opportunities. Volunteering often gives seniors a chance to use the skills they spent so much time cultivating. They get to use their skills in communities in Singapore and around the region.

    Many of us have homes in Singapore; that’s why were are rooted here. But, for those who have truly retired, a communal place somewhere else may be possible. Guess that’s where some of us can contribute our ideas and experiene of other nearby countries.

    Personally, I have doubts that many Singaporeans over 55 or 62 have truly retired. Look at our unemployment rate; they are low. Few who say have retired, can spend more than one or two weeks outside Singapore. Many are trading online; maybe this is one way to stay retire and still earn some income.

    But I do agree, we have to find new ways of retirement, less we work till we die. Lorna has started this Post, less share our thoughts.

    Terence Seah

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