Trivia from my readings on ComCare services in Singapore for my Social Policy class.
In one of the schemes called SilverConnect.. there was a following brief statement on why they want to connect young singles to volunteer with the elderly:
"By involving Singles Connect, younger singles can better appreciate the ageing process, and the value of family and community support.. "
the first thought that came into my mind that this was possibly another one of the SG govt's propoganda-ish msg* to the singles:
" Singles, see, if you're not married and don't have a family, you may end up like this elderly person you are helping now! so get married and have children! "
Scaring singles into marriage through volunteerism. haha. But how beautifully it's been put: to "better appreciate the ageing process and the value of family and community support" :)
I take my hat off once again to our social marketing and policy gurus in Singapore for creative messaging.
* Background: Singapore has been facing the issue of young people delaying marriage and having kids with the ongoing pursuit of establishing careers that comes with a strong, growing economy. As such, SG faces an impending problem of have a high dependency ratio with an ageing population. Hence, in order to lower the burden on the economy in future, the govt has been STRONGLY encouraging and thinking of ways to facilate more young people settling down and giving birth to as many kids as possible (e.g. with the 3rd child, you get a baby bonus!)
haha..its funny how you put it..:)
ReplyDeleteI think it's the very thing that pp are now more financially independent that they dun see the need to have a family.. cos they dun want to get settled down? How abt the high cost of living in S'pore? I guess there's just a lot more to look into why pp are delaying in getting married. Even with pp getting married, there's 1 more major issue to overcome. and that is the replacement of the older population. So it's not simply getting married lor.. and I hope we may end up having a 'strawberry generation' heehee..
ReplyDeletewhat's a "strawberry generation"?
ReplyDeleteaiyah... i realise i wrote the wrong thing.. wat i mean is that i dun want us having a 'strawberry generation' it's a term used in a certain country where the kids are still getting money from their parents even thoh they're of working age. the parents also gladly give them the money simply b'cos they're the only child in the family. It's called 'cao mei zu'. : ) Too much 溺爱。
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