In bustling New York City, trendy peer-to-peer businesses like vacation rental service Airbnb and rental-car service RelayRides are booming.

But another novel approach to the sharing economy has taken off in the Big Apple. It is one that aims to tackle a rapidly ageing population, an issue that many cities around the world, including Singapore, now face.

Called TimeBanksNYC, this citywide programme was founded in 2010 on the concept of neighbours helping neighbours. Even though it focuses on older adults, it also gives all New Yorkers a chance to learn new skills, take part in community projects and even find companionship for sports and recreational activities.

Members choose from its database of activities and services, and in exchange, offer their activities and services. For instance, a member can tutor another in mathematics or Spanish, in return for dance lessons taught by a different member.

TimeBanksNYC is just one of 59 programmes developed by the city’s administration and the New York Academy of Medicine in an initiative called Age-Friendly NYC, part of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Age-friendly Cities project, that promotes ways to make New York City friendly and liveable to older residents. (See “A place for everyone” on inclusive communities in other countries.)

New York City easily ticks off the WHO’s 84-point checklist of essential features of age-friendly cities in eight areas: outdoor spaces and buildings; transportation; housing; social participation; respect and social inclusion; civic participation and employment; communication and information; and community and health services.

Specific points include wheelchair-friendly pavements, reliable and frequent public transport, positive public images of ageing, ample employment options for older workers, wide public access to the computers and the Internet, and care facilities located close to residential areas so that elderly residents are integrated in the larger community.

Ageing in Singapore

Although Singapore is not part of the WHO’s list of Global Age-Friendly Cities project that involves 33 cities in 22 countries, the Singapore government has already embarked on its City for All Ages (CFAA) Project (see story “Singapore: A City For All Ages”).

After all, in Singapore, the number of citizens aged 65 and above will triple to 900,000 by 2030, an unprecedented age shift, with the ageing of the baby boomer generation.

The number of socially isolated elderly is also likely to increase to 83,000 by 2030, up from about 35,000 now. And, life expectancy has increased from 66 years in 1970 to 82 years in 2010, making it one of the highest in the world.

How does Singapore measure up against the other Global Age-Friendly Cities?

Urban planners note that Singapore’s age-friendly infrastructure has improved tremendously over the years. Mr Jeffrey Ho, Managing Director of consultancy firm Surbana Urban Planning Group, says that barrier-free features for the disabled “also cater to the needs of the aged”. These include wheelchair ramps, lifts that stop on every floor in HDB flats and retrofitted homes to make them more age-friendly.

But as other experts have pointed out, Mr Ho thinks Singapore still has some way to go. “We are still learning from Japan, Taiwan and the [United] States on the software and hardware of catering to the aged.”

Part of the reason is historical, says Dr Loke Wai Chiong, Director of Global Healthcare Centre of Excellence, KPMG in Singapore. In May this year, the professional services firm produced a report titled An Uncertain Age: Reimagining Long-Term Care in the 21st Century. Commissioned by the Lien Foundation, it looked at different trends and approaches of longterm elderly care from around the world.

Dr Loke says: “Singapore, along with many other ageing countries, is starting to find that it has underinvested in this sector through no particular oversight. It was never a priority. In fast-growing economies, often the early years are focused mainly only on economics, and many countries have been almost caught unawares by the ageing issue.”

Working for the future

Active seniors like Dr Rosemary Khoo, 71, are an encouraging example. Trained as an educationist and applied linguist, Dr Khoo (who had a 40-year career in the Singapore education) now devotes her time volunteering in the National University of Singapore’s Senior Alumni Group, the Chinese Development Assistance Council and the University Women’s Association (Singapore) which she founded in 1996.

She wonders if there is a Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, as well as Youth Park, why shouldn’t there be a Ministry for Ageing to focus on the issues of ageing?”

Dr Khoo, who feels there is subtle discrimination against seniors in Singapore, contrasts this to Japan, where she worked as Professor of English for two years in the late 1990s and was struck by the reverence given to age in that culture. “The University President assured me that my age of 53 then was not old (he himself was 64). There was also a number of elderly staff in the University.

“Living in Japan, I was surprised by the nimbleness of the many spritely old who sit with their legs folded beneath them and how easily they got up after that. Older persons were often featured on TV giving comments, which we don’t see much of here.”

Interestingly, Dr Khoo believes that focusing on seniors’ well-being is actually healthy for Singapore’s demographics in the long term. She likes to tell young people that she is “working for their future” because “when young people see that older persons after retirement lead active, productive lives with their housing and healthcare needs met, they will be encouraged to remain in Singapore.”

On the right track

While the situation in Singapore clearly needs improvement, things are on the right track, the various experts Challenge spoke to noted.

Says Assoc Prof Chan: “Singapore is making headway. We are a model for other Asian countries, which have not yet seen an ageing population, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.”

Gerontologist Dr Kalyani Mehta agrees. The Head of SIM University’s Master of Gerontology Programme and former Nominated Member of Parliament says: “One of the main ways to adapt to an ageing population is first of all to acknowledge that we are an ageing society.

“However, that does not equate to a society with an ageing burden. Older persons are our assets and receptacles of wisdom!”

She adds: “Once we can identify the many ways by which older persons help out in families, for example, as grandparents; in communities, for example, as ethnic leaders or religious mentors; and in society at large, for example, as volunteers in welfare organisations; we will begin to view them from a different lens.”

Only then, can change truly come.