OUR VISION

Fostering a society where seniors live full, active and meaningful lives.

OUR MISSION

To make active ageing a way of life.

CHARIMAN'S MESSAGE

As one of the fastest ageing nations in the world, Singapore's population will comprise nearly 20% seniors aged 65 years and above, by the year 2030.

Consequently, ageing well and having a good quality of life has become fundamental to our society's progression. It is C3A's vision to foster a society where seniors live full, active, and meaningful lives. Our three key focus areas are lifelong learning, social gerontology, and promoting optimism on senior employability.

As a catalyst for active ageing, we continually initiate new programmes and platforms, and I am very encouraged by the strong results we saw in 2012.

In the area of lifelong learning, our signature programme, Intergenerational Learning Programme (ILP) witnessed a tremendous growth in its second year. The numerous heart-warming testimonials and affirmative feedback substantiated the positive impact of ILP on seniors' attitudes and on establishing bonds between the two generations. It forges intergenerational solidarity to build social cohesion in the long run.

The launch of C3A's portal in October 2012 also availed active agers a new avenue for continuous learning, with articles that range from health and exercise to travel and technology. Additionally, the interactive portal acts to bridge seniors to our partners who bring them deals and activities that help them live life to the fullest.

We observed equally heartening success in our pilot run of our Practical Social Gerontology (PSG) programme. The programme aims to make seniors aware of the ageing process and issues affecting ageing, as well as equip them with practical knowledge and skills needed to age well. Participants reported heightened confidence and positivity towards ageing, with improvements showing in their daily lives.

2012 also saw our unremitting effort in instilling optimism on senior employability. Staying in the workforce helps seniors stay relevant and connected to society, and we hope that more seniors will be inspired to stay employed, through the workshops and talks organised with our partners.

Through a myriad of initiatives and efforts, we managed to reach out to and benefit 186,000 seniors in the past year. Moving forward, we will carry on working in close collaboration with our partners to reach out to more seniors and bring them more programmes and an even wider array of opportunities.

As we endeavour to cultivate a positive environment for ageing and create a dynamic and thriving active ageing landscape in Singapore, we want to encourage not just seniors, but the community at large, to stay connected and stay active.

Let's embark on a journey together, in leading purposeful, meaningful lives!

Gerard Ee

Chairman

C3A

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CHAIRMAN

Mr. Gerard Ee

Ms. Charlotte Beck

Senior Director, Family Development Group

Ministry of Social and Family Development

Mr. Willie Cheng

Chairman

Caritas Humanitarian Aid & Relief Initiatives

Singapore

Mdm. Chua Foo Yong

Veteran

Broadcaster

Mr. Gerry De Silva

Head of Group

Corporate Affairs

Hong Leong Group

Mr. Iain Ewing

Managing Director and Principal Trainer

Ewing Communications Pte Ltd

Dr. Lim Cheok Peng

Managing Director

IHH Healthcare Berhad

Mr. Damien Ng

Managing Director

Head of Investment Consulting

Bank J Safra Sarasin

Mrs. Elaine Ng

Chief Executive Officer

National Library Board

Dr. Denis Christopher

Nyam Ngian Kwong

Consultant Colorectal and General Surgeon,

Nyam Colon, Rectal & General Surgery Pte Ltd

Mr. Peter Ong

Managing Partner

Rested Edge Advisory

Professor Tan Chin Tiong

Senior Advisor to President

Singapore Management University

Mr. Wilson Tan

Chairman

EZ-Link Pte Ltd

Ms. Marjorie Wee

Group General Counsel & Company Secretary

Otto Marine Limited

Ms. Teo Lay Lim

Country Managing Director

Accenture

Associate Professor Paulin Tay Straughan

Vice-Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Deputy Head, Department of Sociology

National University of Singapore

THE 4 AGES IN A LIFE CYCLE

1st Preparation

A period of preparation for life in the early years, where skills and knowledge are developed through education.

2nd Achievement

A stage when seeking employment and security are primary.

3rd Fulfilment

A stage when self-actualisation and fulfilment gain greater importance and more financial capability, perhaps with less career or family responsibilities.

4th Completion

A dependency stage which requires physical and other forms of care from others.

Source: A Fresh Map of Life: The Emergence of the Third Age, Peter Laslette (1991)

C3A'S ROLE

As one of the world's youngest nations, Singapore also has one of the fastest ageing populations. Today, one in ten Singaporeans is aged 65 and above. By 2030, the number will have reached an astounding one in five.

In light of this impending profound shift in age, C3A was set up in 2007, with the purpose of promoting active living for seniors in Singapore. Staying current against the lively and evolving active ageing landscape, C3A today plays a catalytic role in promoting active living and focuses on lifelong learning, social gerontology, and instilling optimism on senior employability.

We engage a wide network of seniors, partners, and Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWO) to cultivate a flourishing active ageing ecosystem. Through knowledge and resource sharing, we build our partners' capacity and capability in catering to the diverse interests and needs of seniors, and empower seniors to lead happy, healthy and active lives.

FY2012 HIGHLIGHTS

50PLUS EXPO

Live Well, Celebrate Life

Held over three days at Singapore Expo from 22 to 24 March 2013, 50plus Expo is the largest public education and consumer event dedicated to seniors. At the expo, seniors enjoyed a wide range of learning sessions and activities, games, offers and bargains.

A 2,000 square metre Public Education zone featured three areas seniors could explore - Learn (active learning), Connect (active lifestyle) and Engage (active engagement). Forum sessions also met with overwhelming response, with over 2,700 participants at 30 sessions that covered a variety of topics, from boosting brain power, to making a will, to blogging.

Already in its fifth year, 50plus Expo was a huge success, with close to 75,000 visitors on record - a third of whom had visited the Expo at least three times before!

PRACTICAL SOCIAL GERONTOLOGY (PSG) PROGRAMME

To help seniors age successfully, we initiated a programme that helps them first understand ageing itself. Held in early 2013, the pilot run of Practical Social Gerontology (PSG) programme was attended by participants aged between 49 and 72. Seniors were taught practical knowledge and skills essential for ageing, and reported improvements in their awareness and attitudes towards ageing at the end of the programme.

INTERGENERATIONAL LEARNING PROGRAMME (ILP)

ILP is a C3A initiative launched in 2011 that matches seniors and youths in a classroom environment, allowing them to share knowledge and experience and increase intergenerational interaction and bonding. Participants collectively spent approximately 7,000 hours in the programme, allowing opportunities for interaction between seniors and the youth.

Official Launch of C3A PORTAL & NEW LOGO

On 1 October 2012, C3A celebrated two launches - our new logo and online portal!

NEW C3A LOGO

Our new logo consists of a fluid ribbon that represents the energy, dynamism and sense of infinite possibilities that we hope to inspire in the ageing landscape, while the bright colours - purple, red and yellow - convey the vibrancy and passion of seniors.

The tagline "Ageing Well" completes the logo. It embodies C3A's vision of creating a society in which seniors can age successfully, and is a simple but unifying expression for the work we undertake.

C3A PORTAL

A senior-friendly site with bigger font size for easy reading and one-click large buttons for simple navigation, the C3A portal has proved a hit with seniors since its launch. With content that encompasses news, special deals, events and activities, and resources useful for seniors, the portal has seen over 115,000 visits and nearly 500,000 page views in the past year alone!

THE RISE OF A NEW PERSPECTIVE

Public Education In The Community Ageing well isn't the work of a moment, nor is it the effort of seniors alone. It involves support from the community at large. Age-friendly environments and intergenerational solidarity are as important as personal responsibility when it comes to active ageing.

Through various programmes and platforms for public education, C3A seeks to overturn stereotypes and create opportunities, to fully engage seniors and society on the journey of active ageing.

INTERGENERATIONAL LEARNING PROGRAMME

Launched in 2011, C3A's initiative, Intergenerational Learning Programme (ILP) has seen remarkable growth in its second year. The programme's uniqueness lies in having students teach seniors one-on-one, in a "buddy" system. Topics range from Facebook, Skype, and health management, to scalp care, photography, and more.

ILP provides a great opportunity for seniors to pick up new skills, as well as gain new perspectives through interacting with the young. The youth also stand to learn a lot from their senior buddies, who no doubt have plenty to share from their rich life experiences!

- 100% improvement in youths’ perception of the communication barrier between the two generations

- 97% of youths felt their perception of seniors improved after the programme

“They are friendly, and majority are not condescending like how the younger generation perceives them to be.”

Lester Leong, 14, youth participant at Nan Hua High School’s Learn How to Use Facebook ILP

“They are willing to share their ideas and teach us how to look at things from a different perspective.”

Sunita Khemlani, 52, senior participant at Raffles Institution’s Basic Public Speaking and Critical Thinking ILP

“To me, ILP is a great success… we’ve been texting and I follow her blog as I am much impressed by the sincere and positive mindset of the younger generation.”

Jenny Yeo, 61, senior participant at Temasek Polytechnic’s Health Matters ILP

“Very knowledgeable and meticulous in all that she does, and this is a spirit I can learn from greatly.”

Seah Ming Xuan, 17, youth participant at Jurong Junior College’s Eyes Through the Lens (Photography) ILP

C3A PORTAL

Since launch, C3A Portal has seen nearly 500,000 TOTAL PAGE VIEWS

According to a study conducted by Institute of Policy Studies in 2012, seniors reported a clear lack of a single "signpost"where they can find information on ageing well. To address this, C3A launched a one-stop resource website for seniors on 1 October 2012.

With its bigger default font size and one-click large navigation buttons, the C3A portal is designed to be senior-friendly. It offers fresh and inspiring content relevant to seniors, such as news, events and activities, special deals, and schemes and policies that benefit seniors. An app was also launched to give smartphone users easy access to the portal content.

Apart from being a wealth of information, the portal also encourages seniors to be more technology savvy. It serves as a communication hub between seniors, the public, as well as organisations working together in the active ageing ecosystem, to improve the wellbeing of seniors.

An online dipstick survey by C3A

- 97% of respondents believe that keeping up with technology helps them to stay socially connected

- 93% of respondents use email

- 59% are on social media (eg. Facebook)

- 50% use the Internet on their mobile phones

50PLUS EXPO 2013

50plus Expo is the largest public education and consumer fair for seniors, hosted annually by C3A. At Singapore Expo from 22 to 24 March 2013, seniors thoroughly enjoyed the wide range of activities and learning sessions, and picked up travel bargains, new hobbies, and interests.

Besides the many exhibitors offering health and wellness products and services, there was a Public Education zone occupying a staggering 2,000 square metres, offering active agers endless hours of meaningful play and learning fun. Seniors could also take immediate action and seal their commitment to active ageing by signing up for courses and programmes offered by some of the voluntary organisations. The zone featured three areas.

- Largest Public Education and Consumer Fair occupying 10,000 square metres

- 98% want to visit again!

Learn

A zone where seniors were encouraged to stay mentally stimulated, and keep their minds alert and healthy. Through the wide range of interesting activities, seniors realized that continuous learning was anything but dull. For instance, they could pick up a useful new skill at the photo-editing workshop, or a refreshingly cool one at ice-cream making! Seemingly simple activities such as origami-folding in fact put their nimbleness and precision to the test, while caricature drawing reminded them of the importance of observation.

Connect

A zone that promoted fitness and vitality through being physically active. Activities such as zumba and conductorcise tested seniors' psychomotor skills, and showed seniors that they could stay socially connected with different groups of people while having fun together. There were also slightly more challenging activities such as intergenerational rock climbing, which was physically demanding yet meaningful at the same time, as it highlighted the significance of communication and trust between the different generations.

Engage

A zone where seniors discovered that staying in employment can help them stay connected to society and maintain their social circle. Seniors could pick up practical tips and skills including resume writing, and through personalised employment optimisation sessions, learn what their strengths are and how to harness them. But it wasn't just serious business over here. There were interactive games and humorous skits, which, while light-hearted and entertaining, also strongly relayed the message of employment optimism.

INSTILLING OPTIMISM ON SENIOR EMPLOYABILITY

Seniors are an invaluable source of experience and knowledge, and can be a great asset to both a company and its employees as individuals. Staying in the workforce rewards them - with opportunities to learn new skills, and increase their health and mental wellbeing by keeping vocationally active. They can also enhance social interaction, touch base with the young, and improve intergenerational bonding.

As one of the primary driving forces in the active ageing ecosystem, C3A supports senior employability. Throughout the year, we collaborate with partners who share our conviction, to instil optimism on continuous employment.

In July 2012, we collaborated with Land Transport Authority (LTA) to conduct a workshop at U Live Symposium. Hearing the positive HR policies regarding matured workers and success stories on staying gainfully employed, it left seniors feeling heartened and inspired!

C3A also collaborated with various partners,including SingHealth, NTUC-IRD and e2i, to deliver a string of workshops on "Feeling Good About Staying Employed", where seniors learnt about the new Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA), and received assistance in job matching and career opportunities, amongst others.

We hope to broaden our collaboration to further the cause of senior employability, and empower more active agers to lead purposeful and vibrant lives.

UNDERSTAND AGEING FOR EMPOWERED LIVING

PRACTICAL SOCIAL GERONTOLOGY PROGRAMME

“Last time what I know about ageing is on the surface. Now, it is a deeper level of understanding.”

Ho Kah Wai, 57

“I have thousands of friends on Facebook from all over the world. But in real life, I’m not very active. After attending this course, I met more people and made new friends.”

Kathirithamby Ramakrishnan (Rama), 63

“I play Sudoku, as I want to stay alert. My dad has dementia, and we have to pay more attention.”

Wong Lai Mui, 50

Gerontology is defined as the study of biological, psychological, and social aspects of ageing.

- 78% of seniors highly value the joy in learning something new and interesting

- 100% of the participants felt that the course was helpful and beneficial

To help seniors understand the process of ageing, issues involved as one ages, as well as equip them with practical knowledge and skills important for late adulthood, C3A initiated a Practical Social Gerontology (PSG) programme. Collaborating with one of our active ageing partners, Fei Yue Community Services, a pilot run of the programme was conducted in early 2013.

This is a 27-hour programme, typically consisting of seven classroom-based lessons and one field trip. Course content includes topics such as physical, psychological, and social impacts of ageing, wellness, and practical issues in ageing.

Participants, aged between 49 and 72 years old, felt that they had enjoyed the programme, and had a good time with the trainers and new friends. They also felt more confident and positive towards ageing.

Empowered to apply what they had learnt, they reported significant improvements in their attitudes towards ageing, social relationships, mental and physical health, and community awareness.

IN COLLABORATION WITH RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS

In 2012, we collaborated with different pillars of the community, including various religious organisations.

Tapping into the networks of these religious organisations allows us to promote lifelong learning to a greater number of seniors, who are members of these organisations. Together, we organize talks and workshops on issues such as finance and health-related matters, and promote active living through this platform.

Our dialogue and sharing sessions with the religious organisations also help us better understand the needs of seniors, and in turn equip us to better cater to a more diverse group of seniors.

ONE HEART, ONE SPIRIT

Working With and Through Partners

Since our inception in 2007, C3A has sought to work with partners in as many sectors as possible, in order to extend our reach and promote active ageing as widely as we can.

FY2012 saw a fruitful year of collaboration with over 130 partners across different territories, from government ministries and statutory boards to commercial organisations and Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWO), through our various platforms.

For instance, through a joint effort with YAH! Community College, more than 33,000 seniors benefited through the five programmes, namely Learning Hives, Senior Leadership, Alumni Strength, Certificate for Lifelong Learning, and Community Ambassadors.

Building Capacity and Capability

As a catalyst promoting active ageing in Singapore, we act as a capacity builder to our key partners. Weoffer support in areas such as networks for knowledge and resource sharing, to strengthen their capabilityand effectiveness in active ageing work.

With every new programme initiative we develop and launch, we're creating opportunities for our partners to offer greater choices to seniors and, at the same time, providing them a platform where they can widen their reach to seniors and ultimately bring them greater benefits.

INTO THE HORIZON

The silver landscape will transform as seniors' lifestyles and expectations evolve. Looking ahead, we will continue to seed new initiatives, develop additional channels for communication, and establish more programmes and platforms to reach out to seniors.

Active Interest Buddy (AIB)

AIB promotes smooth transition into third age where seniors live full, active and meaningful lives. Through a nurturing buddy relationship, they are encouraged to self-discover an active interest in their journey to attain fulfilment. This unique programme aspires to add value to the overall active ageing landscape.

Chinese Portal

The success of the C3A portal has bolstered our endeavour to bring the same wealth of information to Chinese-speaking seniors. We are working on developing a Chinese portal where relevant and inspiring articles, news, deals, and activities can be made available to them, and encourage more to age actively.

Looking Ahead

We plan to deepen our collaboration with partners so as to bring a rich diversity of opportunities for seniors. While creating greater momentum and traction for the active ageing movement, we can also grow and achieve more together, being in a vibrant exchange of knowledge and ideas.

We'll press on in our journey, to make active, meaningful living a possibility - and reality - for the entire community.