1. A good afternoon to Professor Tan Tai Yong, SUSS President; Professor Robbie Goh, SUSS Provost; faculty; staff; students; partners; and participants for the Pitch for Good competition.
2. When I came into the hall, I had the opportunity and privilege to meet some social entrepreneurs as well as some social service agencies, who have been so energetic in coming up with schemes and programmes to empower our seniors to continue contributing. Not to view seniors as beneficiaries, but to tap on them as a power base to continue to support the community, to be able to tap on their experience and wisdom to contribute to society. That's a very good approach, and a very good mental frame to take.
3. I'm privileged to join you today as we celebrate and empower senior entrepreneurs at the Geronpreneurship Innovation Festival 2025. I want to congratulate all the participants from all nine countries; by taking part and by putting heart in your proposals, you have already won. I think the societies from which you come from, win because of people like you putting passion and purpose into supporting active aging.
4. Our society is rapidly ageing. In five years, one in four Singaporeans will be 65 and above. We want to ensure that our seniors can age well in their homes and neighbourhoods – and this is an effort that requires the whole of society to pitch in.
5. This is why we launched Age Well SG in 2023, to bring together government agencies, healthcare partners, and community partners to support our seniors to age well and with purpose.
6. As highlighted in this year's Festival theme, entitled "The Power of Purpose in Ageing", ageing well means more than meeting basic needs.
7. It also means ageing with a strong sense of purpose and passion, through 3 meaningful ways; the first, living life on your own terms; second, learning for life; and third, giving back to the community.
Living Life on Your Own Terms
8. First, we want to empower our seniors to live life on their own terms – going about their daily routines as confidently, normally and independently as possible. We can do this through innovation, technology and sensible infrastructure.
9. This is what drives the work of the Age+ Living Lab. This is a lab that I had the privilege to launch last year – it was a real eye opener. The lab is a partnership between SUSS and SG Assist, between an Institute of Higher Learning and a people-centric organisation. It focuses on exploring innovative assistive solutions and innovations that enable seniors to thrive in familiar surroundings.
10. If you go to the lab, it is set up like a home – a Singapore home, for those of you who are visiting Singapore. Emplaced throughout the model home are solutions – from complex solutions to very simple and thoughtful ones that help seniors to open containers, to help check if they are at the risk of falling, to connect them with the community and more.
11. It now features more than 150 thoughtfully curated solutions, such as smart devices and specially designed tools that are easy for our seniors to use. I encourage you to visit it if you have not already done so, particularly if you have seniors in your family and you want them to be able to test out and maybe even use some of these solutions.
12. I hope that today's Festival will inspire more of us to develop solutions that enable our seniors to live life on their own terms.
Learning for Life
13. Second, many of our seniors are eager to keep learning and growing by acquiring new skills, mastering novel technologies, or exploring diverse interests.
14. These activities can reignite a sense of purpose, open doors to new friendships, and show that these do not stop just because we might have grown older.
15. Through the National Silver Academy, we provide financial support and diverse learning opportunities that are tailored to help our seniors pursue their aspirations.
16. I am very encouraged that institutions like SUSS have embraced an age-inclusive approach to learning by making your programmes accessible to older learners through flexible study arrangements and blended learning options.
17. Today, I understand that SUSS has over 500 students above the age of 50 pursuing undergraduate as well as postgraduate programmes, with many more enriching their lives through short courses and showing that age is really no barrier to academic pursuits or intellectual pursuits.
18. One example is Mr Jerome Yuen. After attending the SUSS Designing Impactful Ventures, or DIVE programme, in 2023, he gained valuable entrepreneurial skills.
19. In fact, I met him just now; he has got a life full of experience and is just brimming with energy to contribute to the people around him. He went on to pursue a Master of Gerontology in 2024 at SUSS to deepen his understanding of the ageing sector.
20. Now at the young age of 61, Mr Yuen exemplifies how older adults can continue to be learners, and also leaders and innovators.
Giving Back to the Community
21. Finally, through their wealth of experience and wisdom, seniors have so much to give back to our communities.
22. The startup entitled "The Courage Chapter", which I met earlier, founded by Ms Lim Kai Ning through the SUSS Venture Builder programme, creates opportunities for 'reternships' matching seniors with suitable organisations.
23. The other person I would like to highlight is Ms Maria Go. She found a new calling through such a 'reternship'.
24. After a long career in hospitality, a two-month 'reternship' at St Andrew's Autism Centre reignited her sense of purpose and spurred her to pursue a new career at the age of 51 as a social worker.
25. In fact, I think in social work, we value age and wisdom. And we certainly value mid-careerists so please consider coming to the social sector. We need you. Teachers too, MOE is very important as well and we need mid-careerists.
26. These examples show us that ageing and retirement is not the end of contributing and giving back but often the beginning of a new chapter, where you unlock the experience and potential in our seniors. It could be the beginning of a new chapter – one where our seniors can channel their experiences into causes that they care about, mentor younger colleagues, and continue making a meaningful difference to the community.
Call for Collective Support
27. Looking ahead, I encourage all our seniors, our partners and government agencies to work together to create the infrastructure, community and culture to support our seniors in ageing well, with dignity and purpose.
28. I am glad to see that everyone here at the Festival is contributing your ideas and energy to this cause, whether it is through the Pitch for Good competition, performances and exhibitions, or the everyday things you do with and for our seniors. I want to thank you for playing a part in building a more caring and inclusive Singapore.
29. We are about a month away from National Day – it struck me when the performers sang "Home". As we mark SG60, let us work together to create a society where each additional year of life and each additional year of wisdom brings opportunity for independence, growth and meaningful contributions.
30. On that note, thank you SUSS, Ngee Ann Kongsi and all our partners for bringing this festival to us. Thank you.