GETTING OUR PRIORITIES RIGHT

Calls for help. Is the government listening?

Of late there has been a spate of letters in the papers lamenting the lack of financial assistance for retirees and pensioners. Marie Lee's letter highlights the many difficulties seniors face in their retirement. This is not something new, but reading some of these letters, you can feel the desperation and frustration underlining these pleas. But are the relevant authorities taking note?

Giving a Rm100 voucher to senior citizens to go shopping for provisions is but a publicity exercise to make the government look good. Not that they are not appreciative, but it's only a one-off gesture. There has to be a sustained program of financial aid. I have disabled friends who receive only Rm300 in monthly welfare aid. They tell me it's barely enough to cover utilities, let alone food and shelter. (Pic: The Star)

On the other hand, we read about the billions that have been siphoned off from the public coffers through corrupt practices or that have gone down the drain through poor, short-sighted investments. It is painful to read about how some ministries are squandering away taxpayers' money.

Take for example the recent announcement that the government is considering purchasing 10 Eurofighters that cost Rm3 BILLION each. What are they thinking? Why is there a need for the latest in combat aircraft? We are a small country with no known enemies. Who would want to attack us? Let's hope this preposterous idea remains nothing more than just a pipe dream of the Defense Minister.

Unless you are drawing a pension of at least Rm1500 when you retire from the civil service, your pension won't be enough to meet your living expenses, especially if you are the sole income-generator in your family. The majority of pensioners, numbering 557,033 in 2007, (probably close to 600,000 by now), are on the lower salary scales, and trying to make ends meet on monthly pensions of less than RM1000. Bear in mind the poverty level is RM720.

The worst hit are retirees from the lower and middle income group who are either self-employed or have worked for the private sector. Their EPF savings alone are not enough to meet their financial commitments as well as cover daily expenses for the next 20 years assuming they live to 75.

Those in the 60s age group are caught in the middle between having to support their children and taking care of their elderly parents, with hefty tuition fees on one hand, and high healthcare expenses on the other. There's also their own insurance premiums and housing loans to pay as well. That's enough to bring on a heart attack!

This group of retirees are not eligible for government aid. They have difficulty finding re-employment. Most companies still practise age discrimination when hiring staff. Going into business isn't that simple when you lack capital and the banks won't give you a loan. They consider you a high risk, again because of your age.

With the cost of living escalating, surviving the "golden years" may require us to look outside the box for that elusive pot of gold.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO PREVENT AND REVERSE HEART DISEASE?

"Of course!" claims Dr Caldwell Esselstyn. And he has the findings of a 20-year study to prove that changes in diet and nutrition can reverse heart diseases.

I must confess I've never heard of Dr Esselstyn till I saw him on CNN recently. He was interviewed by Dr Sanjay Gupta for the one-hour programme "The Last Heart Attack".

The programme also carried an interview with former US president Bill Clinton. He talks about his two heart attacks and how by following Dr Esselstyn's plant-based diet and changing his lifestyle, he has lost 27 lbs and feels fitter now than he's ever been in his life.

If you missed the programme on Astro, you can view it here or the video below.



Here's Dr Esseltstyn himself to share some of his research findings. It's a bit long, but if you value your heart, do give it a listen. You have nothing to lose except an hour of your time. Just bear in mind that the videos posted here are for educational purposes only.

THE HOME THAT IDRUS AND ASMAH BUILT

The unassuming entrance to Idrus and Asmah's house. What lies behind those gates is a home that's worth millions in terms of the love and toil that went into building and nurturing it. It is a home that welcomes all who enter with a genuine old-world charm and hospitality that's rarely found these days.

I fell in love yesterday on the first day of Hari Raya Adilfitri. With a house. Not just any house, but the one that Idrus and Asmah built. I'm not referring to the brick and mortar structure of the house. That was built by some unnamed workers back in the early 1970s. No, I'm referring to the house, or more correctly, the home that this couple built over the past 40+ years. It is a labour of love, and a lasting testimony of what two entwined hearts and souls can achieve when they share the same vision.

Great idea to add the custom-built verandah and the steps leading up to it - gives the house a rumah kampung look. The front porch or garage is converted into an extended makan area for the open house.

Another view of the porch taken from the verandah.

Pak Idrus, 72, and his wife Asmah, 71, have transformed a single-storey link house measuring 22 x 80 sq feet into a quiet haven that exudes warmth and comfort in every nook and corner. The couple obviously saw the potential in the place when they bought it in 1973. Putting their creative ideas together, they have succeeded in converting the 3-bedroom house into a showcase home deserving of the cover and centre-spread of any prestigious Beautiful Homes magazine.

The living room radiates warmth and coziness.

Another view of the living room from the front door.

The dining area. Don't you love the ambience?

"My husband and I have an understanding about the maintenance of the house. He is responsible for the outside, while I take care of the inside," confides Asmah. With their three children all grown and living on their own, the house has become their dream retirement nest. It also serves as a veritable treasure trove of memories. Mementos from their numerous trips around the country and abroad are displayed in glass cabinets or hanging on the walls.

Idrus takes care of the little garden outside. This is just one corner of the garden that shares space with the verandah. You can tell there's an on-going love affair between Idrus and the plants.

Asmah lovingly maintains the inside of the house. This is the family TV room. Notice the photos on the wall from a by-gone era.

The couple knows they are truly blessed. Not only do they have each other, they are also enjoying their golden years in good health, with the support of loving family members and a wide network of good friends. As Idrus loves to say "You don't need a big house, a flashy car and lots of money to be happy in your retirement." Having been to his 'humble abode' and after chatting with his lovely wife and younger daughter, I can't agree with him more.

Hari Raya open house at the couple's house means lots of good food. There was plenty to go around for the friends who dropped by yesterday to wish Idrus and Asmah 'Selamat Hari Raya'.

Sumptious spread of homecooked chicken, beef rendang, sambal prawns and salad.

Curry taufu goreng, fried meehoon and ketupat with satay peanut sauce to die for.

Who cares about dieting when you have dessert like this. All home-baked. Those cup cakes are out of this world!

From left: Kim, me, Ee Lyn, Kevin and our gracious hosts Asmah and Idrus.

Footnote: I first knew Idrus through his blog Pak Idrus' Post. Yesterday at his open house I met a few of his blogger friends. It was a meeting of like-minded folks. I am reminded of the line on his blog that says "Strangers are friends that you have yet to meet". How absolutely true.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI

In case you feel like snapping your fingers and moving your feet in celebration, here's some raya music from multi-instrumentalist Eizaz Azhar. Enjoy!

SINGAPORE GOVT TO IMPROVE HEALTHCARE FOR THE PEOPLE

A video excerpt from Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech on 9 August.

The following is a transcript of the above speech. The graphics are sourced from the Ministry of Health's website. They sum up the main points made by the PM regarding healthcare for Singaporeans.

"The next five years - there is going to be rapid change. Our aging population is going to throw up new challenges and there will be other groups which will have specific needs which we have got to tackle. We will keep on improving our social safety net, enhancing it, keep the present approach but improve the schemes and I would like to talk about two things which we will be doing tonight. 

One is to do with medical care and particularly with outpatient treatment, especially for older people. Many Singaporeans worry about medical expenses, especially if you are older or you have an elderly member in your family. The 3M framework, Medisave and so on, works well for inpatient care but for outpatient treatment, I think we can do better. One group of these elderly is those who need long term care. They may be bed-ridden or they may have Alzheimer’s and I talked in the Chinese speech just now of some of the things we are doing to help this group. We will give more support, expand services, make the services more affordable.

Another group is patients who have chronic ailments, maybe high cholesterol, maybe high blood pressure, maybe diabetes and amongst the people who are in their 70s maybe half will have one chronic ailment or another. When you have something like this, you will know that you need regular checkups and you need long term medication. It is not that you take the pill 10 days and the problem is cured. You have these pills, take it for the rest of your life, every three or six months see the doctor, the doctor will examine you, adjust the dosage, six months later see again. 

Try and keep well for as long as you can. But the pills can be expensive, particularly over a long period of time and the low income patients tell me they may skip an appointment because they fear they cannot afford the pills. Or they may say “the doctor says I eat this every day but I take it every other day instead to save money”, which is not the way it is supposed to be done because if you do that, your condition will worsen and more trouble will come later on, serious complications. 

I think that we should make outpatient care more affordable and accessible for this group: the elderly and the not so elderly. We have a scheme to help elderly chronic patients like this. It is called the Primary Care Partnership Scheme (PCPS), which helps the low income elderly and disabled. What it means is: you have a card, you are registered, you can see your GP instead of going to the polyclinic but you get a subsidy like you are going to the polyclinic. It is more convenient, you have more choices and you probably get faster service. 

We will change this scheme which is now quite restrictive and where you have to be 65 years old before you are considered for this scheme. We will change it so that you can start at the age of 40. Because when you have high blood pressure or cholesterol or diabetes, by the age of 40 it is beginning to show up particularly if you have not looked after yourself. When you have conditions like this, the earlier you start treating, the better I think the results will be and you have to cooperate and we will improve the scheme to help you to be able to have consistent treatment over a long period of time. 

We will also revise the income criteria to include more households so that a broader range of households can come in under the scheme and can get consistent good long term care. We will also make the medication more affordable to lower income households. We will expand the drug list so that it covers more drugs and we will increase subsidies for the more expensive drugs with safeguards so that those with chronic ailments or cancer where chemotherapy can be very expensive, well you will get more help. 

I think these are major moves. We will implement them carefully and as we gain experience with them, we can consider how to fine-tune and how we can take further steps forward. We have to be very careful because you do not want to end up like the Americans where the government health schemes have eaten up a huge amount of the budget and financially and fiscally it is a big problem for them. But we can do better, we will do better and MOH is working on it and they will announce the details later on. So this is one area where we can improve our social safety nets."

LIVING WITHOUT MONEY

Grace Schwermer, 69, with her suitcase containing all her belongings.

If you want to retire comfortably and not have to worry about where the next meal is coming from, you need to have at least RM1 million, so the financial experts tell us. If you live in the urban areas, a more realistic figure of Rm5 million is needed to see you through the next 20 years after you retire.

While the jury is still out on the optimum size of our retirement egg, one woman shows us that it is very possible to live without money.

Heidemarie Schwermer, 69, has been doing just that for 15 years. In 1996, she quit her job, gave away all her possessions, closed her bank account, cancelled her health insurance and embarked on an experiment to prove that we don't need money to live. Her one year experiment was so successful that she continued with it for 15 years.

How did Schwermer do it? By using a swap and barter system, just like in the old days before money became a medium of exchange in transactions. The Star carried a one-page write-up about her recently. Click here to read more.



Her experiment attracted a network of mostly students and pensioners - people who were always short of cash. As word spread, Schwermer decided it was time to write about her experience. After her book was published, TV interviews followed and a documentary about her lifestyle helped spread her idea further. To date, the film has been screened at over 100 locations in 20 countries. There was a free screening in Singapore on 30 April this year. Debates and discussions are usually held after the screening.

Would Schwermer's idea work here in Malaysia and Singapore? We are so accustomed to using money to pay for goods and services, it would take a drastic shift in mindset to accept barter in lieu of money. However, a quick check on the internet shows there is no shortage of ideas on what can be swapped. People are beginning to discover that swapping is a terrific way to save money. With inflation on the rise, it's only a matter of time before swapping events become as common as product launches.

Click here for more information.

 Swapping clothes

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A book swop in Singapore.