UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE IN A 74-YEAR OLD BODY

MIT's age suit AGNES (Age Gain Now Empathy System)

MIT's AgeLab has come up with AGNES, the ageing suit. It enables anyone wearing the suit to experience what it feels like to be in a 74-year old body. Reaching for items on the top or bottom shelves can be near impossible for ageing limbs. Your arms can't stretch that high, and your knees simply can't bend that low. Your failing vision means you can't read the food labels and your arthritic fingers don't allow you to have a firm grip. All of which means that everyday chores like shopping for groceries at a supermarket can be quite a challenge for the elderly.

The idea behind the age suit is to simulate the restrictions and limitations an ageing body has on movements and mobility that most people take for granted. The purpose, according to Joseph Coughlin, one of the suit's creators and the founder and director of MIT's AgeLab, is to enable companies and governments to understand what needs to be done to make a product or service more user-friendly for an ageing population.



The number of people 65 and older is expected to more than double worldwide, to about 1.5 billion by 2050 from 523 million last year, according to estimates from the United Nations. With statistics like these, the business of ageing looks set for exponential growth.

GETTING THE YOUNG TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE IN A 74-YEAR OLD BODY

MIT's age suit AGNES (Age Gain Now Empathy System)

MIT's AgeLab has come up with AGNES, the ageing suit. It enables anyone wearing the suit to experience what it feels like to be in a 74-year old body. Reaching for items on the top or bottom shelve can be near impossible for ageing limbs. Your arms can't stretch that high, and your knees simply can't bend that low. Your failing vision means you can't read the food labels and your arthritic fingers don't allow you to have a firm grip. All of which means that everyday chores like shopping for groceries at a supermarket can be quite a challenge for the elderly.

The idea behind the age suit is to simulate the restrictions and limitations an ageing body has on movements and mobility that younger people take for granted. The purpose, says  Joseph Coughlin, one of the suit's creators and the founder and director of MIT's AgeLab, is "to enable companies and governments to understand what  needs to be done for a product or service to make it more user-friendly for an aging population.

IT PAYS TO BE A CIVIL SERVANT IN MALAYSIA

The 'goodies' for senior citizens aged 60 and above as mentioned in the PM's recent Budget Speech are really nothing much to shout about, unless you are a civil servant. For the rest of us, life goes on obladi oblada. Most likely we would have to have to tighten our belts another notch or two.

Outpatient registration fee at government clinics and hospitals is only Rm10, and it's only one-time. Waiving this is no big deal for most senior citizens. As for the 50% discount on LRT and Monorail fares, how many senior citizens especially those in their 70s and above do you see taking the trains? So how many will benefit from this discount?

Civil servants, on the other hand, can expect a windfall. First off, their retirement age has been raised to 60. This gives them an extra two years to continue drawing a salary and accumulate more savings. Their pension will also be increased by 2% effective 2013.

It boggles the mind to think of RM4 BILLION of taxpayers money going towards bonuses and assistive payments for 1.3 million civil servants.

Speaking at the launch of the UN Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2011 (UNESCAP), Professor Datuk Dr Mohamed Ariff of the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance noted that Malaysia had the largest civil service in the entire region.

Malaysia’s civil servants to population ratio was 4.68, in comparison to Indonesia’s 1.79, South Korea’s 1.85 and Thailand’s 2.06. The size of Japan’s civil service, he added, was similar to that of Malaysia’s despite having a population of over 120 million people.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister’s Department alone has 43,544 government servants as of last year, up from the 4,418 in 1981 and 25,332 during the Abdullah Administration.

When will ordinary retirees receive the same special treatment that the PM gives to government pensioners? Few retirees can claim to have adequate savings in their EPF to support them over the next 10-20 years. They too need generous goodies, not measly crumbs, from the government to help them cope with the rise in cost of living.

There's valid reason to be skeptical about promises made by the PM. Just two months after he announced the repeal of the Internal Security Act (ISA) effective March 2012, the police have used the Act to arrest 13 people in Tawau, Sabah.

Will the PM renege on his budget promises? Well, let's wait and see. January 2012 isn't that far away.

MAKING IT SAFE FOR THE ELDERLY TO BE HOME ALONE

Mdm Susan Low, 60, and her 90-year old father relaxing at their HDB studio apartment (Photo: ST)

Imagine this: you live alone with your elderly father. Every day when you leave for work, or step out to run some errands you worry about your father. Will he be alright on his own at home? What if he falls? When you call home, there is no answer. Your morbid imagination kicks into over-drive.

Imagine again, you come home late in the evening after work. You open the door and find the apartment in total darkness. Your heart skips several beats. You enter your father's room. He is lying in bed, not moving. You are about to switch to panic mode. You check to see if he is breathing. Yes, he is. He's only sleeping. You heave a sigh of relief and utter a silent prayer of thanks to God.

Familiar? Life can be a daily cycle of worry and stress for those of us living with and caring for an elderly parent. Getting a live-in maid or a relative to elder-sit is easier said than done.

Now thanks to government initiatives, senior citizens like Madam Susan Low, 60, can rest easy that help is literally at the door-step - at the seniors service centre at the void deck of her Housing Development Board's (HDB) Golden Jasmine studio apartment block in Bishan.

The apartments are designed with safety in mind. Besides handrails, grab bars and anti-slip tiles, each unit is installed with an emergency alarm system. All the elderly residents have to do is yank-pull the 1metre-long pull cords set up in the toilet and living room. The staff at the help centre will be alerted and will rush to the unit within five minutes. They are ready to respond to any calls for help from the elderly residents.

The Econ Health and Wellness Centre at Bishan is the first seniors help centre at HDB's studio apartments offering both free and paid services. Three more projects are coming up in Queenstown, Jurong and Ang Mo Kio.

Mdm Kong Yow Ghua, 78, who lives alone,
exercising at the gym. (ST)

The centre also provides free recreational facilities for the residents, a gym and as well as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinic. There is a nominal fee charged for use of the gym and for TCM consultations and treatments.

Aside from the seniors help centres, there are seniors activity centres (SACs), which offer free services like therapy and counselling to residents of HDB rental blocks.

The population of Singapore is ageing rapidly. Today one in 12 Singaporeans is aged 65 and older. This figure is projected to rise to one in five in 2030. This means an increase from 300,000 people today who are aged 65+ to 900,000 by 2030.

It will be a challenge for the government to ensure that the elderly are adequately taken care of, and every consideration be given to provide assistive living for them, especially for the elderly who live alone or with one adult child already in the 50s or more.

OBEDIENT WIVES CLUB EXPLAINS ISLAMIC SEX

If you can't get hold of a copy of the book 'Seks Islam' (Islamic Sex Guide), not to worry. The book has been banned here in Malaysia. But here's a Youtube video that sheds some light as to what Islamic sex is all about, at least according to Obedient Wives Club national chairman Fauziah Ariffin.

However, not all Muslim women in Malaysia subscribe to the teachings in the book. "OWC's teachings are an insult to Islam", says Ratna Osman of Sister-in-Islam.

Hatijah Aam, 57, founder of the OWC, and one of the wives of the late Al-Arqam founder Ashaari Muhammad who is featured on the cover of the controversial book, shares some insights on OWC's interpretation of Islamic sex.

• If your spirit is pure you can have sex with your wife even though you are abroad fighting a war.
• God allows sex sports. And to be good in sex you need practice.
• Orgasm releases a pain killer and helps with fever. But don’t have affairs on the pretext of curing your fever.
• Orgasm prevents wrinkles.
• Sex can make you younger. Jogging can be replaced by “sexcercise”.
• Only animals have sex without mukadimah (foreplay).
• It is important for a woman’s breasts to be sucked in order to prevent breast cancer (quoting a BBC news report).

(Extracted from the article "Taking Sex to the PhD-level" in The Star.)



While the women are embroiled in the controversy, the men are generally quite happy to remain on the sidelines. As long as they are permitted to marry four wives and everyone of the wives pledges obedience to their husband, and do their best to satisfy his sexual needs, what is there for them to complain about?

It's still very much a man's world out there. If members of the Obedient Wives Club take joy in being subservient to their husbands, why should the rest of us condemn them and deny them this pleasure? If the husband is happy, and all his wives are just as happy, then there's all to it. Isn't that what matters? Better than being in a monogamous marriage where neither party finds fulfilment in each other, and the only option left is divorce. But, to each her own.

Footnote: The title of the banned book is Seks Islam, Perangi Yahudi Untuk Kembalikan Seks Islam Kepada Dunia. This translates into Islamic Sex, Fighting Jews to Return Islamic Sex to the World. What is the link between Jews and Islamic sex? Why the use of the word 'return'? Did the Jews hijack Islamic sex? 

These instructions would fit nicely in OWC's guidelines on how to please their husband.

OH TO HAVE MONEY TO GIVE AWAY...

Photo: The Star

It is always heart-warming to read of common folks turning philanthropists.

Ms Choo Hong Eng, 58, who runs a vegetarian stall in a coffee shop in Geylang, Singapore, has been making the news since she hit the jackpot at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) casino on Oct 18.

She became an instant millionaire when she won RM1.03m on Oct 18 playing the Lotus Evolve slot machine at the casino. However, MBS refused to pay her the full sum. The manager told her the machine had a glitch. They would, however, offer her RM123,248 (S$50,000) and a sports car worth RM638,331 (S$258,962), which she could sell back to MBS for cash.

Fortunately for her, casino patrons who were eye-witnesses to her winning strike were willing to testify that the machine clearly displayed the words "Cash Bonus" and the amount won. Encouraged by their support, she filed a complaint with the Casino Regulatory Authority, and prepared for a David-against-Goliath battle to claim what was rightfully her winnings.

The CPA had two weeks to deliver its decision on the matter. But on Wednesday Nov 9 MBS informed Choo she would be paid the full amount. Choo subsequently withdrew the complaint. Two days later on Nov 11, Choo received a cheque for S$416,742.11 which she immediately banked in.

Choo and her two daughters. They have no objections to their
mother giving away half of the winnings. Says Choo, " My girls
are not materialistic." Photo: Straits Times

Choo has just got her first cheque book and will soon be writing her first cheques to give away a total of $200,000 to 20 charities. A staunch Buddhist, she will host a dinner at the Singapore Buddhist Lodge on Nov 25 where she will present the cheques to the charities.

This is not the first time Choo has struck it rich at the casino. Four years ago, she won S$280,000 playing a slot machine on a cruise ship. She donated $180,000 of the winnings to charity. In a Straits Times interview, Choo said, 'I have all that I need, there is really nothing else I want. I took on the casino because I wanted to show that people should stick to their principles and that there are aunties in Singapore who are fearless.'

Choo's story reminds me of other common people who could have used their money to live comfortably, but instead chose to help others with their money.

Photo: Xinhua

Sanitary worker and garbage collector Li Yukun, 64, has given away about 100,000 yuan of her earnings since 1998 to put 15 students through college. When she reached the retirement age of 50, she had to beg the Wendeng environmental protection department where she worked to let her stay on so that she could continue supporting the students. She also donated the 50,000 yuan which the Wendeng construction bureau gave her for living expenses.

From 1986 at the age of 74, to 2000 trishaw driver, Bai Fang Li, donated about 350,000 yuan (S54,200) of his earnings to finance the education and living expenses of more than 300 hundred poor students. In 2001, when Bai was 90 and unable to peddle trishaws anymore, he turned to looking after people’s cars at the station. He saved up to 500 yuan and made this his last donation. He passed away in 2005. Three years after his death, a movie was made to document the story of this kind-hearted octogenarian trishaw driver.

Chen Shu-chu at her vegetable stall. Photo: Taipei Times

Chen Shu-chu, 60, sells vegetables in a stall in Taitung County's central market, in eastern Taiwan. From her earnings and savings, she has managed to donate nearly NT$10 million ($320,000) to various causes, including $32,000 for a children's fund, $144,000 to help build a library at a school she attended and another $32,000 for the local orphanage, where she also gives financial support to three children.

"Money serves its purpose only when it is used for those who need it," says Chen. Already her story has inspired many people to contribute to help others. She was on TIME's 2010 list of 100 most influential people. In March last year, Forbes magazine named her one of 48 outstanding philanthropists from the Asia-Pacific region. In November, Reader's Digest picked Chen the winner of the Asian of the Year award.

These incredibly generous and warm-hearted folks have shown that we don't need to be rich to help others. A little savings accumulated over the years, or donated on a small but regular basis can be a life-line to others who are in dire need of support.

Aid doesn't always have to be money. Retirees who have time on their hands can offer to help out at NGOs or welfare organizations. They are always in need of manpower.