MALAY MAIL RETHINKS THE NEWS

Yesterday's Mail Mail cover page (30 April)

Many of us will remember MM in its heydays. It was the only English afternoon paper then, and arguably the best local paper to refer to for sports coverage and classifieds. Then as the years passed, its readership slowly declined as it lost its competitive edge to other English dailies.

There were several attempts to get MM back to its glory days under various editors-in-chief, but it never quite gained a foothold in the battle for readership against other English dailies, namely, the Star, the New Straits Times and the Sun.

Malay Mail's recent cover pages.

However, in recent months, the Malay Mail has undergone more than just cosmetic changes. It has revamped how news is reported. There is a noticeable attempt to be fair in its news coverage particularly on political and national issues. There is also more emphasis on news that truly matters, and less of social gossip and celebrity news.

A case in point is yesterday's MM front page reportage of Bersih's Duduk Bantah on 28 April. It beat out those of its rival papers in terms of objectivity. At least that's my personal view.

The man behind the much improved MM is Terence Fernandez, former senior investigative reporter with The Sun, and now managing editor at MM. I would always make an attempt to get a copy of the Sun on the days his column would be featured. Since he took over the reins, the MM has drastically revamped its front page. It now carries attention-grabbing headlines and cover photos.

Recently, the MM launched 'Spark the Debate' with a debate between Petaling Jaya Utara MP and DAP's Publicity Chief Tony Pua and BN’s Kota Belud MP Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan. The two men spoke on "Bayan Mutiara: Achievement or Bad Precedent? Its Impact on Affordable Urban Housing".

But it was the second debate that drew enormous public interest resulting in a standing room only audience. That was the debate between Bersih 3.0 co-chair Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin on the topic "Electoral Reform: Is enough being done?"

Let's hope the future continues to be bright for the Malay Mail. It would be a pity to see this 116-year old paper weather so many storms, only to sink into oblivion in the face of the stiff competition from online news media.

DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS

I still haven't got over the events of yesterday. It will take some time to digest. How could something that began in a festive-like atmosphere descend into scenes of violence and chaos?

Anyway, there are plenty of reports in the newspapers, and enough Youtube videos to keep you glued to your pc screen for hours, also thousands of pictures have been posted on Facebook.

Do your own analysis. Draw your own conclusions. Read between the lines and talk to people who were there, the eye-witnesses. As for me, I am too tired to write about what I saw and experienced yesterday. So I'll just share some 1960s music videos that the older folks among us might remember and enjoy.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT - MALAYSIA HAS THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF CENTENARIANS IN THE WORLD!

Fact or fiction? True or false? Who knows. These figures were revealed in the 2010 National Population and Housing census. Of these centenarians, 16,438 are Malays, 7,155 Chinese, 2,109 Indians and 1,576 others. The current average life expectancy of a Malaysian is 75 years. Both the Star and the New Straits Times carried reports on this in January this year.

Does this mean that Japan has lost top spot to Malaysia as the country with the world's fastest ageing population? Japan with a population of 128 million people has more than 47,000 centenarians.

Malaysia with a population of 28.7 million people has 27,278 centenarians. Do the math and compare the percentage of centenarians in both countries, and you begin to feel a sense of pride in the longevity of Malaysians, that is, if the figures are to be believed.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai was reported to have attributed this to the government's efforts in providing medical services to the people and subsidising public healthcare. This had contributed to improvements in health and life expectancy.

Simply amazing. Incredulous is more like it.

Click here to find out which are the top eight countries with the highest number of centenarians. Strange that Malaysia is missing from the list.

Perhaps the National Registration Department can verify the numbers? Or the Election Commission can check the electoral roll?

What do you think?

HOW MANY WORKING ADULTS DOES IT TAKE TO SUPPORT ONE ELDERLY CITIZEN IN SINGAPORE?

From Straits Times 25 April

In yesterday's Straits Times report titled "Population will shrink from 2025 without new citizens", the government argues that the island nation needs 20,000 to 25,000 new citizens each year to arrest the decline in the population. Singapore's fertility rate of 1.2% is one of the lowest in the world.

What does a shrinking population mean? At one end, the fertility rate is going down, but at the other end, the mortality rate is also declining. The net result is an increasingly smaller pool of working adults having to support a growing number of older people.

The scenario in 2030 - a ratio of two working adults to one elderly citizen. A heavy burden indeed. Think of this as  two adult children shouldering the responsibility of supporting their elderly parent, instead of five or more sharing the costs.

This is one of the reasons why the government has been encouraging the intake of permanent residents over the years. It is from this pool that new citizens will emerge. The number of Singapore permanent residents almost doubled from 287,500 in 2000 to 541,000 in 2010.

In recent years, Singaporeans have been more vocal about their unhappiness over the large influx of foreign workers and expats, and the relative ease of obtaining PR status and benefits. In response, the government has made it tougher for foreigners to obtain PR status.

Malaysians account for the largest number of PRs.

However, the government continues to express concern over the growing ageing population. According to the report, from now to 2030, over 900,000 baby boomers will retire from the workforce. Hence, the need to push for at least 20,000 new citizens each year to sustain labour force productivity. But many Singaporeans remain unconvinced that the solution lies in raising the number of PRs in their country.

Note: For more information on population data, go to http://sg.sg/Ik5mKs. 

MAKING SHOPPING PLEASANT FOR OLDER ADULTS

Retailers are incorporating more elder-friendly features in their shops and supermarkets to win over older customers.

As age advances on us, shopping becomes increasingly a dreaded chore. Retailers here have little clue as to what constitutes happy shopping for those aged 60 and above. Based on my own experience and my observations, I have come up with a list of older shoppers' grouses.

• items on shelves too high for our arms to reach
• items on shelves too low for our knees to bend
• labels with fine print that is too small for us to read
• aisles that are too narrow for our wheelchairs or walking frames
• relatively few products catering to our needs
• lack of benches to rest our weary feet (so true in bookstores!)
• poor lighting at some sections of supermarkets and at some family restaurants
• wet and slippery floors especially in the restrooms of shopping malls
• loud jarring pop music - noise is more like it
• sales assistants who have no idea what we are looking for. Try asking the young sales staff if they have CDs by The Rolling Stones or The Three Tenors. They will give you blank looks.

Do watch this video below. This supermarket in Germany certainly knows how to make their older customers happy to shop there. Our grocery chains here can learn a thing or two from this video.




The number of older shoppers is set to soar in the coming years. It makes good business sense for retailers to make shopping a pleasant experience for older people. Furthermore, any feature or design that is elder-friendly benefits other age groups as well. I might add that the sales staff should comprise workers of all ages, and not only those in the 20s as is the case in most retail shops and supermarkets here in Malaysia and Singapore.

From Elders in Action

Wouldn't it be great one day to see similar signs like this one above in our shops here in Malaysia and Singapore?

PMs AND WHAT THEIR FB PAGES REVEAL ABOUT THEM

Straits Times April 21

PM Lee Hsien Loong has finally joined the global Facebook community. I checked out his FB page, and thought I might as well do the same with our PM Najib's FB page. The two men are only a year apart in age, but interestingly enough, what their FB page says or doesn't say about them is in itself revealing.

First, let us compare the timeline cover photos.

Colours add vibrancy. PM Lee stands out in the crowd with his red shirt and holding a red tablet. He is not posing for the photo although he is aware there are scores of photographers around.

Black and white photo? The handwriting on the two posters look similar - probably done by the same person for distribution to the crowd to hold up during the photo shoot. The photo also doesn't reflect a PM of all races. A rather contrived photo, right down to the 1Malaysia finger!

Najib's first post on Sept 16, 2008 was to announce the launch of his 1Malaysia website.

With Najib, practically the entire FB content is one big PR exercise of what he has done as PM since 2008 and the world leaders he has met. A showcase, if you will, of his 'achievements' as PM of Malaysia. All nicely packaged and ready to go in his campaign bid for another term in the 13th General Elections, perhaps? His first post dates from September 2008. There is nothing about the man prior to 2008 except the day that he was born - July 23, 1953.

PM Lee's 1958 Primary 6 class photo - a priceless and very personal photo that he is happy to share with the FB community.

PM Lee, on the other hand, comes across as warm, humble and friendly, and eager to try out Facebook to reach out to Singaporeans. He has posted several family photos, including his 1974 Cambridge University graduation photo taken with his parents and his 1985 wedding photo. His archive of photos dates back to 1958. Here is his very first FB post (if you can't read the fine print in the screen-grab, the text is quoted below):

Good choice of profile photo that reflects his youthful enthusiasm and readiness to try out new channels to stay connected with his people. He also shares his delight at re-establishing contact with old friends.

Hello Everybody, Welcome to my Facebook page! :-)) 


The social media have changed the way we live, work and play, especially the way we connect with one another. Societies, communities and governments all over the world will not be the same again. Many of my colleagues have been using social media, including Facebook. They have encouraged me to start my own Facebook page. Having watched them, I have decided to join the fun. 


I hope you will find my Facebook page interesting. I will use it to talk about some of the things I am doing, and thinking about, but I would also like to hear from you. Let's use this page to help shape ideas and understanding of what we can do together to improve our lives. 


As a Facebook newbie, I would appreciate your advice, suggestions and, most of all, your patience. My staff will help me maintain this page, but I will try to post as often as I can myself. I will sign off my own posts with the initials “LHL”. 


If you wish to write in Malay, Chinese or Tamil, please feel free to do so. I hope you like (and Like) what you read. Thank you very much for your support. LHL

Which of the two men comes across better as the people's PM?
Quite obvious, isn't it?

Put it another way, who has a better PR team? The answer is the same as the one above. :-)

Whether we like it or not, perception matters, especially if we want to win hearts (or votes).

LONGEVITY BONUS OR LONGEVITY CRISIS?

From Straits Times 19 April

The International Monetary Fund )IMF) has just released its Global Financial Stability report 2012. The report carries a warning of the rising healthcare costs of ageing. An underestimation of the average life span by a mere three years can translate into additional trillions of dollars in pension and healthcare costs for the global economy.

Graphics from Straits Times April 7.

How Singapore is preparing for ageing

The top three countries with the fastest growing ageing populations in the world are Japan, Germany and Singapore. In Singapore, the number of residents aged 65 and above increased from 7.2 per cent in 2000 to 9.3 per cent last year. By 2030, this will rise to 19 per cent.

Malaysia may not be on the list of world's fastest ageing populations, but it certainly holds the record for having the world's biggest civil service - 1.4 million Malaysians work in the public sector. Just imagine how much this will cost the government (and the tax-payers) in pension payments when these civil servants retire.

For other issues related to the "longevity bonus", do listen to this roundtable discussion held at Standford University. It's 90 minutes long, but worth spending the time if you have the interest. Some of the issues raised include:

~ social / financial security
~ job opportunities
~ medicare / healthcare / care-giving
~ nursing / retirement homes
~ transportation
~ lifelong learning
~ women's role / dominance in ageing
~ discrimination
~ inter-generational divide
~ social media (the 65+ are the largest growing cohort on Facebook)

The solution lies primarily in education. We all want to enter our golden years physically fit, mentally sharp, and financially secure, don't we? This awareness should be instilled as early as possible, and as part of the school curriculum.