Tuesday, April 27, 2021

How Old is Too Old?

 Singapore has been going through a “leadership” crisis in recent weeks with the announcement that the Prime Minister-in-Waiting, Mr. Heng Swee Keat announced in early April that he would be stepping aside and would not be succeeding the current Prime Minister as everyone had expected him to.

This news sent the entire government machinery into a dizzy spin. A cabinet reshuffle has taken place and the online sphere has exploded with stories about how the once famously efficient PAP machinery had botched a succession.

There is plenty of speculation as to why Mr. Heng decided to step aside. He has said that he’s now 60-years old and said that he’d be a little too old for the job by the time the current Prime Minister steps down and he didn’t have a long enough run way to be the Prime Minister that Singapore deserved. 

Mr. Heng’s reason’s for stepping aside have given the online crowd plenty to talk about and many are speculating that his “too old” reasoning is an excuse for something else. Leaving aside the speculation on why Mr. Heng suddenly decided to step aside, has raised one of the most pressing but under reported issues of our time – ageism. As American comedian, Bill Maher has aptly said, “Ageism is the only ism that nobody hates.” He’s right. You can get sued and crucified in the public space for being “racist” and “sexist” but have you heard of anyone being sued for being “ageist.”

Mr. Heng is definitely not the only person in Singapore who has been deemed “too old” for the job at 60. He’s merely the first to declare himself “too old” and the most prominent.  Ageism is rife in Singapore. I remember when I got hired by the liquidator in 2014, when I was turning 40, people told me, you better hold onto that job because it’s the last one you’ll probably have. Funnily enough, they had a point. Here is a WhatsApp exchange I had with an employment agent for a “restaurant” job that I had applied for:

 



Why should I be surprised by this when……..

This wasn’t a high-level corporate position that I was applying for. I was applying to be a restaurant manager.” I have seven years of experience working in a restaurant. I have a track record of being able to get people to spend money on premium dishes and wine (in two restaurants). Add to that I’ve seen how accounting and marketing in restaurants are done. I am qualified for the job (some might argue over qualified). Yet, I fail the most important criteria, I am past a certain age. This isn’t the first time that’s happened. I’ve replied to ads that have said they were desperate for people only to be told by the job poster that they didn’t need anyone and then only for them to post the ad the next day.

 


It happens at the highest levels

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/explained/article/3129004/heng-swee-keat-out-running-who-will-be-singapores-next-prime

I’ve reached a stage where I’ve learnt to accept things as they are and so, rather than fight against a trend that I can’t fight against I try and look for a different route. I keep my day job because it pays the bills and I look for side hustles to bring in some extra money. I may be “too old” for a high-flying corporate career it does not mean that I can’t be useful for the odd project here and there.

To an extent, I can understand the ethos of wanting to hand the job over to someone younger and fresher. Old folks who hang onto top jobs have a way of screwing up the very nations or organisations that they devoted to building. The Arab Spring of 2011 which saw the removal or Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt provide examples of what happens when old folk don’t know when to step down and hang on past their sell by date.

However, there is a difference between letting old men (they’re usually men) at the top hang on past their dotage and allowing them to hobble progress and discarding every old person trying to make a living. This is especially true in a place like Singapore where the cost of living has risen and the prospect of “work-till-you-die” has become a fate an increasing number of us seem to accept. There’s only one problem with “work-till-you-die,” which is the fact that employers are likely to ax the old folks and the ones that get axed are not likely to get another job, even one that is below their qualifications.

I’ve worked mostly freelance for the better part of my working life. So, although I’ve not made much money, I’m psychologically prepared to hustle to get “gig-jobs” and I’m willing to work in menial jobs here and there to ensure there’s cash flow. I’m a weird exception in this respect. My contemporaries who have had “successful” careers take losing the stable job much harder.

Something has to be done about this and one of the best places to start is the definition of old. While I’ve past 45, I for one, refuse to accept that I am old. I am considerably fitter in my “mid-forties” than I was in my thirties and I’ve got more energy that quite a few people significantly younger (At 46 I do the lifting in the office because the under 45s who inhabit it would die of coronary if asked to carry anything heavier than a file and to walk beyond their desk). However, I’m reminded by my 21-year-old that I’m a “disgusting” old man whenever she catches me eyeing up the pretty young things who are closer to her age than mine. So, while I’ve have reached an age where it is “inappropriate” to eye up the chicks, I am by no means beyond the age of being useful. So, what does someone like me do?

Well, if I was born in the USA, I could probably run for President. America, which is seen as the global creator of “youth culture” and all things hip was run by a 74-year-old who has now been succeeded by a 78-year-old. Say what you like about the two grandpas who fought last year’s election but they managed to galvanize more people to turn out and vote than in any other election in history. Let’s face it, Donald Trump and Joe Bidden are by any standards “Way too Old” managed to get more people excited about coming out to vote than Barak Obama who sold himself as young, hip and trendy.

Incidentally enough, the 78-year-old in charge has been, despite being called “Sleepy” by his opponent, has been focused and managed to get things done. If the Trump Presidency was a golden gift for comedians, the Biden Presidency has thus far been a disappointment for anyone hopping to crack senile jokes at his expense:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPSK7inXesA

https://www.thewrap.com/bill-maher-holds-up-joe-biden-as-the-ultimate-way-to-debunk-ageism-video/

 

Thus far Mr. Bidden has not only proven himself to be more effective than his predecessor but also when compared to the “young” and “hip” man whom he served under as vice-president. The qualities that people had tried to use against him have proven to be his greatest assets – namely experience and wisdom. A report on the Biden Presidency can be found at:

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/3/31/donald-who-how-biden-is-outshining-trump-and-obama

There might be some Asian readers who would argue that Messers Biden and Trump are different because they are “Ang Moh” (local Singapore slang for Caucasian). Well, closer to home, there’s the example of Malaysia’s perpetual Prime Minister, Dr. Mohamad Mahathir who was not only Malaysia’s longest serving Prime Minister, but in less than a decade of “retirement” Dr. Mahathir broke away from UMNO, the party he was from, formed a new party and assembled a coalition to unseat UMNO in a General Election, which was the first time in Malaysia’s history that UMNO had been unseated. He did this at the age of 94.

Say what you like about Dr. Mahathir, but he’s shown no sign of letting age hold him back as can be seen from this video of him dancing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTNetKWQlgU

 


Copyright – RojakDaily

Yes, by all means, its important to have “leadership renewal.” However, we need to learn how to value older people and the experience that they bring to the table. Medical science has reached a stage where the old are fitter and stronger than they used to be and so, old rules of sell by dates are not as “true” as they used to be.

Leslie Fong, former editor of the Straits Times once talked about “Older and more valuable” eye balls. He has a point. In an aging society, we have to do more than throw money at women who have options in life in the futile effort to get them to have children they may not necessarily want to have. We need to see how we can prolong the “usefulness” of the people already in the work force as much as we try and bring in the young.

Singapore had a ninety-year-old who managed to stay employed till the end. It’s such a shame that he was the only one who seemed able to be “useful” in a nation of more than five million. Instead of letting only one old person contribute, we should find a way of allowing more old folks add to our social fabric. A nation that proclaims it only has human resources should stop wasting it.

 

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