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SAGE was
established in 1977 by the committee members of the Jogging Association of
Singapore (JAS) under the leadership of Mr. Chan Chee
Seng, the then Senior Parliamentary Secretary in
the Ministry of Social Affairs as it was known at that time. One evening
after our usual jog, Chee Seng
suggested that we formed an association for our elderly to keep them healthy
and happy. The name
of the organization “Singapore Action Group of Elders” was suggested and
adopted since the acronym – (SAGE) – suggested a wise elderly person. Our
first meeting and subsequent meetings were held at Jalan
Besar Community Activities Centre which was
officially opened on 1st January 1978 by the then Minister of
Social Affairs, Dr Ahmad Mattar. Since then we have
been celebrating SAGE’s Anniversary on 1st
January every year. The 2nd Centre named SAGE Cultural Centre was
opened on 1st January 1979 at Block 2 Kitchener Road by Mr. Chan Chee Seng, the founder of SAGE,
and the then Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Social Affairs. The idea
which contributed through the setting up of these two centres
was a simple one, i.e. to keep our elderly healthy and happy by exercises and
songs. We conducted taiji, table tennis and a set
of simple calisthenics exercises for the elderly developed by the Singapore
Sports Council. SAGE’s table tennis group is an
acknowledged pillar in the veteran table tennis arena. The Choir
Group was one of the first activity groups formed by SAGE in 1977. The songs
were usually old songs, which the elderly enjoyed when they were young. They
brought back nostalgic memories of their youth, which contributed to their
emotional health. The highlight of those years were
the birthday parties organized by SAGE for members whose birthdays occurred
during that particular month. Our Senior Citizens Talentime
Contests were hugely popular in the beginning and our members were thrilled
when they saw their pictures in the newspapers. SAGE’s
tour to China in 1991 and 1993 were the landmarks in those years when our
members performed on stage with Senior Citizens of Southern and Central
China. A dramatic moment occurred in the 1993 trip when one of our members
started to have profuse rectal bleeding while waiting at Nanjing
Airport. He had to be transported by ambulance to a hospital reserved for
high government officials. My wife and I accompanied him in Nanjing
while the rest of the group continued the journey to Beijing. After two days,
his bleeding stopped and we joined the group in Beijing in time for our
return to Singapore. Since
then, SAGE has come a long way. With a
rapidly ageing population, SAGE as a VWO for the elderly,
has set a 3 year Direction (2001 – 2003) to provide a comprehensive set of
services and programmes for the elderly. It has
identified public education, training for both professionals, carers and the public, providing programmes
and services to plug service gaps, employment etc as priorities for the next
3 years. It moves in tandem with policy directions arising out of the report
of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Ageing Population. An
acupuncture clinic for elderly is operational since September 1999. SAGE will
continue to provide quality eldercare services and provide new programmes and training modules in the years ahead. We
have successfully put Singapore on the International Map on Ageing by hosting
the International Federation on Ageing (IFA) 7th Global Conference
on Ageing from 5 – 8th September 2004, the first in South East
Asia. SAGE in collaboration with the International Institute on Ageing, UN
Malta (INIA) has been conducting an annual ASEAN Gerontology Course as a
contribution to capacity building. SAGE is the first satellite centre to be
appointed by INIA to conduct gerontology training for the ASEAN region. Late Dr Lim Chan Yong President, SAGE |
