In the US, it’s common for youngsters to rent out studio apartments, either because they have no current need for more space (think bachelor pad), or they’re just starting out on their own and could use every help with cheaper rent. In Singapore, you call these studio apartments ‘one-room flats’, and apparently, the target audience for these flats are senior citizens. Thus they have special additional ‘features’ build into the apartment.
Now they’re upgrading the whole concept by creating what is termed ‘retirement villages’, for these people to enjoy their old age. Even before these villages are built, I can already forsee some possible ‘problems’.
1) CPF is flawed - not everyone have enough to retire on, let alone live in village with ‘additional fees’ to support the ‘amenities’.
2) Is a 30-year lease property even worth sinking money into? What if you die before you pay off your apartment? Who’s going to take over payments of a place with probably 15 years left then, and if not, who shall you hand down this apartment to?
3) Upon moving in, I’m sure most will be thrilled to have other friends to play chinese chess with, or pit their brains at weiqi, or do some group taichi. Yet at the same time, I would think it would be even more depressing in the long run. Can you imagine you go down one morning to pay with Old Liu, only to be told he passed away last night? With a village filled with senior citizens, I can imagine that would be common news. I can’t imagine them making new friends and then seeing them one by one disappear.
Besides, senior citizens do get to meet other senior citizens now for those same activities. At least the number of friends dying around you then wouldn’t be that high, as with the number of wakes you would attend. Besides it’s fun being around younger people, especially those who can hardly walk and talk.
4) No you can’t make them sell their current homes and downgrade.
5) There’s probably more … but I can’t think of any at this present moment. Heh.
Given the choice, I rather live a short happy life then live a long long life waiting for it to … end.