SINGAPORE: It began with a knee replacement operation in 2012. Then another, two years later. The third blow came in 2016: Spinal surgery.

His legs, which once used to carry him long distances on the football pitch in his favourite position as a midfielder, became spindly, and walking became painful. So 67-year-old Jack Liew turned to a personal mobility device to get about.

He would still go to the library almost daily, and return with travel books and documentaries. But they showed him places in the same way as lifting the cover of a birdcage would show its fluttering inhabitant a freedom it cannot have.

Feeling helpless and dependent on his mechanical chair was not how he had imagined his sunset years.

“My idea (of retirement) was that I could travel the world. Now I can’t do it any more,” lamented Mr Liew, who once used to go on walking tours to scenic wonders like the Grand Canyon.

Just a trip outside his home could get him feeling “depressed and lonely”. “Mainly when I see other people doing physical (activities) like running and walking, you know?” he said. “I used to be able to do all these.”

His world felt even lonelier because his wife and son were working, while he had quit his job as a computer engineer owing to his lack of mobility. Afternoons were spent waiting for them to return home.

Yet despite slowly slipping into isolation, Mr Liew refused to accept the notion that old age was an inevitable process of decay.

In the two years since doctors told him that he may never be able to walk normally again, he had not lost hope of getting back on his feet. He just needed to find a way to do it.

FIGHTING FRAILTY IN OLD AGE

Mr Liew’s situation highlights a growing concern about frailty in Singapore’s ageing population.

It worries caregivers like Ms M L Tan, whose mother S Y Chin, 83, suffered a fall two years ago, about the same time she was diagnosed with dementia. “When you look at your parents (last time), they were independent. But after one or two falls, things change suddenly,” said Ms Tan.

Mdm Chin’s physiotherapy sessions lasted for about a year. But afterwards, she became susceptible to falls again. Concerned that she would deteriorate further, her daughter sought other options.

Similarly, Mr Liew, who was using a walking frame at home, recently began feeling a sense of desperation about his physical decline, he shared.

I was fearful that one day I’ll be bedridden. That’s my innermost fear.

Then one day, he saw an advertisement for Gym Tonic, a programme started in 2015 by the Lien Foundation that is focused on helping folks aged 55 or older to regain their physical strength – and in doing so, to extend their independence and functional years.

The foundation’s programme director Gabriel Lim said: “With Gym Tonic, we’re trying to address the problem of frailty in the community (and) muscle loss that is typical of ageing.” It is available to seniors at more than 20 eldercare facilities across Singapore. 

Participants are assessed before they embark on a three-month fitness journey with a coach, and they must set themselves a goal to achieve at the final assessment. In this way, the training is tailored to his or her own needs.

Mr Liew was “very excited” when he registered for the programme. He knew what his goal would be: To walk again, with just a cane. 

NO MIRACLE CURE, BUT STILL A TONIC

The goals are not so dramatic for many of Gym Tonic’s seniors. But improvements can be seen in the little things in their daily life.

One participant, 72-year-old ex-nanny Lim Moi Eng, enrolled in the programme complaining of back pains and having to use heat patches “to soothe the area”.

Since then, with the help of the exercise machines, she has improved her back strength. “Now I don’t need the heat patches,” she said with a laugh.

There is, however, no miracle cure.

“We don’t claim that their leg pain or shoulder pain will get better. We tell them that by doing this, they’ll become stronger,” Gym Tonic wellness coach Looi Yuan Hui said. And if they experience excessive pain, “we encourage them to visit a doctor”.

Mr Looi, a former national wrestler who suffered a career-ending knee injury, can empathise with the elderly.

I tend to joke with them, saying that I have one knee that’s 30 years old and another that’s 60 – so I know how it feels when there’s a knee pain.

“They’ve probably been through a dark period in their lives. They just need people to cheer them up at times.”

Indeed, Mdm Chin’s daughter observed that her mother has become more mentally alert since joining Gym Tonic. “You can see it in her eyes,” Ms Tan said, adding that she even seems to enjoy the banter with her wellness coaches.

As for Mr Liew, daughter Shawna described him as having been “quite down ever since his surgery”, and felt that having a goal to work towards would be good for him. 

But she was privately doubtful he could go back to his old “go anywhere he wanted” mobile lifestyle. “It doesn’t look as if he’s going to get there,” she sighed. 

“I don’t want to discourage him. But at the same time, you don’t want to over-expect.”

SLOW AND STEADY PROGRESS

Mr Liew’s knees had been giving him trouble long before his surgeries. The same goes for his back, which he sprained carrying heavy computer equipment as a young technician.

But he did not seek medical attention until it was too late. “That’s one thing I didn’t do,” he said, rubbing his scarred and knobbly knees. It is one of his main regrets.

After he started going to his twice-weekly Gym Tonic classes at Bishan Community Club in April, the leg press machine soon became his professed nemesis.

When CNA Insider visited him four weeks into his training, he was pushing a 12.5-kilogramme load on the machine – 1.5 kg heavier than the first time he tried it. He focused with the effort. “This is the real thing,” he said in between breaths.

He made his way diligently from machine to machine, rejecting advice from his wellness coach Joseph Chan to take breaks. There was a glint of determination in his eyes, as he cleared his mind of everything but the task in front of him.

“I just concentrate on myself and my breathing,” Mr Liew said. 

This hard work paid off in week nine, when he was able to stand unassisted for 45 seconds, with his legs hip-width apart – surprising even his coach.

“Previously you weren’t able to stand for even one second, right Jack?” Mr Chan, 30, said encouragingly.

THE SETBACK

It was not all plain sailing for Mr Liew, however.

In the 10th week, just two weeks shy of achieving his goal, he lost his balance while getting out of bed and sprained his ankle. Such falls in the past had been like body blows to his will to walk again, and this time was no different.

“My first thought was, ‘oh no, I did it again’,” he said, visibly downcast in a vlog he kept for CNA Insider.

His injury meant he had to lay off the leg press machine and focus more on working out his upper limbs. Mr Chan said such setbacks were “common for the elderly”, and sometimes, this might cause a client to quit the programme entirely. 

Or, as in Mr Liew’s case, put a dent in their optimism. He wasn’t his usual self as he moved at a snail’s pace, head bowed, gaze fixed on the black-and-blue sole of his swollen left foot.

“I think I have to resign myself to fate,” a dispirited Mr Liew said haltingly.  “I don’t think I can ever walk normally again… (but) I’m still trying.”

REUNITED, AND IT FEELS SO GOOD

In the past, Mr Liew could rouse himself from the dark moments through music. He’d gigged with various bands since he was 14, and played in places like Clarke Quay and Chijmes.

Some of his happiest memories were of playing the bass guitar with his band Criteria, formed in the 1990s by members he had met during a Yamaha music course he was taking.

“Music is my first love,” he said. “Playing in a band … you’d keep your mind off whatever you’re depressed with – at least you feel happy.”

But his hands that could pluck a guitar effortlessly had become gnarled, unable to play riffs as before.

He found some consolation in playing the harmonica and the ukulele as a solo act at home. Since he’d become reliant on his personal mobility device, he’d missed jamming with his band – yet another “depressing part” of his life, he said.

Which is why, to lift his spirits after his recent setback, CNA Insider arranged for Criteria to reunite for a jam session at a studio.

And he did seem to forget about his swollen foot as he whipped out a bass ukulele he had bought online recently. “It’s easier to pluck. I can still play with this,” Mr Liew told his bandmates, tuning it excitedly.

As they launched into several numbers, starting with 60s pop classics from The Beatles and Ben E King. he struggled to keep up. But his enthusiasm did not waver. “Let’s do another one,” he said after every song.

He was especially happy to play Stand By Me, his favourite song. “Because of the lyrics,” he explained. “We’re always a band, and a band always stand by each other.”

The band have decided to get back to jamming together regularly soon.

BABY STEPS

More than just a happy blast from the past, the session helped put Mr Liew in a forward-looking frame of mind again. “Even if you have a disability, try and live your life,” he said.

It was this positivity that he summoned for D-day at Gym Tonic on July 7 – when he had to try walking with a cane.

His coach had postponed the assessment for two weeks to give his ankle time to recover. Giving him an added boost was the presence of his daughter and grandson Linus.

Starting with questions about how active he’d been for example, the assessment proceeded to a series of muscle tests and a balancing test. Then came the moment everyone was waiting for.

As he took up his position with his cane, Mr Chan instructed him: “Stand up tall for me first.”

Taking a deep breath, Mr Liew began to take his first steps, as his coach held his other hand and clutched him from the back for support.

Brow furrowed, he moved slowly for a few metres – and for 27 seconds – before sitting down to catch his breath. His face relaxed, and then he smiled.

“Wow! That’s the first time (in two years) I’ve walked with a cane,” he said.

Happy and surprised at the “vast improvement” she saw, his daughter hoped he would continue to persevere. Mr Chan urged him likewise – though Mr Liew himself seemed to need no prompting.

“It’s a good starting point, but I wouldn’t say I’ve reached my goal yet,” said the pleased grandfather, who plans to continue his strength training for another three months. “There are good signs that I can get better.”

“Who knows, maybe I’ll be walking (with a cane) the next time you see me.”

SINGAPORE: About 3,000 visitors flocked to the opening day preview for private project The Tre Ver in Potong Pasir on Saturday (Jul 21), just two weeks after higher stamp duties and tighter loan limits were introduced.

Units at the 729-unit condominium, which will be completed in 2022, are priced from S$1,400 psf. But even with the tighter loan-to-value limits, homebuyers Channel NewsAsia spoke to were not deterred.

Interested homebuyer Eric Kon said that he thought the pricing was “reasonable” and “worth it to buy”.

Another homebuyer said that despite the cooling measures, she would still go ahead to buy a property, after selling off her current home.

The 201,405-sq-ft project is just a stone’s throw away from Park Colonial’s showroom, where buyers have snapped up half of the units available since Jul 5, when the surprise cooling measures were announced. Channel NewsAsia understands that Park Colonial closed its showflat on Jul 15 to “reconsolidate”.

Such sentiments go against the gloomy outlook from the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS), whose president Augustine Tan has warned that the cooling measures could worsen the oversupply of private residential units.

According to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority and JLL Singapore, an estimated 50,526 unsold private units are projected to come on stream in the coming years, including projects that have and have not been granted planning approvals, as well as all Government Land Sales and collective sales sites sold up to June this year.

But one analyst Channel NewsAsia spoke to said this number may not be a cause for alarm – as long as developers space out their launches before their five-year deadline to offload unsold units.

“We believe a lot of our developers have deep pockets and are able to sustain some delay in launches as we’ve seen in the past,” said Ms Tay Huey Ying, head of Singapore research at JLL Singapore.

“Developers would have a tendency to want to spread out launches over a longer period of time to tap demand over different periods of time, as well as to release units in smaller quantities to test the market in terms of pricing.”

According to data compiled by JLL, an average of 12,159 units were sold annually by developers over the past decade. Based on the estimated unsold supply, about 12,632 units could be released for sale annually between 2018 and 2022 if launches from the current unsold supply are paced out.

Private home sales are estimated at about 8,000 to 9,000 this year.

This means future supply would be able to adequately meet current and future demand, Ms Tay said. “The sales volume that developers saw last year was suppressed by low launch supply, and this is why we saw thousands of people flocking the showflats on the night of Jul 5.”

“That just shows the extent of liquidity and pent-up demand that there is in the market,” she added.

READ: New property cooling measures announced: Higher ABSD rates, tighter loan limits

HOME PRICES LIKELY TO REMAIN RESILIENT: ECONOMIST

In light of steady economic growth, rising wealth, and a healthy employment market, one economist believes that home prices are likely to remain resilient. 

“The overall gross domestic product (GDP) was graded 3.6 per cent (in 2017) – that’s the strongest that we’ve seen in the last couple of years,” said UOB economist Francis Tan.

“In 2011, if you put S$100 into a Singapore private residential property, your S$100 today in 2018 will give you around S$102. So there’s only a very small appreciation of S$2 across so many years.

“On the other hand, if you put your S$100 in a city like Auckland for example, that will reach S$195 – you will see appreciation. And if you put it in a city like KL you will see S$185,” Mr Tan said.

“What that means is that compared across time and cities, private residential property prices in Singapore hasn’t really gone up by that much compared to major cities around the world now,” Mr Tan explained.

According to Mr Tan, homebuyers in Singapore have been “relatively sheltered” from rising home prices, due to the total debt servicing ratio framework (TDSR) introduced in 2013.

“In Singapore, a typical or average homeowner will see a debt servicing ratio of around 22 per cent,” said Mr Tan. “What that means is that for every S$100 of monthly income that a household brings in, around S$22 goes to servicing the home loan. 

“If you compare this today with the situation in Hong Kong, a typical Hong Kong household will see the debt servicing ratio at 67 per cent – what that means is that for every S$100, S$67 goes to the bank in paying down the home loan.”

“If it’s real demand for occupying space, I think certainly a good time to enter market,” Mr Tan said. “But in terms of investment, the Government has signalled clearly it wants to deter investment or speculative flows into the market … so it will be a lot more tougher and painful for investors’ pockets to enter.”

However, analysts says risks remain, including escalating US-China trade tensions and continued interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, as well as further government intervention if home prices continue to rise above 3 per cent every quarter.

But barring these external headwinds, there may be another bright spot for the housing market ahead.

“Moving forward, given that the Government is intent on keeping home price increase in tandem with economic fundamentals, we are looking into the future where home prices could potentially grow by 3 to 4 per cent per annum,” Ms Tay said.

SINGAPORE: The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is participating in the biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise (Ex RIMPAC) in the waters off Hawaii, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said in a press release on Saturday (Jul 21).

RSN’s Formidable-class frigate RSS Tenacious, with an embarked Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk naval helicopter, is participating in the world’s largest international maritime exercise along with multinational warships, said MINDEF.

Running from Jun 28 to Aug 3, this year’s exercise involves assets from 24 other countries including 45 ships, five submarines, about 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel, said the ministry.

The RSN has undertaken leadership roles as Commander Task Unit in the Expeditionary Strike Group as well as Commander Task Group for anti-submarine warfare in this year’s exercise, it added.

Comprising RSS Tenacious, Australia’s HMAS Toowoomba, Malaysia’s KD Lekiu, Peru’s BAP Ferre, South Korea’s ROKS Dae Jo Young, and the United States’ USS Sterett, the RSN’s Task Unit will conduct training and scenario-based missions across the surface, air and sub-surface dimensions of naval warfare.

Taking on duties as Commander Task Group, the RSN will also lead Peru’s BAP Ferre, Chile’s CNS Lynch, the US’ USS Lake Erie and USS William P Lawrence, as well as multinational helicopters and aircraft in the conduct of anti-submarine warfare training. 

Meanwhile, on Jul 20, the RSS Tenacious also conducted a successful simultaneous time-on-target harpoon surface-to-surface live missile firing, which involved the firing of two missiles to hit a target at the same time, said MINDEF. 

In the ministry’s news release, Commanding Officer of RSS Tenacious Lieutenant Colonel Lee Jan highlighted the value of the RSN’s participation in large-scale exercises like the Ex RIMPAC. 

“Exercise RIMPAC is a useful platform for the RSN to train with established navies from around the world and hone our warfare capabilities,” said the commanding officer. “With the involvement of many air and sea platforms, participation in this exercise allows the RSN to improve our interoperability with partner navies and to better understand how they operate.”

“Most importantly, the exercise gives us the opportunity to forge friendships and build closer cooperation with the multinational navies involved.”  

Commenting on RSS Tenacious’ participation in the exercise, Commander of the US Third Fleet Vice Admiral John D Alexander said the exercise was an opportunity to build “invaluable relationships”.

“We are all maritime nations, we all prosper through trade, and the majority of the trade goes through the Indo-Pacific region,” he said. “Exercise RIMPAC is an opportunity to build invaluable relationships and partnerships.”

“The relationships we are building here with Singapore and many others will enable us to work together to provide disaster relief, combat piracy, or conduct a wide range of maritime contingency operations when the need arises.”

This is the sixth Ex RIMPAC that the RSN has participated in over the last 10 years.

SINGAPORE: Scroll through style influencer Savina Chai’s Instagram account, and you might be filled with awe and envy.

Although just 24 years old, she has been active on social media since she was 18, and has collaborated with French luxury fashion houses Chanel and Louis Vuitton.

From her photos, it would appear that her life revolves around posing in posh clothes, feasting on photogenic food in fancy restaurants, and living it up in fabulous five-star hotels.

As picture-perfect as it may seem, Ms Chai says most of it is an illusion.

“Yes, we do have a lot of free perks but it comes with a lot of hard work, persistence and dedication. We have to travel in luxury because the luxury clients are the ones who can pay us and endorse us to travel and promote that lifestyle,” she said on this week’s Asia Business First podcast.

The pace of her latest press trip abroad, for example, was anything but luxurious.  

“Upon landing, we were on our phones, replying all our emails and our clients. We are constantly working on the go. We have no time to shower, we have to re-do our makeup, change our clothes and follow the itinerary. Sometimes the itinerary ends quite late, at 9pm or 10pm. But we have to wake up by 3am to travel to our next destination to shoot the sunrise because of the good light. 

“Sometimes it is because we don’t want to have tourists in the backdrop. So it is a lot of hard work.”

That hard work has paid off for Ms Chai, who boasts more than 76,000 followers on Instagram – a respectable figure for a local influencer.

While an influencer’s reach is important, Wendy Toh, the founder and CEO of March Media, says the size of one’s following is not always a priority for sponsors.

Ms Toh’s job is to propose campaign ideas and influencers to the brands with which they are collaborating, and recently she has noticed that companies are willing to work with “micro-influencers”.

That is, influencers with a following of about 1,000 or 2,000.

“Brands feel that they have a more authentic kind of voice compared to people in the one-, two- or three-hundred thousand reach. But of course, they still go for higher influencers, with let’s say a 50- or 70,000 following,” she said on the podcast.

Not wanting to be left behind, Singapore’s leading broadcaster Mediacorp has also ventured into this space.

In September 2017, it launched the Mediacorp Creators Network, Bloomr.SG, for creators to deliver more content.

Diogo Martins, program manager of the Mediacorp Creators Network says they recruit promising creators and provide them with the platform and resources to optimise their content and brand.

And it seems that they are looking for more than just a pretty face.

Mr Martins said: “Usually it is potential in terms of the quality of content produced. The storytelling, how they shoot it is a very important part of it. Simply because we, as a broadcaster, think of content and video as the main focus of our business. Likewise, the creators that we bring on board have to be specialised in that type of content.”

Kylie Jenner, 20, of the hit reality TV series, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, has leveraged her fame to develop a massive following on social media.

She has 21 million followers on Facebook and over 111 million followers on Instagram.

And she has made the most of that following to build up her beauty empire, Kylie Cosmetics, which is thought to be worth around US$800 million.

Style influencer, Savina Chai, uses Kylie Jenner’s half-sister Kim Kardashian as an example to explain how their business strategy works.

“I think one big reason why the Kardashians have such a huge following is that they are as transparent as they can be with their fans, and constantly talking to their fans. 

“Kim Kardashian uses Twitter as a conversation starter with her fans. She will ask them what they had for breakfast, what they had for lunch. So they feel like Kim Kardashian is their friend. So, subconsciously, when you are a friend to that celebrity – first you get loyalty and then you get customer acquisition. Because her fans feel, ‘She is my friend, I am going to support her all the way’.”

However, it remains to be seen whether such a strategy would work in Asia, which is home to a range of diverse cultures and ethnicities.

To find out who could break those barriers and what strategies they could harness, listen to the Asia Business First podcast here.

SINGAPORE: The minute Mr Rudywizannata Sawi is home from work, he blasts the air conditioning, even though his household of five already keeps their home air-conditioned for 18 to 20 hours a day, and even 22 hours on one occasion.

“Singapore is very hot, you know,” reasoned Mr Rudy, who perspires easily. It is little wonder that their utilities bill is high. Last month, it was S$353 for their four-room flat, which he thought was “normal”.

He was surprised to find out that the average for public flats of that size was about S$140 to S$150. “It’s a big disappointment,” he said. “I could use (the money) for better purposes.”

With electricity tariffs rising by 6.9 per cent for this quarter, and the second phase of the 30-per-cent water price hike starting this month, households like his may be increasingly mindful of their energy and water consumption.

READ: Electricity tariffs to rise by 6.9% for July-September period

To help three families, the programme Talking Point enlisted a team of experts to advise them how to manage their electricity and water usage. Smart Distribution Boards were also installed in their homes for them to monitor their energy consumption. (Watch the episode here.)

There was an added challenge: To see who could cut down the most. And after a month, Mr Rudy’s household made the biggest saving: 16 per cent (S$56). Here are some of the energy- and water-saving tips the families received:

1. KNOW YOUR GUZZLERS

Many Singaporeans are unaware of the energy guzzlers in their homes, according to a survey by Energy Efficient Singapore.

In the average household, over three-quarters of the electricity is used to power just three appliances: Air conditioners (36.7 per cent), water heaters (20.9 per cent) and fridges (18.5 per cent).

In terms of water, showering uses the most, at 27 per cent, toilet flushing accounts for 18 per cent, while general kitchen usage stands at 16 per cent.

2. HOW TO CUT DOWN THE A.C. (AND SURVIVE THE HEAT)?

When Mr Rudy’s housemate complained about their air conditioning usage being cut to 15 hours a day, eco-conscious blogger Jeraldine Phneah suggested they use the fan as a supplement.

“One of the things that worked for me was that I can leave the air-con on for about two hours, and then I set the timer to switch it off,” she said.

Then I’d let the fan circulate the cold air around the room for the rest of the day.

She also suggested they close their room curtains during the day, to block the sunlight and heat, making it more energy efficient to cool their rooms at night.

3. DON’T SKIMP ON SERVICING

Despite his air conditioners running for nearly the entire day, Mr Rudy only serviced them once every six months.

But he should be servicing them once every three months, since they are used daily, so that they function better and are more energy efficient, said YeoBuild Home Repair managing director Yeo Leng Chye.

“When your air conditioner ages, you can’t achieve 100 per cent (energy efficiency). You’d probably reach only 70 to 80 per cent,” he said. “After that, when you don’t clean it, it would continue to drop (down) to 50 per cent.”

And this would increase one’s energy consumption and electricity bill.

4. DON’T OVERLOAD THE WASHER

When asked about their laundry load, Mr Rudy’s housemate said “full load”, to which Mr Yeo replied: “I call this overload.”

Overloading the washing machine not only damages it, but also prevents the clothes from getting cleaned properly. “When the motor is stressed, it draws more (electric) current,” he said, adding that the machine should be about three-quarters full at most.

5. LET THE FRIDGE COOL

Fridges, too, should not be overloaded. More importantly, enough space must be left around the fridge for heat dissipation.

Mr Jason Sim’s family, who live in a four-room flat, used to place a silver sheet beside their fridge to protect it from oil and heat when they cooked.

But Mr Yeo advised against this, as the board was affecting the appliance’s ability to cool properly. “The heat isn’t able to disperse (properly). The electricity consumption will be higher,” he said.

In Ms Miqi Lina’s two-room flat, the fridge was consuming more energy than usual, making up a third of her electricity bill, according to the Smart Distribution Board.

It turned out that the rubber seal around the door, which keeps the cold air in and hot air out, was broken. Her family said they will use a fridge strap to secure it as a temporary measure.

6. USE EXTERNAL TIMERS

The fans in Ms Miqi’s home are also switched on for their cats when the family goes out, consuming about 50 watts an hour per fan.

But that may not be energy efficient if the windows are closed and there is no ventilation, said Mr Yeo. “You’d be circulating the same heated air within the same area.”

Apart from leaving a couple of windows slightly open for ventilation, he suggested they use external timers, which can switch household equipment on and off – at intervals if needed – to cut down their energy consumption.

These timers, which he said cost about S$8 apiece, can be particularly useful for those who charge their smartphones overnight.

7. DON’T REBOIL, KEEP THE WATER WARM

More power-hungry than a fan is an electric kettle, which typically operates at around 1,000W or higher. And the Sims were using theirs some six or seven times a day.

Dr Kwan Kian Hoong, the centre manager of Temasek Polytechnic’s Clean Energy Research Centre, suggested they boil water just once in the daytime, say, at 7am.

He told Mr Sim: “Put the hot water in some thermal flask, and use it at around 9am or 10am when your parents need another cup of coffee or tea. So in this way, you can shave half off what you’re boiling in the daytime.”

8. RECYCLE WATER FOR MOPPING

To reduce water wastage, one can recycle water from the washing machine to mop the floor.

To do that, place the drainage hose into a pail and secure it with string, said Mr Yeo. It is important to then monitor the water flow and replace the pail in case it overflows.

“There are two rinses in the system. The first rinse would be dirty water – let it go,” he said.

The second rinse is pretty clean water, so you can mop the floor (with it) because you have some residual detergent inside.

9. GO FOR L.E.D. LIGHTS

One of the things Ms Phneah highly recommends is light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are one of the most energy-efficient light bulbs in the market and are durable. They come in a range of shapes, wattage and light colour.

Mr Yeo agreed, saying: “The heat produced is much less (than that from fluorescent light), and gives you a brighter (light).”

10. TRY SOLAR POWER

Ms Phneah also uses a solar panel charger to keep her electronic devices full of juice, instead of using the power socket.

The panel, which cost her S$99, comes with charging ports, and she would connect a portable charger to it when the panel is in the sun at the window.

“So it charges when I’m at work. And when I come back, I’d be able to use that portable charger to charge my phone,” she said.

Watch this episode of Talking Point here. New episodes every Thursday at 9.30pm on Mediacorp Channel 5.

SINGAPORE: It all started innocently enough.

Watching others play their mobile games and playing with his friends on their mobile phones in his primary school years was how KC (not his real name) got interested in online gaming.

“Initially, it was a past-time thing, where there was no competitive pressure,” KC, who is now 19, told Channel NewsAsia. “Sometimes, my friends and classmates would compete but it wasn’t a big deal.”

Things changed as he got older.

KC recounted: “I moved to secondary school and started getting bullied. I didn’t have a lot of friends during that time but I saw a lot of people playing StarCraft, League of Legends and Counter-Strike. So I started playing and realised that I wasn’t that bad at them.

“In fact, a lot of people would only talk to me about League of Legends and that was it.”

It was during this time that he would isolate himself, sitting in an empty room just watching videos on gaming strategies. He would also play League of Legends through the night and not sleep at times because it was easier to progress through the game’s ranking ladder, the teenager shared.

“Looking back, I think that was when it started to become addictive,” KC admitted. “That was when I would sacrifice sleep and other responsibilities just to play.

“At that point, I started taking the game a lot more seriously, as if it was something that my whole life depended on, and less as a past-time.”

What began as a passing interest for KC morphed into a full-blown addiction, and it was a phase that lasted for at least four years.

“I think the lowest moment for me was letting my addiction affect my family ties, to the point where they took drastic actions to curb my addiction,” said KC.

KC’s struggles with online gaming are not unique.

In fact, the issue of addiction to video games was recently thrown into the spotlight when the World Health Organization (WHO) recognised it as a mental health disorder and included in its International Classification of Diseases.

Gaming disorder is defined as a pattern of gaming behaviour, whether digital or video gaming, characterised by impaired control over gaming, with priority increasingly given to gaming over other interests and daily activities. Those with a disorder will continue or escalate their game time “despite the occurrence of negative consequences”, the WHO said on its website. 

YOUTHS AT RISK

In Singapore, information on those with such a disorder is limited.

Ms Jenny Liew, senior counsellor at the Institute of Mental Health’s National Addictions Management Service (NAMS), told Channel NewsAsia in an email that the agency has seen more than 3,000 patients a year from Financial Year 2015 to 2017. During that time, behavioural addictions, which includes gaming, accounted for less than 6 per cent of all cases seen.

As it does not separate gaming addiction from the broader category of behavioural addictions, it is difficult for NAMS to determine if more are seeking help for that particular addiction, Ms Liew added.

The counsellor did point out that of the 127 adolescent clients who participated in its treatment outcome monitoring programme from FY2012 to FY2017 and who reported they had gaming problems, the youngest client it saw was 10 years old. The majority, or 60 per cent, of them were between the ages of 13 and 15, she said.

Another professional, Ms Andrea Chan, shared another set of statistics to show how gaming disorder appears to be becoming more prevalent.

The senior counsellor from Touch Youth Intervention, a division of Touch Community Services, cited internal findings that showed that gaming disorder in Singapore is at close to 11 per cent. A 2010 study on pathological video gaming among Singaporean youths stood at 8.7 per cent, it added.

Ms Chan shared that based on their interaction with youths and education programmes in schools, her team has observed that the increase in gaming habits is mainly due to the switch from gaming on computers to gaming on devices such as tablets or handphones, which are easily accessible and highly mobile.

“That can be a possible contribution to the prevalence of gaming disorder,” the counsellor said.

She also corroborated Ms Liew’s finding that while her agency serves pre-schoolers as young as five to those aged 21, the majority of its clients with gaming disorder range from 13 to 15.

HELPING HAND

For KC, his family’s concern for his well-being, particularly how his younger brother became worried for him, proved to be an important motivating factor for the teen to seek help at non-profit organisation Touch Cyber Wellness at the start of 2016. 

“My younger brother would know that I slept late from playing games, so he would set his alarm 15 minutes earlier than mine, just so he could make sure that I would wake up on time,” the teen recounted.

“Maybe he didn’t know just how bad the addiction was, but he knew it was bad.”

His treatment would include weekly sessions, oftentimes with his counsellor to discuss the consequences of his actions, and allowing him to see how he had changed due to the addiction. They also started having small goals, where every week, KC would try and improve in areas like tolerating the call of the video games.

He also recognised that one of the reasons why he had so many problems was “because I thought my family wouldn’t understand why I was addicted to the game”.

Touch Youth Intervention’s Ms Chan corroborated KC’s account, saying that many of the youths her division sees are usually unmotivated academically and struggle with parental relationship and conflict.

“The presenting issue or symptoms we’ve observed include absenteeism from school, poor school performance, poor relationship with family members, as well as isolating themselves from friends or skipping meals to spend more time on gaming,” the counsellor said.

NAMS’ Ms Liew did note the treatment for gaming addiction differs from other addictions even though the former might present similar features.

The approach for treating gaming disorder is focused on “modifying dysfunctional use to functional use”, the counsellor explained, whereas the treatment for other addictions may be to recommend stopping the behaviour. 

“VIRTUAL REALITY NOT REALITY”

Some of the strategies they would pursue include working on the person’s time management skills, practising personal and sleep hygiene and not skipping meals, and improving the child’s relationship with the family and maintaining good communication practices, she elaborated.

Ms Chan shared that counsellors at Touch Youth Intervention would have both personal and group counselling sessions with those with gaming disorder, after talking to them and their parents to better understand the condition.  

For instance, during some one-to-one counselling sessions, they would play computer games with the youth in a controlled and supervised environment to help them process their behaviour and emotions.

“It is at this one-to-one counselling stage where we work on the youth’s motivation to game and address his or her coping mechanism together,” she explained.

The group sessions, meanwhile, will see the counsellors help the youths experience the “high” derived from gaming through real-life activities such as sports and music.

“(This is) to highlight to them that virtual reality is not reality, and encourage them to make real friends and develop interests apart from online gaming,” Ms Chan said.

Since his seven-month treatment in 2016, KC said the process has allowed him to be “more open about my life with others and my family”.

He also admitted that moderation is key to preventing his addiction from coming back.

“It’s not something you can 100 per cent kick out of your life. As cliched as it sounds, once you’re in it, you’re in it for life,” the 19-year-old said candidly. “You have to learn to moderate your gaming habits and control it so it doesn’t control you.”

And what would his advice be to those who might be going through similar struggles with gaming?

“Be open about it. As much as you might think you’re alone, you really aren’t,” said KC.

“There are people who are truly willing to help you and to do whatever it takes, even if it means going the extra mile.”

If someone you know is struggling with gaming disorder, here are some ways to seek help: All Addictions helpline 6-RECOVER (6-7326837) or the National Addictions Management Service website. 

SINGAPORE: Rashyr Perez Ramanathan was 15 years old when comments from her schoolmates and distant relatives made her start hating the way she looked. She was going through adolescence and gaining weight. 

She was too fat, they said.

Now 25 years old and an undergraduate, Rashyr recalled one incident in her co-ed secondary school that made a mark when a schoolmate asked her whether she had eaten.

“I said ‘Yeah, have you?’ And he said ‘It is pretty obvious you’ve eaten’. That just stuck in my head,” she told Channel NewsAsia. 

Her attempts to lose weight and the people who made fun of her took her on a topsy-turvy journey through eating disorders, which came with additional health issues that have stayed long after she recovered four years ago.

Recounting her painful experience, she said she first she cut out meat from her diet. Rice was similarly dropped. Within three months, she had shed 15kg.

The compliments that came spurred her on, and she wanted to lose more weight. 

“I just stopped eating altogether,” she said. 

“It started becoming this obsession for me – a reward and punishment system, where if I don’t eat that day, I’d be happy, I’d be proud of myself. But if I ate, I’d hate myself so much.”

But soon, she started having fainting spells, and her parents knew something was wrong. They started sitting with her to make her eat. That is when she moved on to intentionally vomiting the food she ate.

“I just kind of gave in. I would eat, but then I would just wait a while, wait for them to lower their guard, and then I will go to the bathroom and throw it up,” she said.

It was not long before her eating disorders started taking a toll. When she was 17, she visited the doctor for stomach problems, but did not go for a follow-up for fear that her parents would find out what exactly was happening.

She also could not concentrate on anything, and was insecure, making things up even to her friends to make herself appear “cool”. Her relationships at the time were “toxic”, she said.

While she was not diagnosed then, she was exhibiting symptoms of the eating disorder bulimia. 

It was only when she was 21 and looking up ways to kill herself that she knew she had to face her demons. She started by telling her mother everything. Her mother then took her to the Institute of Mental Health, where Rashyr was warded for 11 days.

Although she had sought help because of depression and anxiety, in unpacking her problems, doctors found out about her eating disorders.

“The whole depression part, I used eating to cope with all that. By treating the depression and the anxiety, it kind of helped me not use food as a coping mechanism,” she said.

Rashyr has now completely recovered from her eating disorders, but her actions continue to haunt her.

“We don’t realise it has lasting effects. Till this day, when I eat, it (her stomach) hurts once in a while and I have to take quite a few pills before I eat to make sure I can digest my food properly, because it’s still a problem for me,” she said.

She said family and friends have a big part to play in helping eating disorder patients, but cautioned against taking a tough line.

“They think they can scold it out of the person with the disorder, and they think that’s going to help. But it doesn’t. It just pushes the person away. You don’t have to fix us,” she said.

Instead, she recommends that family and friends can help by just being there, and being patient.

Rashyr regrets losing her golden years to eating disorders

“When you’re young, and you’re worrying about your weight so much, those are the best years of your life that you’re never going to get back,” she said.

However, the experience drove her and her final-year project mates to raise awareness on eating disorders through a campaign called Breaking Mirrors: You’re More Than What You See.

They were prompted to raise awareness on these disorders, given that body dissatisfaction – a major causal factor for eating disorders – is common, according to a survey they did.

The survey found that 85 per cent of the 267 female participants aged between 18 and 24 were dissatisfied with their body.

TYPICAL EATING DISORDER PATIENT FEMALE IN HER 20s: DOCTORS

Indeed, the typical eating disorder patient is typically female and from this age profile, doctors Channel NewsAsia spoke to said.
 
Dr Ng Kah Wee, director of the Eating Disorders Programme at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), said the clinic sees patients who are 13 years old and above. They usually present symptoms between the ages of 17 and 22, he said, with the average age being 20.
 
Doctors said that there are several types of eating disorders, and that the most common are anorexia and bulimia. They said that anorexia involves severe restriction of food intake, resulting in a low body weight, often in a relatively short span of time, while bulimia involves eating, followed by compensatory measures to get rid of the ingested food, such as by purging.
 
Dr Ng said that almost half of the cases at the clinic fall in the category of anorexia, 30 per cent are bulimia and the rest are Binge Eating Disorder and unspecified eating disorders.
 
Symptoms of anorexia include consistent excuses to avoid mealtimes or situations involving food, denial of hunger and feeling fat or overweight despite dramatic weight loss. 

Symptoms of bulimia include evidence of purging behaviours, like self-induced vomiting, laxative or diuretic abuse, and creation of complex lifestyle schedules or rituals to make time for binge and purge sessions, and withdrawal from usual friends and activities he said.
 
Dr Chee Tji Tjian, from the National University Hospital’s Department of Psychological Medicine added that while eating orders are complex and “affect everyone”, research points to certain risk factors more common in people diagnosed with eating disorders, such as a “perfectionistic” personality and dissatisfaction with body image.
 
MEN CAN SUFFER FROM EATING DISORDERS TOO
 
While Dr Chee said eating disorders disproportionately affect women, men are also susceptible, he said.
 
There appears to be an increase in the number of men diagnosed with an eating disorder, he said, pointing to factors such as an increasing rate of body dissatisfaction among males, “perhaps driven by media depiction of the pursuit of a certain type of muscular, lean physique”.
 
“As eating disorders were often seen as a female illness, cultural stigma of men with eating disorders had likely led to under-reporting and diagnosing in the past,” he added.
 
Psychologist Dr Lim Boon Leng form Gleneagles Hospital said that from his clinical experience, more males are starting to suffer from eating disorders.

“This is due to the fixation on masculinity in males these days, again influenced by western media. In male eating disorders, the fixation is often on muscle definition and exercising instead of the obsession on thinness.”

While local data is not available, in the United Kingdom, a 70 per cent increase in eating disorders among males was seen between 2010 and 2016, he said.

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF EATING DISORDERS AND HOW TO HELP SUFFERERS

Eating disorders can have a serious impact on the physical, emotional and social well-being of sufferers, Dr Ng said. Depending on the type of eating disorder, they could suffer a myriad of physical issues. 

These include cardiovascular complications such as low heart pressure and irregular heart rhythm that could be fatal, gastrointestinal difficulties and infertility.

“At times, co-morbid psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder may surface and these conditions would need to be addressed adequately as well,” Dr Ng said. 

However, eating disorders can be treated. Dr Chee said that treatment of an eating disorder follows a multi-disciplinary team approach of trained psychiatrists, psychologists, dietitians and other allied health professionals to support the treatment and recovery process.

The aim of the treatment focuses on a collaborative approach with the patient to achieve healthy eating habits, he added.
 
Other than professionals, friends and family will also have to play a part in a patient’s journey, doctors said. Patients suffering from eating disorders often experience a wide range of guilt, embarrassment, confusion and other negative feelings about their condition, Dr Chee said.
 
The patient’s support network could learn about eating disorders and be kind and supportive, Dr Chee said. He cautioned, however, that it is likely that the patient will be in denial and provide resistance to efforts.
 
“Do not take it personally, and do not give up. Avoid giving simple solutions, because the disorder is complex and likely poorly understood even by himself or herself,” he said.
 
Dr Lim said improving family relationships and dynamics which may be strained due to the patient’s condition could help.
 
Dr Ng similar stressed the role family can play. They can can help by encouraging the patient to focus on recovery, to comply and adhere to the treatment recommendations, because the eating disorder often makes one fearful and avoidant of the treatment recommendations, he said.
 
He also encouraged families to avoid statements about food and weight gain during the treatment process which could take time. He suggested refocusing on other areas such as personal accomplishments and personal values.
 
“Family members can encourage normal eating habits by being role models themselves,” he said.

Today, it is evident that Rashyr has overcome the worst.

“I love food now, I don’t even know why I hated it in the first place. I have such a good relationship with food right now. I love food,” she said.

SINGAPORE: We recently received news that my daughter’s school would be shifting come 2020. The school is preparing for a major upgrading exercise and has selected a temporary holding site some 4.5 km away.

The sudden news sparked off strong reactions from some angry parents. Some expressed concerns that their child will be preparing for PSLE during the two years at the holding site, and would have to not only adjust to the new school environment, but also the longer travel distance.

Others complained about the inconvenience as they have to juggle ferrying other siblings to and from school as well, and this would mean a disruption of their usual route.

I was surprised to hear about the upset parents. And I can’t help but wonder, how resilient and future-ready can we expect our children to be if we are not open to change ourselves?

DEALING WITH CHANGE GRACIOUSLY

Granted, it’s human nature to react to change with a dash of negativity. Like a survival instinct that kicks in, metathesiophobia (or the fear of change) tells us to maintain the status quo. Stick with what is safe and predictable, and avoid the unknown.

However, change can be for the better. And in getting out of one’s comfort zone, there are often lessons to learn along the way.     

If you think about it, there are many “inconvenient” things that we parents do for the sake of our offspring.

We move from one part of Singapore to another to be close to our alma maters. Some of us even rent homes close to our school of choice, to get within the 1 to 2km zone for better chances of entry.  

Now that our school of choice needs to shift, it can be frustrating, particularly if you’ve moved close to the school or have no one to help with transporting the kids. 

But it may help to look at the bigger picture – the upgrading works will enhance the school’s ageing facilities and create a better environment for its future students, including its current batch of Primary 1 and 2 students.

Since we have chosen this school, should we not trust that its leaders have done their best to select a site that meets the needs of its children?

On the other hand, could the school have done more to engage parents regarding the move? 

Instead of a brief letter that read like an announcement, could it have provided more details at the onset, and provided a space and time for concerned parents to meet the school principal and teachers – especially those who only recently enrolled their children in the school? 

While the school did send out a more detailed letter eventually, the truth is that no matter where the new location is, some parents will be more affected than others.

PUTTING VALUES IN ACTION

One of the strengths of the school is in teaching their students timeless values such as graciousness, integrity and tenacity. The school emphasises a different value each month and sends out reminders to parents to reinforce the learning at home.  

Perhaps this change is a chance for us to exercise the values we preach to our children.

What sort of values are we modelling to our young if we complain about the slightest changes in distance or travel times?

On the flipside, if we choose to be open-minded, they too will learn that change can be embraced.

Through the process, they will hone their adaptability and resilience, essential life skills that are much sought-after by employers in a digital age.

FINDING THE SILVER LINING

My daughter currently takes the school bus to and from school. She will also be in the first batch of students taking the PSLE with the new scoring system in 2021. 

When she voiced her sadness at not being able to study at and graduate from her own school, I empathised. But I also encouraged her to find the silver lining. I told her that she’d be in upper primary by then and able to take a public bus on her own.  

If we read between the lines, we’d realise that the children’s gripes have nothing to do with travel time or dollars and cents.

Theirs is an emotional longing; this is after all a space that represents community, learning and friendship, and that holds fond memories of their growing-up years. It’s only natural for them to yearn to see what the transformed school will be like.  

Perhaps we can learn from our girls, and drop our fixation about time and convenience, or the lack of it.

Don’t underestimate our children. With our support, I believe they will learn to embrace the changes and challenges ahead with optimism and tenacity. They may even surprise us by adapting to the new environment quicker than we expect.  

Hopefully, this shift won’t go down in history as just a narrative of the years that have been lost, but about the values found, and the better environment created for generations of students to come.

June Yong is a mother of three, an educational therapist and owner of Mama Wear Papa Shirt, a blog that discusses parenting and education in Singapore.