Ethnicity and Ageing in Singapore

Abstract

This article examines ethnic differences in the ageing phenomenon in Singapore, emphasising the socio-economic characteristics of elderly Malays. Poverty among elderly Malays is disproportionately high. The adequacies of the social security policy, especially the Central Provident Fund, in the provision of financial protection and retirement income for elderly Malays are explored. The government's strategy of shifting elderly care to the family and ethnic community will further undermine social cohesion by intensifying Chinese chauvinistic attitudes toward the minority groups, especially the Malays, hence, deepening the divisions among ethnic groups. State policy that highlights ethnic differences creates in-group posturing, which promotes a notion that the Chinese are a different species and culturally superior to other ethnic groups.