Recently i watched a Netflix series on Living to 100 (Secrets of the Blue Zone) whereby the last episode feature Singapore as one of the manufactured Blue Zone. I was intrigued why Singapore was being singled out as a manufactured Blue Zone. Singapore is also a young Nation where it was independent in 1965 and we just pass our 58th Birthday on 9th August 2023. In s span of 50+ years, we have grown our life expectancy to 83 years old which is higher than United States. How did the Government do it?
From the series of the Netflix series, it dives deep into countries in Europe, Japan, Costa Rica, Sardina (California) whereby there are a lot of people live past 100 years old. How do they manage to live beyond that? One of the key is physical activities that keep them utilizing their bodies, be it planting, walking, doing chores, cooking. Another key is resting, sufficient rest is needed, for the people in Costa Rica they take an afternoon nap as and when they needed. The other key is eat well, for Japan wise they eat plant based food which reduces calories intake and also provide the nutrients required for the human body. One other key would be the community get together and bond together which i believe it helps to destress in the emotional part of the body. Coupled with the 4 main keys. Human can live beyond 100 years old.
How true that Singapore people can live to 100 (Blue Zone). Are we really considered to be in the Blue Zone? From my perspective, i do feel that the life expectancy has been longer. Back when i was age 8 years old, my nanny passed away when she was 30+ and my nanny's husband pass away when he was 50+. My grandmother passed away when she was 90+ and my grandmother-in-law passed away when she was 70+. Currently my dad / mum and my father-in-law / mother-in-law are still well and healthy, they are in their late 70s+ . I believe with the current health care system in Singapore, my parents and my-in-laws will possibly live to 100 and beyond. Why do i say that, every year, they will go for health check up to see any issues on their body. By the way my mum have a lot of operations before and my father in law as well. They are still living healthy.
As i mentioned the 4 key points for living to 100 and beyond.
Physical activities : In Singapore as owning a car is very expensive. As of today in Sep 2023, the COE has went past $100k+ for a COE for a car under 1600cc and almost $150k for a car above 1600cc. COE stands for certificate of Eligibility to own a car. Coupled with Road tax, insurance, Car park, maintenance. A car can cost from $30k onwards which amounts to $2.5k per month. Not many people can afford it. That is one of the policy that Singapore has geared towards to for carlite. So most of the people take public transport. So the average Singaporean will be walking about 7000 steps to 15000 steps per day which translate to about 6km to 13km per day.
Resting: This is one key that i think it is very difficult to achieve in Singapore. People in Singapore are working an average of 45 hours per day, coupled with the traveling and dinner time that could stretch till 3 hours. People in Singapore are quite sleep deprived. Most people in Singapore will sleep late during the wkends to catch up on rest and recuperate. My view is that this should be tweaked to have 4.5 days of work with Friday as a half day or 3pm to knock off so that people can unwind and recuperate over the weekend.
Eating Well: Singapore has been introducing more complex carbohydrates in the food and educating the masses in Singapore. Simple Carbohydrates vs. Complex Carbohydrates (healthline.com) More details can be found in the link.
Community and Get Together: Singapore has community centers all around Singapore. There are total 119 community centers in Singapore. Each community center has a basketball court (free) , badminton court ($6 per 2 hours usage), stage for performance, gym ($2 per entry), activities and classes. Every festive there will be get togethers whereby people gather and watch performance, play, have fun. I've been to these activities and i really like the crowd and get together. It creates bonding and social network. Chinese New Year Celebration ($28 per pax), Mother's day Celebration ($5 per pax), Moon Cake Festive ($2 per pax), carnival activities (free).
Will Singapore continue to be a Blue Zone? My view is that we would need to tackle the cost of living whereby in my earlier article wrote about that the minimum cost of living in Singapore has risen drastically. The average family of 4 in Singapore need about $6.6k per month to have a decent living. I still remember when i was 8 years old, my whole family of 5 only need $10 per day to buy ingredients from the market whereby my grandmother will cook for the whole family. One month expenses of food will amount to $300+. Unlike today if we are eating outside, we would need minimum $15 per day for per pax (including drinks). That is how high the cost of living had rise in Singapore. Hopefully in the future Singapore will be able to be self-sufficient in the food and water whereby we do not need to import food and water from Overseas. Water for Singapore will reach self-sufficiency in 2060. Another 37 years from now. Hopefully by then we can reach self-sufficiceny in food as well. What can be done? Invest in more businesses that can generate food, get more free trade agreement on essentials, invest in technologices that incentives for creation of food. Create farming vertically on lands in Pulau Ubin, reclaim the lands there since it is going to be taken over by the Government. Make it a farming area. Food is critical if we want to maintain the Blue Zone.
