PERCEPTIONS OF AGEING IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Ageing is a sociological phenomena. It presupposes a shift into certain roles as people move across the life course. Hence, aa a person reaches the age of fifty-five, he is expected to disengage himself from the role of an active worker and take up that role of a retiree. However, the kinds of roles that people are expected to perform as they age are not the same today as it was in the past, and it is highly probable that it would not be the same in the future. Different people also attach different meanings to the process of ageing. Indeed, the concept of old age has to be understood in relation to the social context, and specifically one's social reality. My aim in this study is to explore how a selected group of young Singaporeans attach meanings to the social process of ageing, in relation to their specific social realities within the wider Singapore societal context.