UNTIL HEALTH DO US PART: A PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON AGEING AND RETIREMENT IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

With the growing ageing population in Singapore, it has become commonplace to see older adults above the state-determined age of retirement (62 to 67 years of age) working in blue-collared jobs. Past scholarship has primarily focused on the issue of financial insufficiency amongst the current ageing population and has noted this to be the primary motivation for these seniors to remain in the workforce. The ageing policies and financial schemes that the Singaporean government have enacted are reflective of this popular ideology regarding the ageing and work employment. However, this sets forward an extremely deterministic view of the ageing population. Instead, this thesis provides an alternative perspective in identifying the alternative motivations behind their desire to work, despite surpassing the retirement age. In addition, understanding the deeper nuances and symbolic meanings tied to work employment for the current ageing population in Singapore. The thesis engages a ground-up qualitative approach by incorporating participant-action aspects of photovoice, which allows for participant self-representation with regards to speaking about the intrinsic values of work employment. Results reveal that ageing individuals turn toward work employment as a mode of adaptation from age-associated changes and structural restrictions; they do so by seeking continuity in familiarity and a sense of productivity.