My wife and I are members of a senior citizen organization in our subdivision. Whenever our small circle gets to meet, we usually have disparate casual pocket “kumpulans” while waiting for the rest to arrive. And the topics are predictable. In one little cluster it would be about the contents of the gift bags from the Mayor’s office birthday or the cash gifts from the barangay head, which they had received or in some cases not received. In the next bunch, the chatter would be the amount of additional pensions or grocery discounts for senior citizens being mulled over in Congress. In the next small grouping, one would hear the litany of complaints about senior citizen discounts in some establishments.
When the assembly finally comes to order, the most welcome item in the agenda would be the schedule of upcoming free medical care services such as free eye checkups, free flu vaccinations, free diagnostic tests and so on.
Notice the common running theme about their concerns?
Freebies, privileges, entitlements. During Christmas and election seasons, the scheduled arrival of the Mayor and his candidates would be the talk of the village. The venue would be brimming over with seniors, even those who usually wouldn’t be seen venturing out on ordinary days. The reason? Giveaways of cash and loot bags!
When I scan the faces of my fellow seniors sitting beside me during meetings, I cannot believe many of them are ex-men and ex-women: ex-engineers, ex-accountants, ex-seamen and OFWs, ex-teachers, and other ex-professionals. Maybe some of them used to have charge of entire departments, barking orders to subordinates. Why have they been reduced to a motley of waiting, craving, salivating persons, who have “freebies” and “handouts” on top of their minds?
I’m afraid we are creating a culture of “outstretched hands” out of aging. It seems that the prevailing attitude is seniors should be seen not heard. Let them stay in one corner, throw some freebies their way to keep them quiet and contented. And of course, sensing that senior citizens can be a sizeable voters’ block, politicians are quick to take the cue and ride on it.
At home, they are not regarded any better. It’s alright for the family to care for their elders. However, when others infantilize an aging parent or treat an old relative as a child, that’s another thing. It begins with the language family members use.
In many households adult children bawl out their elderly parents like a children for being forgetful or clumsy. When they are not allowed to handle their physical tasks and errands even when they have no trouble doing them themselves, it only serves to reinforce their sense of worthlessness and negative self-perception.
Let’s make it perfectly clear. A senior citizen is not a child in a mature adult body.
While I agree that protecting and caring for the well-being of senior citizens is a major obligation of the national government, we should reconsider the notion of favoring people just because they’re older.
To my fellow the seniors who keep wanting more and more cash entitlements from the government, don’t forget that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Who will pay for all the “amelioration” cash we get? It creates a budget process that automatically requires raising taxes on the young and non-senior workers and employees to maintain or increase benefits for the elderly. The more we take now, the more they’ll pay. The burden is passed on to the future.
We also should realize that spending too much on the elderly will inevitably take away some of the money that can be allocated for other urgent national concerns —from improving education and healthcare to bolstering our national security to preserving our environment and dealing with climate change.
At the risk of appearing cruel and heartless, I want to broach out a thought that may run counter to the trend of spoiling our senior citizens.
Let’s stop regarding senior citizens as “needy.” Not all seniors want to depend only on pensions and cash handouts.
Here’s something that often gets overlooked by our legislators. Many seniors want to work beyond retirement age. Some miss the routine of having a job. Some long for the mental stimulation of working. Others want to explore career interests that they were too busy to pursue previously. And, of course, many seniors simply need to earn extra money for their future medical needs.
So let’s find ways to “un-retire” them. Instead of more entitlements, let’s create laws that give idle seniors opportunities and incentives to work and be productive, even as part-timers. Instead of cash handouts, give them interest-free loans to turn their hobbies into profitable businesses or even a non-profit endeavor.
Maybe LGUs and private venture funders can invest in cottage industries to be managed and staffed by senior citizens engaged in making senior-friendly products such as wooden or aluminum canes, rocking chairs and boards for chess and table games designed for seniors. Why not get them to run neighborhood convenience stores for the needs of the elderly and the vulnerable or an online “food on wheels” service catering to elderly patrons who can’t leave home?
Why waste a generation of older people with wisdom and experience, specialized knowledge, and unparalleled ability to teach, coach, and mentor and counsel who could pair with young people to help start-up organizations grow and thrive.
Why not open windows of opportunities for them to work in their professional fields without having to commit to full-time jobs? By selling their skills and sharing their knowledge on a contract basis, they can keep working while enjoying more freedom and flexibility.
I can see flexible part-time jobs for them: independent or drivers and tour guides to take domestic and foreign visitors from place to place. Why not work as a freelance courier or delivery driver to take food, packages, or other goods from restaurants, stores, or warehouses to the local people who ordered them? They can also work as transcriptionists, or do technical manuals or brochures as subject matter experts.
Here’s one good idea I read in a newspaper sometime ago: “Senior citizens urged to get involved in local governance.” Instead of just waiting for more senior discounts freebies and giveaways, senior citizens must take a more proactive role in local development and governance. They can propose projects, programs, and activities not just for seniors but also for all residents that can be included in the development plans and eventually funded through the mandatory one percent allocation in the budgets of LGUs.
But my personal vision of meaningful work for senior citizens is to get them actively engaged in the promising Green Economy.
If we can have cash for work for the rehabilitation of calamity hit areas, why can’t we adopt the same scheme and recruit seniors for rewarding and fulfilling jobs under a “Cash for Green Work Program”?
With time in their hands, as well as their valuable experience and emotional maturity, senior citizens are “ripe” for recruitment to be eco-warriors, not only as climate action advocates but also actively involved in profitable green ventures such as urban farming, the business of recycling and upcycling waste materials, setting up and maintaining solar energy farms or wind farms, guarding and monitoring our waterways from trash and pollutants as well as other pro-environmental activities to help our country attain a more sustainable future.
What a lasting meaningful legacy to leave to the next generation!
Let’s liberate today’s seniors from infantilism and “pamperism.” Time to change the “outstretched hand” narrative and redefine what it means to be retired—by enabling them to continue to work.