A team of Singaporean youths have created a viral video to raise awareness about the struggles of the elderly in their country.
The moving video, entitled ‘Poverty in the Golden Years’, was uploaded on Sunday night and has since garnered over 8700 views. The team behind the video consists of Kevin Ng, Jeraldine Phneah and Mah Poh Ee.
The video shows the beneficiaries of the Happy People Helping People Foundation being interviewed about their daily lives. The foundation, which was founded by Mohammed Nafiz Kamarudin organises Happy Sunday on every first Sunday of the month to distribute food to the less fortunate, as well as assisting and paying for more than 3000 meals every month for 95 elderly box collectors.
The heartbreaking video claims that one in five elderly citizens in Singapore do not have enough to to make ends meet. One elderly lady featured in the video says that she has resorted to picking and selling cardboard to make $2-$3 a day. An elderly man says that he collects and sells newspapers, whilst another man says that his children don’t even tell him where they are.
According to Health Exchange, some people trivialise the matter by claiming that the elderly collect cardboards for “exercise”. According to the organisation, many of the elderly in Singapore are forced to work long hours in the hot sun doing manual labour. It is not only dangerous with regards to physical strain, but there have also been a number of reports of the elderly have been hit by moving vehicles.
The organisation and the creatives behind this video believe that this issue is worsening and that it deserves immediate attention and concern. The organisation reminds Singaporeans that the currently elderly were the pioneer generation that were primarily responsible for the success that Singapore enjoys today. Now that those days have gone, the pioneer generation deserve to enjoy their golden years without the burden of financial restrains forcing them into poverty.
The organisation and youths behind the video encourage people to share their video to spread awareness in order to address the issue. The video certainly highlights the issue and leaves an impacting message of “this could be you when you are old”.
