Seniors Lead the Charge for Community Change

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What does it mean to age well in Singapore? The seniors who live it every day have the answer. Across Singapore, seniors are stepping out of the role of passive recipients to become co-producers of healthy ageing solutions.

For Mr Victor Yue, a community photography project was the start of finding what ageing well meant to him. He joined a group of seniors who set out to capture everyday life in Chinatown, and their snapshots were later exhibited at the Panyu Association.

"It woke up something in me and in my friends too. We began looking at Chinatown from a new lens. I began to notice the older people around us and the challenges they face," said Mr Yue.

Mr Victor Yue (centre, in yellow) and the Chinatown team of seniors.

That awareness turned into action. To help seniors live healthily and happily, they've since partnered with heritage businesses and clan associations to organise more activities that bring people together.

The initiative in Chinatown is part of a much larger movement: the Seniors Action for Greater Empowerment (SAGE). This community-based programme is spearheaded by the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH), working with lower-income older adults across Singapore who face challenges including social isolation, mental health issues and limited access to resources.

Made possible by generous donor support, SAGE is built on a conviction that seniors can be active contributors to health programmes.

The Principal Investigator of SAGE, Assistant Professor Zoe Jane-Lara Hildon, shared: “When we began SAGE, the question we asked ourselves was quite simple: what would it look like if community members were not just participants in healthy ageing programmes, but actually co-producers of the knowledge about what works in their own communities?”

The answer has become visible in neighbourhoods like Chinatown and Queenstown, where local partners like Mr Yue are leading impactful ground-up initiatives, shaped by the needs and voices of the people who live there.

The Community Museum: Where Seniors’ Stories Become Solutions

Each group of seniors is sharing its findings through its own Community Museum, a public exhibition of seniors’ stories, photographs and reflections. Drawn from lived experience, the insights reflect what seniors say matters most in their own lives.

Sharings from seniors in Chinatown pointed to a lack of meaningful spaces and the weight of social isolation. In Queenstown, the “Queenstown Kakis” identified mobility and transport barriers as an obstacle to accessing health services.

These discoveries are a springboard for action. Building on what seniors have shared, SAGE and its collaborators are brainstorming ideas and designing solutions that shift how ageing is understood, from a period of decline to an enriching chapter of life.

“What I hope to see is a neighbourhood where people don’t have to struggle alone. When neighbours naturally notice, care and lend a hand, it creates a stronger, kinder community that benefits everyone,” said Ms Christina Wee from the Queenstown Kakis.

Led by Seniors, For Seniors

SAGE has also empowered seniors at the Goodman Community Farm to voice their struggles and find solutions to the issue of food affordability. When the researchers stepped back, the seniors stepped up. What began as a research project is now the Kinship Collective, a food and farming movement led by seniors.

Seniors from the Kinship Collective cooking together.

Community research partner Ms Nova C Nelson of Kinship Collective said: "SAGE proved you can be rigorous and community-led at once. What impressed me the most is that amidst the methodical work and rigorous action research, it never lost the human relationships at its centre. This is definitely a model to follow in Singapore."

SAGE is rewriting the playbook for healthy ageing, moving away from top-down approaches to solutions built by the community, for the community. This model has the potential to touch even more lives, transforming what ageing looks like for generations to come.

“Community change doesn't happen simply because a programme exists,” shared Assistant Professor Hildon. “It happens when people themselves are engaged and begin shaping it—when they see it as something they are part of, rather than something delivered to them.”

Inspired to make a difference to lives through public health? Make a gift to support more impactful initiatives at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.