The government is not considering developing a retirement village at Pulau Ubin.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary for National Development Maliki Osman said this in Parliament on Tuesday, in response to a suggestion made by Non-Constituency MP Lina Chiam.
There is currently no development plan for Pulau Ubin and the goverment’s intention is to keep the island in its rustic state for as long as possible.
On the suggestion of a retirement village, Dr Maliki said there will be issues to consider when putting the elderly on an island.
For example, services and infrastructure need to be put in place.
Dr Maliki said: “There are other alternatives for our retirees to age in place. We also want our retirees to age in place, rather than go to an island. We want them to be part of a larger community because that’s where the social support ought to be made available also for our retirees.”
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 9 July 2013