To provide help to the elderly people in Singapore, the community support services will be extended to more constituencies from next year. This was announced by Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore, at a lunch ceremony for Pioneer Generation (PG) ambassadors at Yio Chu Kang Community Club.
He said, “Help was given to almost 800 seniors through the Community Network for Seniors pilot. Over 300 ambassadors from the Tampines, Marine Parade and Choa Chu Kang group representation constituencies participated in the pilot.
The Prime Minister added, “They (PG ambassadors) brought seniors to health screening exercises, encouraged them to join group exercises with other seniors and linked them with friends in the neighbourhood.”
PG ambassadors are recruited by the Government of Singapore to help the elderly people and explain government programmes to them. They bring greater peace of mind to the elderly and encourage active ageing.
There are now over 3,000 trained PG ambassadors who help to explain policies such as MediShield Life, the Community Health Assist Scheme and the Silver Support Scheme to the elderly people.
Under the Community Network for Seniors programme, the ambassadors provide more information on active ageing and befriending services, besides encouraging seniors to go for health screenings.
This programme was first announced at last year’s Budget. Thereafter, the PG Office and the Health Ministry piloted it at the three constituencies to integrate and pool resources for elderly-related services.