Wen Rui/ To what extent should the government be responsible for taking care of the elderly?

The Singapore Government maybe expected to be responsible in taking care of the elderly when the elderly are unable to take care of themselves financially in which this will increase the economic burden of the society. As some elderly do not have enough savings for their retirement, they often face the persistent problem of having to pay expensive healthcare bills. As they are more prone to illness, these frequent medical bills would be a drain to their finances. Hence, the government may need to intervene and provide the elderly with ample and financial help so as to protect the welfare of the elderly. For instance, the Central Provident Fund (CPF) , Medisave, Medishield and Medifund (3Ms) are policies implemented by the government to keep healthcare services affordable to all Singaporeans, especially for the elderly and the lower income family groups. Therefore, the government may be expected to provide financial aid so that the elderly would still be able to support themselves.
However, the Singapore government should not be solely responsible in taking care of the elderly to the extent until the government’s resource are drained out and the society becomes too dependent on the government to provide monetary aid for the elderly, regardless whether the elderly are able to take care of themselves. There are independent elderly Singaporeans who are able to provide and support themselves without the aid of others due to good long term retirement planning. In such cases, the Singapore government should not be responsible in taking care of them financially and this would prevent an over-reliance on the government which is unhealthy for the society. By not over providing for the elderly, the Singapore government would also be able to focus on the other areas such as providing financial assistance for education to the needy. Therefore, the Singapore government should not be responsible for taking care of the elderly when the elderly are financially stable or when it neglects other aspects of the society.