Old, not helpless

A conference on family violence this week was given a snapshot of elder abuse that should make Singaporeans sit up. It would be better if they felt so uncomfortable about the disclosures they would give the matter some thought. Most people know about society's strictures against child abuse and wife beating and the penal punishments they attract. Cruelty to animals also gets the widest ventilation.

But how many people are aware that mistreatment of elderly persons is no less a societal disorder? According to an activist group within the Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS) organized to deal with it, about 100 cases of battered and neglected elders each year came to the attention of welfare groups and medical authorities in the past five years. Half of these cases of abuse were the work of their own children. The more disturbing disclosure from Ms Choy Chow Yin, who heads the group of doctors and medical social workers called the Elderly Protection Team, is that reported cases were only the tip of the iceberg.

Mr Chan Soo Sen, Minister of State in the MCDS, suggests that ill-treatment of one's aged parents is regarded as so shameful it is never admitted or talked about. Mr Chan is well-versed in the cultural and domestic milieu of the Chinese community, so is competent to offer this insight. If what he says is fairly representative of the ground, it would shatter a few assumptions about Asian adherence to notions of respect for the aged. There is a smugness among Asian people that cruelty towards the dependent aged and infirm is a Westerner's dereliction.

But even in Japan, whom many consider the most age-venerated society in Asia, abuse of elders has become such a serious social issue the government has conducted its first national survey into the phenomenon. Preliminary studies showed a third of reported cases concerned cruel neglect, like not providing sufficient food and drink and not changing diapers of the incontinent aged.

Singaporeans would do better not to dwell too much on cultural behavioral norms such as filial piety, in expectations that these would influence positive community behavior. They should continue to be cultivated, of course. But it might be realistic to acknowledge that a modernizing society conflicted about its indeterminate ethos will see aberrations like elder abuse becoming more common.

The law which gave aged parents the right to sue their children for support was a shot across the bow, in case Singaporeans had not noticed the familial deterioration. Now with the MCDS reports, the focus should be on designing an institutional framework to cope with cases of physical and emotional abuse, willful neglect, and abandonment.

More research need also be done on the causal link between the abused and insensitive caregivers. As abuse can occur in isolation, it is hard to identify the need for help. -- The Straits Times, Singapore