JB nursing homes for old folks? [Today Online Tuesday Feb 10, 2009]
Since a “significant” number of Singaporeans visit their relatives who are in nursing homes only at the weekend, why not place these elderly folk in homes in Johor Bahru – where one month’s fees in a Singapore private nursing home could buy two-and-a-half months of care?
Making this suggestion, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said he recently visited a site in JB where a Singapore investor was planning such a facility. “I probed him on how much he is going to spend ... It’s mind-boggling. It’s so low. My cost of putting up a polyclinic is probably more than his cost of putting up a 200-bed nursing home.”
He added: “You can always ambulance in the elderly and the family members can visit the elderly on weekends. As this nursing home CEO told me, even in Singapore when they put the elderly in homes, they also only visit them once a week ... So what’s the difference in putting them in JB?”
Mr Khaw was responding to a question from MP Lam Pin Min on whether caregivers should be given an allowance. The minister said he preferred to use Eldershield, though the payout of $400 was too small and “should be pushed up to $800”.
In 2006, Mr Khaw sparked a minor controversy when he mooted the idea of retirement villages by private developers in neighbouring countries where land was cheaper. After his proposal was misunderstood by those who saw it as “dumping” one’s parents, he clarified that he felt such an intent was the worst sin possible. Alicia Wong
