Perceptions of the elderly-Lim Rong, elderly

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Summary: 75 million baby boomers are moving into retirement in the USA as of 2012. How does the world view the expanding population of the elderly? Many people associate the elderly with negativity, fragility, forgetful and unwillingness to change. Many of the elderly in the USA have viewed retirement as a continuation of life with the overall mood of baby boomers being rather positive. Many of the seniors, in fact, feel as if their best years are yet to come. It may be time for the world to reevaluate how it perceives the elderly. Aging baby boomers who enjoy medical advances and improvements to daily life will be younger at heart and generally more physically able than earlier generations. Work that used to be heavily manual took its toll physically on the workers of yesterday. However, baby boomers who work in roles utilizing brain power rather than brawn may be less worn out upon reaching retirement age and do not necessarily require down time. They might prefer a more active existence.

Opinion: In my opinion I do believe that it is unfair to generalize the entire ageing population with a particular stereotype because statistics can prove that many do not behave that way. I believe that we can learn plenty from these old-timers as they have am abundance of knowledge accumulated over decades and also, as people like to call in Malay 'makan garam', meaning that they have experienced a particular occurrence in the past, they can provide us with invaluable advice that may enrich our lives. The elderly should not be frowned upon and viewed as a backwards generation. The elderly who are well-read or up to date with the current trends are often interesting to be with as one would get to reenact tales from the past as well as exchange ideas regarding the present. One would not feel as if the elderly are old, in fact, they may even treat the elderly as proper acquaintances or even friends.  

In defence of young singaporean adults - Yvelyn

Defence of Young Singaporean Adults
Summary:
This article defends the accusations on why Singapore youths are unwilling to step out of their comfort zone. The accusations are the lack of drive, grades and the implications of risks. Firstly, youths today are actually very passionate in what they are doing, they would often burn the midnight oil to complete their task. This is especially true during the examination period. Secondly, Singapore is always known for putting grades as the first priority when it comes to schooling. Thus leaves students to put getting good grades as their top priority. We cannot blame youths for being too concerned on their result when it is their country which forced them to be like that. Lastly, every situations comes with a risk. It is not true that when there is risk, there will not be youths willing to try it. In fact, many youths are willing to take risks and explore on their own, they are more than willing to take charge and be independent.

Opinion:
I agrees with the author that those accusations against Singaporean youths are false. Youths nowadays are much more tougher and stronger than we think. Adults often underestimate us because we are young and live in a first-world country. We are surrounded by convenience and luxuries, which make us more vulnerable. However, this does not mean that we are vulnerable, we are able to think and act for ourselves. Indeed, advancements in technology made our lives much easier, but in terms of passion, we are no different from the past. We could fend for ourselves and drive ourselves for a better us.