Singapore: Age Well Kakis Launched, Seniors Aged 50 and Above Earn Stipends for Volunteering in Community Care
Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) launched the Age Well Kakis volunteering programme on October 30: residents aged 50 and above can sign up to help in community care and receive a stipend, in cash or in kind such as vouchers, for each completed task. Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information and for Health, launched it at the National Celebration of Seniors.
The work is practical and close to home: helping run activities at Active Ageing Centres, delivering meals to vulnerable seniors, accompanying an older resident to a medical appointment, befriending, and roles at senior care centres, nursing homes and community mental health providers. Most tasks are done within a day and some take only a few hours, chosen to suit each volunteer's interests, health and calendar.
Opportunities already sit at more than 100 community care touchpoints. Over the next two years, MOH and AIC aim to reach some 16,500 participants and fill up to 700,000 volunteering slots in community care.
There is no single national stipend rate; each organisation decides the amount and how it is paid. The programme is open to Singapore citizens and permanent residents aged 50 and above, including the city-state's large ethnic Chinese community, who can register through the AIC volunteering site, call the AIC hotline on 1800-650-6060, or walk into an Active Ageing Centre. It sits alongside the People's Association's Neighbourhood Kakis programme piloted in 2024, with the two programmes aiming for some 30,000 participants over two years.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：新加坡长者护理中心内的长者（资料图），美国海军摄，公共领域 / Photo: senior residents at a care centre in Singapore, by the US Navy, public domain
