SINGAPORE - Half of today’s five-year-olds in the developed world, including Singapore, can expect to live to the age of 100, and this may become the norm for newborns by 2050.

Businesses, healthcare, governments and society in general should start preparing for that future now.

This is according to Stanford University psychology professor and Stanford Centre on Longevity founding director Laura Carstensen, who delivered the keynote address at the Tsao Longevity Forum on Friday.

The number of centenarians in Singapore – those aged 100 and above – was 1,500 in June 2020, having more than doubled from 700 in June 2010.

Living to be 100 will become the norm rather than an exception.

But experts at the Tsao forum, which was held at Sheraton Towers, said societies, businesses and even governments are not ready for this.

“We have to find ways to keep people functionally healthy throughout their lives so that we can match healthspan, or healthy years of life expectancy, with lifespan. And that has to be on the top of any list as we think of the kinds of changes that we have to make,” Prof Carstensen said.

In terms of education and longevity, she said: “It makes no sense for people to end education in their early 20s when they are going to live to be 100. We need to find ways to integrate education throughout life, and in part we need to do that because... we’re probably going to work for years, and work is good for people by and large.”

People need to rethink financial security, added Prof Carstensen.

“The idea that people are going to work for 40 years and save enough for not working for 30 more years is just out of reach for the vast majority of people. To say that older people are going to need to be supported longer and longer doesn’t work in an age-diverse society,” she said. 

Prof Carstensen also said there is a need to stop talking about ageing societies and start talking about age-diverse societies.

“When we talk about ageing societies, we tend to just go right to the older people, instead of thinking about the whole population.

“We need to think about what we can solve using younger people’s strength and skill and speed, coupled with older people who are emotionally stable, knowledgeable and functionally healthy,” she said.

The Stanford Centre on Longevity has started an initiative called The New Map Of Life, said Prof Carstensen. It calls for a radical redesign of our lives, communities and economies to better support longer lives.

“We have so much more time to pursue our goals and chase our dreams. We need to give up the idea that ageing is an inevitable downward slide,” she said.

“If societies act now, we can not only meet the challenges longer lives present, but we can also use added years to improve quality of life at all ages,” she added.

The one-day forum, which was attended by about 400 participants, 250 of whom participated virtually, was a curtain-raiser to Tsao Foundation’s 30th anniversary celebrations.

The forum organised three panels, bringing together local and international experts from diverse backgrounds.

The first panel was on business innovation in an age of longevity. It explored the economic dividends of living longer, and how the elderly can contribute to the economy and transform markets globally.

It also looked at why the longevity economy is relatively underdeveloped in Singapore.

The chief executive and co-founder of Amili, South-east Asia’s first precision gut microbiome company, Dr Jeremy Lim, said: “Despite Singapore’s urgent need to transform our economy into a longevity economy, the sector is stymied by two key issues: First, much of seniors’ capital is locked up in property with limited liquidity; second, and more importantly, seniors are only just appreciating that with some spending, ageing can be vibrant and deeply fulfilling.”

He added: “Spend your hard-earned money on yourselves. Leave your children with a good education and the right values; that’s all they really need.”

The second panel, titled Lifespan To Healthspan, looked at behavioural strategies necessary for individuals and communities to adopt a healthy path to longevity.

Tsao Foundation’s chief strategy officer (CSO) Paul Ong said that marginal gains by the elderly should be celebrated, the same as bigger milestones in life. He gave the example of a bedridden patient being able to sit up.

The third panel looked at developing inter-generational communities and exploring ways to bridge the divide by deepening relationships across ages.

Tsao Foundation chairman Mary Ann Tsao said the forum helped distil new knowledge, spur out-of-the-box thinking, and prepare the foundation for collaborative, concerted action around better harnessing the potential of longer lives.