Summary for Chapter 1 Part 1

Due to the deteriorating health of the elderly, transportation becomes a hassle for all elderly even those without any physical disabilities. The elderly who used to drive may find themselves unable to be on the road as their reflexes may not be up for the task of driving. Hence, elderly can only depend on public transport.

However, public transport might not be as elderly-friendly as we thought. Not all elderly live near the bus stops and MRT stations. This is an inconvenience for them because they do not have the strength to walk far.  Furthermore, buses or MRT stations might not be built to include elderly-friendly facilities. For example, the steps leading up a bus might be too steep and could be difficult for an elder to get on.

The Singapore government acknowledges this problem and has plans to make our public transport more elderly-friendly. By providing more seats at bus stops and MRT stations so that elderly do not have to stand when waiting for buses and trains as wait times can be longer at non-peak hours if elderly choose to avoid the crowd. Adding lifts to overhead bridges is very helpful as this increases the accessibility of bus stops for the elderly, allowing them to travel to places via buses and the additional option of travelling to MRT stations via buses and not have to walk. 

Sources:

Book: Wachs, Martin. 'Transportation For The Elderly: Changing Lifestyle, Changing Needs'. United States of America: University of California Press, 1979.

Newspaper: 'Better Public Transport Access For Elderly: Minister'. The New Paper. 17 Nov. 2014. 4.

Website: Pickut, Walt. 'Top 10 Problems The Elderly Face With Transportation'. Livestrong.com. 11 Oct. 2015. Accessed 23 Jan 2016. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/358682-top-ten-problems-the-elderly-face-with-transportation/>

Case Study 1

SOURCE: Kwan, Weng Kin. 'Cheap, On-demand Transport For Japan's Elderly'. The Straits Times. 8 Sep. 2014. A12. 

Singapore faces the problem of ageing population like Japan does and both countries being in Asia, I found it ideal to obtain a case study from Japan as to see how other country tackles the problem of elderly transportation. 

Japan is a lot bigger than Singapore so unlike Singapore, they do not have train stations located within they vicinity and the people have to travel by buses or taxis. Bus stops are located far and taxis are too expensive. Hence, to make transport more accessible for the elderly, the Japanese government introduced an on-demand bus specifically for the elderly to bring them to places like hospitals and supermarkets for grocery shopping. This cheap, on-demand bus works by booking in advance and a eight-passenger bus would pick up the elderly and drive them to their destinations. With the government subsidy, this service is very affordable for the elderly in Japan. 

However, despite the affordability and convenience of this new service, the demand for it still fall short of what the company in-charge was expecting. This is because elderly may choose not to travel unless necessary like to hospitals which may not even be frequent trips and for them it might be easier to avoid crowds and stay at home instead. Hence, the service goes unused, making it costly to maintain this service.

When I imagine this service being carried out in Singapore, the pick-up points can be a problem. Japan has garbage collection points in housing areas that can be used as pick-up points but Singapore does not. It might be hard to allocate pick-up points. 

This reminded me very much of shuttle buses that hospitals or shopping malls provide for the general public that we already have in Singapore. However, these shuttle buses are limited in pick-up points. 

It might seem like this solution may not work for Singapore but it would be a good solution for housing estates that are more populated with elderly or estates that do not have bus stops or MRT stations within reasonable distance and choosing pick-up points within every few blocks of flats would be ideal. By doing so can make this solution more cost-efficient as well.

Bibliography

Books

1. Wachs, Martin. 'Transportation For The Elderly: Changing Lifestyle, Changing Needs'. United States of America: University of California Press, 1979.
   
2. Norman, Alison. 'Transport And The Elderly: Problems And Possible Action'. London: National Corp. for the Care of Old People, 1977. 

Magazines/Newspapers

1. 'Better Public Transport Access For Elderly: Minister'. The New Paper. 17 Nov. 2014. 4.
   
2. Kwan, Weng Kin. 'Cheap, On-demand Transport For Japan's Elderly'. The Straits Times. 8 Sep. 2014. A12. 

Websites

1. Pickut, Walt. 'Top 10 Problems The Elderly Face With Transportation'. Livestrong.com. 11 Oct. 2015. Accessed 23 Jan 2016. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/358682-top-ten-problems-the-elderly-face-with-transportation/>
   
2. Tsao Foundation. Created 2013. Accessed 23 Jan 2016. <http://tsaofoundation.org/>

Persona (Roleplay)

Persona (Roleplay)

Name: Tan Wee Kiat
Age: 60
Gender: Male
Occupation: Cleaner
Family condition: Living alone after spouse passed away and children neglected him
Family members: Children
Address: Blk 16 Eunos Crescent #11-23

What Makes A Good Presentation + Example

10 points of a good presentation: 

1. Good understanding of topic
   Without understanding the topic, we won't be able to deliver the presentation to audience and they might not be able to catch the message we intended to deliver.
   
2. Concise content
   Presentation should be concise and straight to the point.
   
3. Entertaining
   Long presentations might need some ice-breakers in between. Not only to deliver the presentation, we might also need audience to respond to our presentation.
   
4. Confident and relaxed
   The main pillar that support the presentation is confidence in our presentation and relaxed in delivering it.
   
5. Clear articulation and voice should be loud enough to be heard by audience
   Sound systems might be helpful to allow our voice to be heard by large audience and clear articulation allow audience to understand what we're talking about.
   
6. Inflection in speech
   A flat speech will be boring and thus, adding inflections allow our presentation to be more dynamic.
   
7. Making eye contact with audience and smile
   Making eye contact and smiling to the audience allow the audience to be more relaxed and help them to understand better.
   
8. Motions
   Making hand motions or moving around the stage during a presentation allow the presentation look more natural and add up to our confidence. Overdoing it would be bad though.
   
9. Good conclusion
   Having a good conclusion is the main point of the presentation.
   
10. Visual aids
    Visual aids such as slides, images or videos, allow the presentation to be more entertaining as well.

Example of a good presentation:https://www.ted.com/talks/alison_killing_what_happens_when_a_city_runs_out_of_room_for_its_dead