Dr. Oon Chiew Seng, Chairperson of Apex Harmony Lodge,

Mr. Ng Hoon Hwee, President of Association of Apex Clubs of Singapore,

Ladies and Gentlemen

Today�s official opening of Apex Harmony Lodge takes place at an appropriate time -� in 1999, the International Year of Older People, and during Senior Citizens� Week when the nation is reminded of its commitment to the elderly.

As Singapore prepares to enter the new millennium with all the tumultuous changes that it is likely to bring, it becomes increasingly important for us to strengthen family and community ties. Our senior citizens have an important role to play in this. Our senior citizens can help working parents to supervise and bring up young children. They provide love and care, and impart values in a way in which only grandpa and grandma can. They help to strengthen the bonds of family, and make the home a warm and welcoming place where our children can be nurtured, and where our senior citizens live with dignity and respect. But we also cannot escape the fact that each one of us will grow old and may eventually need an increasing level of physical and psycho-social support.

We recognise that the ideal environment for a person suffering from dementia should be his own home where he is familiar with the surroundings and the people. However, we also recognise that some families may face difficulty with this. The number of dementia patients in Singapore, estimated at 3,300 in 1990, is also expected to rise as the number of senior citizens in Singapore rises. Some estimates place this number at 13,000 by the year 2030.

A home providing specialised care for dementia patients, and support programmes to help families cope with the heavy emotional demands of caring for a family member afflicted with chronic, progressive dementia, is therefore a timely development. Apex Harmony Lodge is a landmark project in that it is the first home for dementia patients to be built in Singapore and, I understand, the first also in ASEAN.

Apex Harmony Lodge has been constructed at a cost of $13 million. Apex raised $3m through fund raising activities, while the rest was funded by the Ministry of Health. The Lodge will run at a cost of $2.4 million a year, and to keep medical care for the residents affordable, the government has committed itself to providing subsidies and funding.

The Lodge will continually need the support and contributions of the community. I am therefore heartened to learn that students from Temasek Polytechnic have been spending 3 � 4 hours each week at the Lodge. They help during therapy sessions, and also help by assisting to feed the patients and interacting with them to give them more stimulation and encouragement. Such support, financial or otherwise, is praiseworthy, as it not only helps the Lodge in its work but also fosters the spirit of volunteerism amongst members of the community.

The challenge for Dr. Oon and the Management Committee of Apex Harmony Lodge is for you to develop the Lodge into a renowned centre for dementia care and research. The hardware is in place: Apex Harmony Lodge is made up of small self-enclosed units which allow patients to walk around freely with minimum supervision and without the danger of them wandering off the premises. It employs a state of the art monitoring and detection system that alerts the night nurse of any patient that has left his bed for too long a period. And it has lovely landscaped gardens and courtyards to provide the residents with a relaxed and serene environment. In short, the Lodge is specially designed and constructed to cater to the special physical needs of dementia sufferers.

What the Lodge needs is also the software of a thorough programme of psycho-geriatric care, medical care and therapy for the residents. As with the physical design of the Home itself, medical and psychological care for the residents must be tailored to meet the special needs of the patients. To this end, I urge Apex Harmony Lodge to strengthen your links with hospitals and Institutes of Higher Learning. You should encourage local doctors, students and care-givers to understand more about dementia, its impact on families, and what healthcare professionals and other members of the community can do to assist in rendering care. In doing so, you will help yourselves and also help others to understand more about the special needs in caring for the elderly.

Apex Harmony Lodge is the largest project that Apex Clubs of Singapore has undertaken to date. Apex also carries out other projects such as regular food distribution to the needy, and care service at Apex Day Care and Rehabilitation Centre for the Elderly in Bukit Merah. This is a heartening example of dedicated volunteers and the Government working hand in hand to build a more caring society. I commend the Apex Clubs of Singapore for your care and concern in setting up the first home for dementia sufferers in Singapore, and also for your many efforts at providing service for the betterment of the community.

I wish Dr. Oon and the Apex Clubs of Singapore every success with managing Apex Harmony Lodge. It is my pleasure now to officially declare Apex Harmony Lodge open. Thank you.