Commentary: Should Singapore worry about a loneliness epidemic among seniors?

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We also quantified, for the first time, the impact of loneliness on life expectancy among older adults, using data from Singapore. We found that people aged 60, who perceived themselves to be lonely, live three to five years less, on average, compared to peers who perceived themselves as not lonely.

Similarly, at ages 70 and 80, lonely older persons could, on average, expect to live three to four and two to three years less, respectively, compared to non-lonely peers.

LONELY IN A CROWD

It is important to note that loneliness is distinct from social isolation. Loneliness refers to the state of distress or discomfort that arises from a gap between one’s desire for social connection and actual experience of it.  Whereas social isolation is marked by a low number of family and friends, and the quality of those interactions.

We often think that socially isolated people, for instance those living alone or with spouses only, must be lonelier than those living in multigenerational households with family members all around them. In fact, a significant percentage of older Singaporeans who are living in multigenerational households report being sometimes or mostly lonely.

Similarly, an individual could be in a marriage and feel lonely due to the lack of connection with one’s spouse. As the saying goes, one can be lonely in a crowd.

This is exemplified by the experience of Madam Lau*, a participant in one of our research studies. 72-year-old Mdm Lau lives with her husband and son in a large condominium. She describes Mr Lau as a “macho man” who has never helped with chores or taken care of their children because his job was to earn money. He does his own activities and does not initiate conversations.

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Yellen’s Beijing trip won’t stop ‘cold war’

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During US Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen’s attend to Beijing later this year, top-level formal meetings between China and the US will be held. In the short term, neither party anticipates a substantial improvement in connections, but there is cause for optimism that they may eventually come to terms with one another’s differences.

According to China’s Ministry of Finance, Yellen may travel to Beijing from July 6 to July 9. This decision was made following a conversation between the two nations. The original Fed Chairman is regarded as a US politician who is reasonably cordial with China.

Following Blinken’s visit on June 18 – 19, Yellen will arrive before an anticipated meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden. The best topics on the agenda for the upcoming Xi-Biden dialogues will continue to be Taiwan problems, the Ukraine War, and US device export bans.

Foreign observers claimed that because Washington formally began a Cold War with China, it is doubtful that the US will soon stop putting new restrictions on China’s high-tech industry. & nbsp,

Professor of global relations Zhang Weiwei of Fudan University claimed on a TV programme on June 26 that the US, which refused to acknowledge that China is rising, was to blame for the Sino-US conflict. Additionally, he claimed that the US’s assumption that it could prevent China from rising was a grave error.

But, he added, the circumstance appears to be getting better. & nbsp,

Zhang cited the Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross stages of grieving in psychology as evidence that the US appears to have moved past the first two stages — denial and anger— and is now moving on to the third stage, which refers to” partial acceptance and bargaining ,” after failing to defeat China in the trade and technology wars. The terms” depression” and” acceptance” refer to the fourth and fifth stages, respectively.

He continued by saying that China has not yet resumed defense negotiations with the US in an effort to reassure the latter of its lack of military apprehension.

In a statement released on Sunday at US time, the US Treasury Department stated that Yellen will meet with representatives from the People’s Republic of China in Beijing to explore” the importance for our countries- as the two largest economies– to properly manage our relationship, communicate immediately about areas of concern, and work up to address worldwide challenges.”

The Treasury Department stated in a statement Yellen gave in April that the US will work to” safe its regional security interests along with those of our friends and to protect human rights through targeted activities that are not intended to gain financial advantage.”

According to the statement,” We seek a good financial relationship with China that promotes socially beneficial growth and innovation and expands financial option for American workers and businesses.” Additionally, we want to work together to address urgent global issues like loan stress and climate change.

a few contexts

Before much of that does happen, there is a distance to travel. On June 19, Blinken was given a seat across from Chinese diplomat Wang Yi when they first met in Beijing, with Xi occupying the center seat. The sitting program, according to Chinese pundits, was intended to demonstrate to the world that China was instructing the US.

On June 19, 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is seated at the head of the table in Beijing’s Great Hall of People. Pool / Leah Mills

On June 20, Biden fired back, claiming that Xi was unaware of the Chinese balloon’s presence when he ordered its shoot-down over US aircraft in first February during an event in California. He claimed that it was” tremendous humiliation for rulers when they did not know what happened.”

The Chinese ambassador in the US formally protested Biden’s remarks to the White House on June 21.

Biden met Xie Feng, China’s fresh adviser to the US, in the White House on June 30. The voice got a little bit better.

Biden accepted the Letter of Credence of Xie and welcomed the ambassador, who had taken office on May 23, to his new position, according to a statement posted on the website of the Foreign embassy. They had a discussion about the Sino-US connection. The speech displayed two images, in which Biden shakes Xie’s hand twice and is positioned very close to the latter and his family Wang Dan.

It will take more than that for the two nations to significantly lessen the mistrust and hostility that permeate standard lines and public opinion on both sides.

Liu Yong, a military journalist based in Hubei, writes in an essay published on Monday that” Yellen’s visit to China may not have taken into account Chinese problems.” Yellen stated that she wants to reestablish contact with China. She is, however, claiming that the US wants China to make concessions and uphold British objectives. “& nbsp,

He claims that” US debts is one of the centers among China – US economic subjects.” Since China has been disposing of US Treasury Bonds repeatedly in recent years, the US has grown concerned. Yet if China purchases more, it won’t be nearly enough to appease the US.

He continues by saying that during Yellen’s attend, Washington is likely to put pressure on Beijing by using Taiwanese problems.

China had$ 867.1 billion in US Treasury bonds as of last year, down from$ 1.12 trillion at the end of 2018. During the same time period, Japan’s holding of US Treasury securities increased from$ 1.04 trillion to$ 1.08 trillion, while the UK saw a growth in its having from$ 288 billion to 654.5 billion. & nbsp,

Despite Beijing’s vehement resistance, nine US politicians traveled to Taiwan between June 27 and 29. & nbsp,

tech outlaw

Due to rising US-China political tensions, the two sides have never held standard talks since US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Feng met in Cambodia last November. Austin and Li Shangfu, the innovative Chinese Defense Minister, shook hands on June 2 in the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, but there was no formal meeting between them.

In a presentation on June 28, Liu Pengyu, the Chinese Embassy’s official in Washington, stated that if the US wants to continue high-level military negotiations with China, restrictions may be lifted. & nbsp,

The US will make sure that China doesn’t use American technology to create fast weapons or violate human rights, according to Blinken, who claimed to have told his Taiwanese rivals during his trip to Beijing on the same day.

The French government announced on June 30 that in order to trade specific DUV lithography tools, ASML will need to use for licenses starting on September 1. According to ASML, the ban will have an impact on China’s imports of its Twinscan NXT: 1980Di, which may produce 38 millimeter chips in a single coverage.

According to an unknown spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce on Saturday,” In recent years, the US has consistently generalized the concept of regional security, abused export control measures, and sacrificed the interests of its allies to force and earn over various countries to suppress and contain Chinese semiconductor industry in order to maintain its international hegemony.”

Guan Xiansen, a poet from Guangdong, writes in an article that was published on Sunday,” While Blinken promoted Yellen’s visit to China, the weakening of his approach was cursory.” He made an effort to downplay the fact that the US is actively repressing and controlling China, claiming that its sanctions just apply to regions that do not serve its objectives.

He” made conspiracy theory conclusions that China may” improperly use” some essential systems without any supporting evidence.” According to Guan, this unfounded claim demonstrates how the US evaluates some based solely on its own experiences.

The US will quickly tighten its sanctions against China, despite Chinese commentators’ continued optimism that China may ultimately defeat the US.

Following Yellen’s trip to China, Washington will forbid Nvidia from exporting its artificial intelligence ( AI ) chips, such as the A800 and H800, to the country, according to a report in the US media last week. At the end of July, Biden will also sign an executive order prohibiting US funds from investing in high technology industries in China.

Study: AI device bans obstruct US-China trade negotiations

At & nbsp, @ jeffpao3 is Jeff Pao’s Twitter account.

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Karen Allen on one last hurrah as Marion Ravenwood in Indiana Jones: Dial Of Destiny

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Indiana Jones. Karen Allen always knew he’d come walking back through her door.

Since 1981’s Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Allen has been only a sporadic presence in the subsequent sequels. But the glow of the freckled, big-eyed actor who so memorably played Marion Ravenwood has only grown stronger over time.

Indiana Jones may be one of the movies’ most iconic characters, but he’s always needed a good foil. It was Kate Capshaw and Ke Huy Quan in Temple Of Doom and Sean Connery in The Last Crusade.

Yet, none could top, or out-drink, Allen’s Marion, a wisecracking, naturalistic beauty and swashbuckling heir to screwball legends like Katharine Hepburn and Irene Dunne.

Allen’s place in the latest and last Indiana Jones, the just-released Dial Of Destiny, has long been a mystery. Now that the movie is in theatres – spoiler alert – we can finally let the cat out of the bag. Allen returns. And while her role isn’t large – tragedy has driven Marion and Indiana apart – it’s extremely poignant in how she figures into Harrison Ford’s swan song as Indiana Jones.

“Secrets,” Allen chuckled in a recent interview, “are not my specialty.”

Allen, 71, was a magnetic presence in some memorable 1970s and 1980s films, including 1978’s Animal House (the performance that caught Steven Spielberg’s eye), 1984’s Starman and 1988’s Scrooged.

But while she’s steadily worked ever since, the era’s male-dominated Hollywood often seemed to squander her talent. Allen has lived for decades in the Berkshires, where she opened a textiles and clothing boutique and has frequently performed at Tanglewood.

Allen also returned to Marion in 2008’s Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. But as much as Dial Of Destiny signifies the end of Ford’s run as Indy, it’s also Allen’s goodbye to her most beloved character. This time, Indiana’s sidekick went to Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the Fleabag creator and star. Allen, praising Waller-Bridge as a strong woman, approves.

“If it wasn’t going to be me,” said Allen, “I’m glad it was her.” More about her role below:

Did Steven Spielberg or Dial Of Destiny director James Mangold reach out to you about returning as Marion?

There was a period of time when Steven was going to direct the film. It was my understanding – although I never read any of those scripts – that it was being developed very much as a still-ongoing Marion-and-Indy story.

When Steven decided to step down and James took over and brought in new writers, I knew it was going into a different direction. Having not even known what it was before, it was even more mysterious after they took it over. So I really didn’t know anything for a long period of time until they had a script.

And I have to confess, I was a bit disappointed that she wasn’t more woven throughout the story and didn’t have more of an ongoing trajectory. However, the way in which she does come back into the story was very satisfying. I just thought, “okay, I’m just going to embrace this”. I certainly would have been wildly disappointed had Marion just sort of vanished into the ether.

Did you always think Marion and Indiana were destined for each other? You don’t exactly get a sense of permanence between them in Raiders.

It’s funny. When I first started working on it, I just decided that Indy was the love of her life. I just decided to make a deep commitment to that and to play through Raiders Of The Lost Ark with the feeling they’re soulmates. When we end up married in Crystal Skull, I wept when I read that script.

Indiana Jones could be a boys world but you were such a spirited force of nature.

Well, Steven and George had this experience as young boys with these Saturday afternoon matinee serial films. They were just a little bit older than I am, so I kind of missed that. I don’t have a reference point for that. So I don’t think that I necessarily understood the genre of film we were making. I thought we were making Casablanca. I really, truly did.

So, I sort of defined my character in that sort of genre – which I think weirdly enough works quite well for the film. I never imagined Marion as a damsel in distress in any sort of way. I was always pushing back against that, and in the end, Steven was supportive of that.

Do you ever wish you had gotten the chance to star in more Hollywood films?

I make movies all the time, although I have tended in the last 10 or 15 years to focus more on indie films. In truth, the kinds of roles I’m really hungry to play, particularly for someone my age, they’re written more in the indie world.

People kind of think, “where have you been?”. There were times I was raising my son but I often do at least two films a year. They’re very satisfying, probably more satisfying than the sort of roles I would be offered. A lot of times I turned down things. There’s a lot of thankless roles for women in bigger budget films.

What has Marion meant to you?

She’s sort of at the core of my growth as an actor and certainly my relationship to the world. As I move through the world, I’ve become very identified with that character. There was maybe a brief period of time where I found it annoying.

But that passed and now it’s just this character that I love. I can’t imagine anything more satisfying to have had the chance in life to create a character that has some meaning for people.

What was it like to shoot your scenes with Harrison Ford in Dial Of Destiny?

It was fantastic. We shot it all in one day or maybe two days. To just imagine these two people that have been wrenched apart through grief and loss and then she’s coming back with this hope that they can move forward. When we played the scene, that was very, very affecting. We were both very affected by it and a little teary. And the crew was a little teary.

How has it been keeping your role in the film secret?

It’s been excruciating. (Laughs) I never have to do anything like this again. People have come up to me and they’ve been so upset because they didn’t see my name on IMDb. People would be so mad I’d have to stand there and just be like, “what do I say?”.

Do I say, “yeah, isn’t that a drag?” or “You never never know – wink, wink”. I’ve had to say I just can’t answer any questions about Indiana Jones – which I feel like is sort of saying that I’m in the film. It’s a lose-lose situation. (Laughs)

Does playing Marion one last time cap anything for you?

More so for Harrison than for me. He’s such a fully developed character and has done all five of these. With Marion, I’ve kind of come and gone. But she will always be a character that moves through life with me.

I don’t know if I really have a sense of it being over. There always was a sense that one more would be done, even if it took 20 years. Now, they’ve been very clear that this is the last one. So it is a letting-go.

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IN FOCUS: What will life in Singapore be like when the temperature hits 40°C?

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SHOULD WORK START LATER IN THE DAY?

With all the effort and energy needed to keep cool in the daytime, would Singapore reach the point of scheduling work and other essential activities to start later in the day and end well after dark?

That’s not desirable as working overnight has its own drawbacks, according to NUS’ Assoc Prof Lee. The night shift interrupts circadian rhythms and social lives, and workers may start work without being well rested, putting their safety at risk. The need for lighting will also put extra pressure on the power grid.

But even if normal work hours are maintained, leisure patterns, including recreational sports, are likely to change. There is a tendency during warm weather for people to stay indoors as much as possible, only venturing outside in the evening.

This is reinforced by official guidelines. For instance, the Ministry of Education encourages schools to minimise outdoor physical activities between 10.30am and 3.30pm on warmer days.

As temperatures rise, this blackout period could lengthen. But trying to avoid being outside on hot days can lead to a decrease in outdoor physical activity and in turn, affect mental health, Assoc Prof Lee pointed out.

Instead of hardening the boundaries around the hours that people should not exercise outdoors, another approach would be to embrace the heat and manage it.

“We feel heat as a distress. Heat is actually a stressor … All stressors, if you know how to use (them) creatively, can be eustress”, or a beneficial form of stress, said Assoc Prof Lee.

Exercise could be planned for the hottest times of the day in order to put extra strain on the body and maximise training outcomes, said Assoc Prof Lee. To compensate, the workout could be less intense or shorter.

“Training is all about creating strain so that your body can respond … Now with heat, in 30 minutes you get your heart rate to the same level as compared to your old condition (where) you had to do it in 45 minutes,” he said.

“You want to do 45 minutes at 8am, or 30 minutes at 12 noon? You can actually save your time by reaching the same endpoint faster. That, to me, is training effectiveness.”

In hot yoga, practitioners intentionally use heat to intensify physical activity. Instead of practising in artificially heated rooms, for instance, such classes can be held outdoors in unshaded areas when the sun is high on a 40-degree day.

To manage the heat risk, public misting systems that spray ultrafine water droplets onto people can be set up at more parks, exercise corners and even playgrounds, said Prof Wong.

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, when heat and humidity soared during Japan’s summer, the Games organisers and national teams used misting fans to cool athletes and even horses.

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How CPEC went off the rails in Pakistan

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Back in 2015, there was immense optimism surrounding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with expectations that it would elevate Pakistan’s global standing and position it as a leading force in South Asia. However, what was initially hailed as a well-intentioned effort to strengthen the bilateral relationship has become one of the primary factors contributing to Pakistan’s economic decline.

While there were a few significant Chinese-backed infrastructure projects in Pakistan prior to CPEC, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) ushered in a new era for Pakistan’s struggling public-sector projects and its chronically weak power and transportation industries. These sectors had long relied on government subsidies, leading to budget deficits.

After China announced its intention to support Pakistan and promote its ambitious Silk Road Economic Belt initiative, CPEC quickly emerged as the flagship project of the BRI.

Introduced in May 2013 during Chinese premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Pakistan, the economic corridor was lauded for its design, addressing Pakistan’s infrastructure gaps, establishing industrial zones, and creating trade routes to China through the strategically located Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea.

The project initially required a substantial investment of US$46 billion, which quickly escalated to $62 billion in pledges, accounting for around 20% of Pakistan’s GDP. It encompassed several significant Early Harvest Projects (EHPs) in a country in dire need of international investment.

From a geopolitical standpoint, India has been a vocal opponent of the BRI since its inception in 2013. India viewed one of the key components of CPEC as a violation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty, particularly in relation to its claims on Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

The initiative was seen as part of China’s broader strategy to encircle India and gain influence in the region. Concerns also arose regarding China’s easy access to Pakistani ports and the potential establishment of a naval base, raising significant security apprehensions for India.

India opted to oppose the BRI and focused on its own connectivity initiatives, such as the International North-South Transport Corridor and the Chabahar port in Iran, although it lacked a comprehensive strategy to enhance regional connectivity.

Initially, the introduction of the CPEC project brought hope and relief to the people of Pakistan, who had been grappling with persistent power and energy issues. Widespread blackouts caused by severe power shortages had paralyzed economic activities and cast bustling market areas into darkness.

The energy crisis stemmed from exorbitant energy rates charged by independent power producers (IPPs), neglected power plants, deteriorating transmission lines, and years of populist government policies.

For more than three decades, citizens endured daily electricity outages of about 10 hours in urban areas and up to 22 hours in rural regions. These power cuts disrupted revenue-generating markets, industries, educational institutions, health-care facilities, and social activities.

Figure 1: Division of CPEC Projects

Source: Planning Commission of Pakistan

China’s initial focus on constructing new coal-fired power plants within the framework of CPEC was initially seen as a positive step. However, in late 2021, China shifted its stance to align with the objectives of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), committing to avoid developing coal-fired power plants overseas and striving for carbon neutrality.

This change had dire consequences for Pakistan’s coal-dependent power sector, as ongoing CPEC projects aimed at expanding the country’s power-generation capacity by 20 gigawatts were halted or shelved.

The economic viability of CPEC projects, along with Pakistan’s ongoing financial distress and its involvement in the “war on terror,” further complicated the situation. Rumors of impropriety on the Chinese side added to the challenges, leading to project delays and an increasing burden of unproductive debt.

While Pakistan’s unsustainable external debt and economic difficulties predated the CPEC agreement, the initiative exacerbated the country’s widening current account deficits and depleted foreign-exchange reserves. Despite recommendations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan imported significant volumes of materials for the projects before seeking a $6.3 billion bailout from the intergovernmental body.

The foundation of CPEC, heavily reliant on Chinese equity holdings in Pakistan’s infrastructure projects, has made Pakistan liable for 80% of the investments related to the corridor. This has raised concerns that the former flagship initiative of the BRI is flawed and a costly misstep for China.

China has consistently refused to defer or restructure pending debt repayments, fearing that it would set a precedent for other debtor nations and result in a collapse of bad loans. However, it is in China’s interest to assist Pakistan in maintaining its image as a reliable ally to the developing world.

Given these circumstances, it is crucial for economies in the region, particularly BRI countries like Pakistan, to monitor closely and manage the share of China’s debt in their total external debt.

Pakistan’s involvement in CPEC has led to impractical projects heavily reliant on foreign loans, exacerbating the country’s economic difficulties. Soaring trade deficits and low levels of foreign direct investment have been caused by excessive reliance on external borrowing without addressing underlying macroeconomic challenges.

Therefore, Pakistan needs to prioritize credit diversification and debt restructuring to regain control of its external sector and tackle the pressing macroeconomic issues at hand.

A more detailed article by this author can be found here: Debt ad Infinitum: Pakistan’s Macroeconomic Catastrophe.

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