Saturday, 06 Mar 2021 05:59 PM MYT
In 2018, Mr Tan founded Enable Asia, a platform that focuses on dementia awareness and respite for caregivers. “I controlled myself because I didn’t want to cry in front of my children . I keep telling myself that I am not stupid and useless and that she would not say those words to me if she was well,” said the 57-year-old.
Since she was diagnosed with the illness that causes impaired intellectual functions and personality changes in 2015, his mother, who is now 88, would tiresomely ask him about his father and godmother, both of whom had died, frequently raise her voice at him and accuse their helper of stealing her money.
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive form of dementia that destroys memory, thinking skills and the ability to carry out simple tasks. “I ended up sleeping from 4pm that day till the next morning,” recalled Mdm Fadilah. “I felt so tired and I was just ‘gone’ all night. My husband thought I had fainted and almost called for an ambulance.”
But the caregivers’ plight has not been forgotten, emerging as a recurring theme during Parliamentary sittings in recent years, including during the Budget debate last week and the Ministry of Health’s Committee of Supply debate on Friday . Earlier last month, Ms Carrie Tan, MP for Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency , also asked in Parliament if the Ministry of Manpower would consider introducing a new financial scheme for full-time caregivers to supplement their income and retirement savings.
Some struggle with the loss of income as they leave their jobs to become full-time caregivers or the pay cut that comes with working fewer hours as they opt for a more flexible work arrangement. Since she quit her job, her five married siblings currently provide financial support for her and their mother.
Ms Belinda Seet, whose 89-year-old mother is afflicted with Alzheimer’s, said even as a part-time early childhood studies lecturer, she could not afford to pay between S$20 and S$40 per hour for someone else to take over her caregiving duties so that she can rest.
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