Don’t retire from life SINGAPORE’S founding father Lee Kwan Yew was reported to have said that retiring to take it easy is a sure route to death. “If you believe that at 55, you’re retiring, you’re going to read books play golf and drink wine, then I think you’re done for,” he said in comments published by a newspaper. I think the senior minister overstated his case somewhat, there are enough retirees running around enjoying the fruits of their lifelong labour to belie that drastic statement. However, there is a grain of truth in what he said. The initial impact of retirement can be shocking for some. I personally know of a few cases where people actually fell physically ill immediately after retiring from work. Mr Tan worked all his life in a government department. In the 30 years or so, work was his passion and come to think of it, his life. Every week he could see his days ahead panned out neatly before him. He knew what to do and he felt important and satisfied with his life. With 30 years of habit he could virtually drive to work with his eyes closed. Then came the fateful day; no, not the day of the retirement but the working day after the retirement. He woke up, had his breakfast, put on his office attire and drove to his office. When he walked in everybody in the room looked up in bewilderment. Then it dawned upon him that he no longer belonged and that any clout he had over the people who had worked under his direction had evaporated. Then horror of horrors, he found that his desk was no longer there. The staff had reorganised the room with his departure. So it finally sunk in for him. He was a ‘past, a ‘former. That realisation traumatised him. Mr Tan was ill for nearly a year after that. The doctors were at loss as to what was wrong with him, physically he was as fit as a fiddle. Joseph has been my family friend for over 30 years. Over the years I visited his country regularly once every few years. During his heyday, he was a confident cocky man. He was one of those know-alls and had a strong opinion on everything. Now in his 70s, he has retired and reached a point where he thinks there is nothing new in this life. He firmly subscribes to the belief that ‘one cannot teach an old dog new tricks’. He has lost the joy of learning and with that his zest for life. Frankly, time spent with him now is rather tiresome and depressing. I stayed with his family a few months ago and I lost count the number of times he prefaced a conversation with “I am getting old”. I found that he was getting me down. It seemed that Joseph was just waiting for his death. He reminds me of what I read about Alexander the Great. Alexander was 20 years old when he started his all-conquering odyssey. He cut a swatch through the kingdoms from Greece all the way to Northern India. By the age of 30, he was king of all the known world then. As legend has it, when Alexander the Great saw the extent of his kingdom, he sat down and wept because there was no more world to conquer. Poor Alexander, perhaps it was a relief to him that he died at the age of 33. Growing old is a reality of life and with it the concomitant change in our physical being. It is our obsession with our physical attributes and equating them with quality and enjoyment of life that drives us to distraction. Ironically, it drove many ancient Chinese emperors to their early deaths. In Ancient China, various emperors sought the fabled elixir of immortality. The Chinese alchemical book, the ‘Tan Chin Yao Ch’eh’ (Great Secrets of Alchemy, dating from approximately 650 AD), discusses in detail the creation of elixirs for immortality from gold, mercury, sulphur, arsenic and others. The fact is many of these substances, far from contributing to longevity, are actually toxic. Of course the modern counterparts of the ancient Chinese alchemists are the plastic surgeons. With their art and science they somehow can help their clients to maintain the illusion of youth … for a while. However, age and time are relentless, somewhere down the road we have to learn to accept growing old with good grace. There is not much we can do about extending the number of years we are given on this earth, but there is much we can do about the quality of those years. Thus, what is most important is how we feel about life. The passing years endow us with experience which gives us new perception. This allows us to find new appreciation of the world and life. When I was in secondary school, I came across a passage in our literature book which described almost poetically a summer scene in England. It talked about the mellow golden sunshine and the long shadows with sound of “leather on willow” echoing off the enclosure. I was in the hot equator and hadn’t a clue what it was all about. Some years later I went to a boarding school in Britain. One summer evening at around nine, I was strolling in the school grounds. The sun was low in the sky. Some boys were playing cricket. As the batsman hit the ball, it went “click” and the sound was bounced back off the wall around the field. Then it struck me. It was the scene from my literature book of many years ago. Only then I realised the beauty of the prose: the leather cricket ball, the willow wood bat, the long summer’s evening. The passing years had given me a new platform to a greater appreciation of the world. Back to the statement of Lee Kwan Yew on retirement and death. I believe he was quoted out of context. There is more to life than work. There is nothing wrong with retirement but the point is one should not retire from life and living. Let me end on a bright note. Mr Tan, whom I mentioned earlier, recovered when he readjusted to his new life. He enjoys his golf, he is an avid reader, finding interest in so many new things, and more importantly he is learning again. He is into photography, learning late in life how to take beautiful photos to capture all the magical moments of life and nature. With his new found interests, he is young again as he recaptures the childlike interest in the wonders of the world. Comments can reach the writer via dunstandesee@theborneopost.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 00:18:40 +0000
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