Can ultra-slow jogging help Singapore seniors stay active and connected?

Lance Alexander (0:01)

Best of Live Well ft.

Karen Wee (0:03)

Lance Alexander.

Lance Alexander (0:05)

Staying active as we age can be easier when there's someone to do it with. But how do we encourage seniors who rarely leave their home or feel unsure about joining a group? Relay Modular 2026 is a year long community campaign bringing seniors as well as younger people together through ultra slow jogging.

So it's co-organized by Lee Foundation and Lions Clubs of Singapore. It supports Lions Befrienders by helping seniors through forging friendships, community activities, as well as care services. Joining me on Money FM 89.3 is Karen Wee, Executive Director Lions Befrienders. Good morning to you, Karen. Thanks for coming in.

Karen Wee (0:54)

Good morning, everybody, and good morning, Lance.

Lance Alexander (0:56)

Hey, great idea. We like to see more seniors getting out of the house. But first, you've got to explain to us what exactly is ultra-slow jogging?

Karen Wee (1:05)

Ah, that's a very good question. So basically, ultra-slow jogging is low intensity, low impact. For us, for the seniors to contribute as well as to focus on their jogging, it's jogging on the spot, to playing of different music and with someone. So the first idea we need to do is to overcome the fear of jogging. People will say, no, I've never walked, I've never jogged, etc. So the psychological barrier is the first thing you overcome. Once that happens, they're happy jogging. Next comes a social bonding because they want to go back to meet their friends. And with that comes confidence because now they can jog. Previously, they can't even walk. Maybe they limped.

Then after the confidence comes also more empowerment, more agency, as well as more reaching out to others.

So when all these things, when you look at just jogging, jogging alone, of course, has all we know. It's about good health. But this is a different, this is actually a social community setting. So we look at and welcome everybody to join the movement, which is Slow Mo Let's Go.

Lance Alexander (2:12)

Okay, so where do the young people fit in? When do they come into the picture?

Karen Wee (2:19)

Ah, okay, this is with the injection of having them as fellow joggers, but jogging at slower speed. Okay, and to do the encouragement like a pacer.

The other one is facilitator, because we do need a lot of communal support. The initial stage may require trainers, but there will be a lot of people. So far we have had per session, minimum 20, and as the numbers grow, you can't see the ones at the back. If you go to attend any classes, it's always the ones at the back that's trailing and not sure what's going on.

We need all these people to keep them encouraged. And what's more is, if you had younger ones, like little children, of course not at this stage, encouraging them to keep on running and running, keep the kids active and not running after them, that will inject some fun also. So which means to say this is a community effort, regardless of age. Because as you know, if we put them on the treadmill or let them to run outside, the seniors will struggle keeping up. It's about energy, etc. But jogging a spot, you can take a break, as and when you need it. You don't have to feel pressurized of keeping up and keeping up. That fear is going to put a huge dent and a huge psychological barrier to them to want to even join.

Lance Alexander (3:34)

You know, we saw what COVID did to us a few years ago. We were cooped up in our homes.

Some of us got used to it. We didn't want to go out at all. We know social isolation can do terrible things for our mental well-being. We also know this, in 2026, Singapore officially became a super-agent society. So tell us about these regular activities like Relay Majulah, and how they can help our seniors come out of that shell of theirs.

Karen Wee (4:04)

First, we actually have been going through the years of understanding what causes them to stay indoors, and what causes them to refuse to gain access outside, or even to reach out, or accept people reaching in.

So the thing we realize is very much fundamentally used to it, comfort zone. The other one is insecurity, fear, because the world has moved on very fast. As we know, we are all talking about Gen. AI, humanoids. This is something completely new from someone who has never had technology. But having said that, in 2020, when we had no death behind a closed door, 6,500 seniors during the circuit breaker, basically we did it. And secondly, what we did was we moved from a social befriending agency to then became one of the market leaders in terms of technology, innovation, innovation, tech and non-tech, and in preventive elder care. So fast forward, we are into that space now. So we always realize that seniors can do it. And so once we understand the motivation and also the fear, we overcome it by putting things easy for them, and we got the last of the last miles, meaning because 6,500 seniors, 80% have little or no education, and yet they were the among the first in 2020 June to use technology, and we made it idiot proof for them. So fast forward six years from then on, we are now into voice AI, etc.