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In my earliest memories, celebrating the Chinese New Year at home was a very solemn and cosy affair. I especially remember my mother teaching me to hold two oranges in both hands and respectfully wish my grandmother: “Ma Ma, I wish you good health, success, and happiness and health for the family!” The weather-beaten wrinkles on my grandmother’s forehead straightened out in an instant, and she was filled with a smile. Her eyes were full of love, as warm as the spring breeze. The kindness on her face is still deeply imprinted in my memory.

Encouraging older adults to use technology can help them develop a sense of independence and extend their independent lives, stay socially connected with family and friends.

Grandma Huang has never used a smartphone even though her son bought her the latest iPhone 15 and installed high-speed home network and WiFi at home. She said that she did not know how to use it and could not figure out the application instructions. It would be bad if she pressed the wrong button. Smartphones has never appeared in her life and without it, her life would still go on. Aunty Li was envious when she saw her best friend watching “Happiness Comes” on her tablet computer while riding the train. She also wanted to watch it on her 5.4-inch mobile phone, but the screen was too small, and her eyesight was not good, so she had no choice but to give up.

In this digital age, children are exposed to overwhelming amounts of information online, some of it unverified and increasingly generated by non-human sources, such as AI-driven language models. As children grow older, the ability to assess a source’s reliability is an important skill in cultivating critical thinking.

Looking back on 2020, the coronavirus hitting the world brought about some of the most difficult challenges in recent human history, especially social distancing measures, which had a large and obvious impact on the elderly.

These measures disrupted daily social life. Uncle Li, who was used to going to the coffee shop downstairs to chat and drink coffee with old friends every day, suddenly found that he could no longer go. Mrs Huang, who attends interest classes at the senior citizen activity center every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, was forced to stop going out, and even simple gatherings with relatives and friends were prohibited. Fortunately, we have been quick to leverage technology to overcome many of the challenges and distress caused by the pandemic, such as remote learning and working, apps that enhance and promote social interaction, and mobile medical resources to promote physical and mental health.

However, there is a clear divide between the young and old when it comes to technology: young people who have grown up with technology have easily adapted to the new normal of moving their lives online, while the elderly, who have had little access to technology or relevant equipment, have gradually developed a sense of isolation and loneliness.

The connection between a livestream host and viewers is an example of a “parasocial” relationship, a one-sided relationship formed with a media persona, said Assistant Professor Andrew Yee (Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences).

Mrs Lin, my mother’s old neighbour, has lived in the same community for decades. She is accustomed to her own lifestyle and likes to take care of the potted plants she grows along the common corridor outside her home every morning. About half a year ago, a man named Mr Chen moved in next door to Mrs Lin. The renovation work started very early every day and created a lot of noise. Mrs Lin became increasingly troubled. She failed to understand that Mr Chen wanted his family to live in a more comfortable home and instead believed that he was deliberately making the noise to disturb her. Mrs Lin became unhappy, avoided communicating with Mr Chen and even shouted at him as he walked past her door later on.

Some couples in Singapore are going beyond conventional fertility procedures like IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) in their quest for conception.

When you think of the elderly, does the image of a grumpy old man complaining about his children getting in the way, or a lonely old lady with a stern expression pop up in your mind? This stereotype often appears in videos, movies and pictures.

The Singapore University of Technology and Design has introduced Ami, short for Advancing Mental Invigoration developed by Associate Professor Yow Wei Quin and her team; which aims to leverage gamification to harness the cognitive benefits of bilingualism or multilingualism in the elderly.