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The idea of setting up a co-operative for seniors in Singapore came about when a group of BZSE students - Denise Yeo, Sharon Teo, Joshua Lim and Nan Han Siang, entered and was awarded $3000 for winning the first prize and the best co-operative model award in a social enterprise challenge jointly organised by the Singapore National Co-operative Federation (SNCF) and the School of Humanities & Social Sciences. The idea was proposed as they were particularly concerned about the changing demographics in Singapore whereby the post-war baby boomers are starting to retire.
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Sharon Teo (Middle), Denise Yeo (Right)
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Being a strong believer of turning great ideas into reality, Denise is currently on internship with SNCF to set up this co-operative named RISE (Revolutionary approach to Inspire Seniors & Elders) with the aim of seeing a new generation of active agers emerging. In the past, there have been simple programmes being introduced to cater to the silver generation. However, as the population ages, there is now a stronger need to provide specialized services for these baby boomers.
One such programme that Denise has conceptualised is the Global Connectivity Programme, which allows seniors to travel to different countries to volunteer their services, understand the local culture deeply as well as interact with their counterparts in other parts of the world.
Currently, she has identified and approached like-minded individuals with varied skills to be among the 10 founding members in order to make RISE happen.