Senior's Mobility Fund

Mr Desmond Lee asked the Minister for Health whether the eligibility criteria for the Senior's Mobility Fund can be widened to (i) allow funding to be provided for a wider range of mobility items such as ramps, commodes and nursing beds; and (ii) cover elderly or disabled persons who are Permanent Residents but whose spouses or family members are Singapore citizens and would benefit from their enhanced mobility.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Senior's Mobility Fund (SMF) was introduced in April 2011 to fund basic mobility devices, such as wheelchairs and walking frames, for low-income elderly with mobility problems, so that they can move around with greater ease and be more independent.

We have since expanded the SMF to cover specialised transport services for elderly undergoing active rehabilitation in our community-based rehab centres. Centre for Enabled Living (CEL) provides financial assistance for commodes, shower chairs and nursing beds under the Special Assistance Fund. The Ministerial Committee on Ageing is also studying how the hardware within flats and HDB estates could be enhanced to make it easier and safer for seniors to move around.

With regard to Mr Lee's query to cover elderly or disabled persons who are Permanent Residents (PRs), our priority is to first reach out to our needy, elderly Singaporeans. As SMF is a relatively new scheme, we will continue to monitor the utilisation of funds and will review at a later stage if we can open it up to PRs.

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