ETHOS Issue 01
October 2006
Last updated 30 July 2026
ETHOS Issue 01, October 2006
The inaugural issue focuses on a matter of global concern and national: Ageing. What can we expect in the decades to come and what can we do about it today? Learn more from thought leaders Dr Joseph Chamie, Dr Sarah Harper and Professor Norbert Walter.
Foreword
Peter Ho
We are at an inflexion point. Globalisation and rapid advances in technology are transforming business, politics and society. The simultaneous rise of China and India are changing trade flows and mapping out new patterns of influence.
Editorial
Dr Alvin Pang
Editor-in-Chief Ethos
Our inaugural issue brings to bear some of the leading minds on a matter of global concern and national interest: Ageing. By 2050, the number of persons over 60 years of age will exceed that of children globally for the first time in human history. Singapore is also expected to age rapidly. What can we expect in the decades to come and what can we do about it today?
Population and Policy
Interview with Dr Joseph Chamie
As the former United Nations Chief Demographer, Dr Joseph Chamie is one of the world’s leading authorities on population change and movement. Speaking to Ethos, he outlined the implications of global demographic trends for public policy in Singapore and elsewhere.
Ageing and Public Policy - A Global Perspective
Andrew Kwok
Is there an impending ageing crisis? Two views predominate in the global discourse.
Successful Ageing – A Review of Singapore’s Policy Approaches
Olivia Goh
In Singapore, the issue of an ageing population has been on the national agenda since the 1980s, with several high-level committees formed to study ageing trends.
Ageing Repositioned: Singapore in the New Global Demography
Sarah Harper
Singapore will soon be one of the demographically oldest countries in East Asia, as measured by the proportion of the population aged 65 and over. The median age of Singapore residents has increased over the past quarter-century, from 24.4 years in 1980 to over 35 today. This has been fuelled by a fall in Singapore’s Total Fertility Rate, which now stands at 1.24 per resident female, one of the lowest in the world.
Ageing Population: What to Expect and What to Do
Norbert Walter
What will the global ageing trend mean for finance, investment and production? Professor Norbert Walter highlights the economic implications of ageing in the coming decades.
The Real Challenges of an Ageing Population
Andrew Kwok
The ageing of populations worldwide has had national governments scrambling to stave off looming economic decline and fiscal disarray.
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