As Singapore’s population ages, many elderly residents require assistance to apply for Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) and nominate beneficiaries for their Central Provident Fund.
This is why Minister of State for Education and Manpower Gan Siow Huang, and her team are working closely with organisations to provide such services to residents in Marymount SMC.
In an exclusive interview with Petir, Ms Gan, Member of Parliament for Marymount SMC, explained that there are many elderly residents and caregivers in her constituency. She recognises the importance of providing eldercare services to them.
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows one to appoint a trusted person to make decisions and act on their behalf if they lose mental capacity.
She said, “My mother made an LPA with my encouragement. I realised that not everyone is aware of the importance of LPA and how to get it done. It also costs money to engage a lawyer or doctor to certify an LPA. Some residents might not be willing to spend money on this.”
In October 2023, Ms Gan’s team partnered with the Singapore Management University Pro Bono Centre to educate elderly residents in Marymount SMC about the importance of LPA. The group which consisted of SMU alumni, law students, and corporate lawyers, helped around 50 seniors complete their LPA certification. Ms Gan said her grassroots team collaborated with community partners to organise another LPA session on June 27 and provided free LPA certification for residents on July 13. They intend to conduct more of such sessions in the future, she added.
Regarding CPF nomination services, Ms Gan and her grassroots have invited the CPF Board team to a series of block parties in Marymount from June to November. Besides learning about estate improvements and getting to know their neighbours, residents at the block parties can also get help from the CPF experts on CPF nomination and other questions relating to CPF,” she added.
Gan Siow Huang focuses on Care Plan and Green Plan at Marymount

The first-term MP has been focusing on implementing the Marymount Care Plan and Green Plan in her first three years. A substantial proportion of her residents are at least 50 years old.
As part of the Care Plan, Ms Gan said her team runs programmes to support seniors, caregivers and families.
For seniors, they partnered with the National University of Singapore Mind Science Centre which developed the Age Well Everyday programme. The 12-week programme helps Marymount seniors understand ways to age well physically, mentally and with mindfulness.
“This programme is meaningful because it brings together our volunteers in the community. They receive training, become trainers, and over a few months they run this programme for our senior residents, providing support for healthy ageing,” said Ms Gan.
Marymount has a large group of residents who care for elderly parents or grandparents, she noted. Her team partnered with Caregiver Alliance Limited to launch a caregiver-to-caregiver course connecting caregivers to learn about self-care.
“Through this, resident caregivers know they’re not alone. They know where they can turn to for help. Also, by taking care of themselves, they can better care for others,” she said. “It’s heartwarming to hear their stories. Each caregiver has a unique story but also many common challenges.”
On supporting families, Ms Gan said preschools like PAP Community Foundation Sparkletots at Bishan North and Shunfu have expanded their services to include infant care so that couples with young children have more childcare options.

Ms Gan said that under Marymount Green Plan, her team partnered with Sengkang Food Rescue more than two years ago to start a weekly food rescue. Residents are invited every Saturday afternoon to collect food nearing its expiration date, deemed unattractive, and unable to be sold, but still safe for consumption.
“Whether you are rich or poor, young or old, everyone can play a part in reducing food wastage.”

As part of the constituency’s Green Plan, Ms Gan’s team initiated a monthly tree planting exercise in 2022 to support the national goal of planting 1 million trees by 2030.
“Marymount wants to do our part in making our environment greener and more beautiful,” Ms Gan said. “Every month, we go to different parts of Marymount to plant trees. This is a meaningful programme which not only contributes to greening, but also brings together families and neighbours.”
Regarding her near-term goals, Ms Gan said the team hopes to reach out to more residents under the Care Plan, especially seniors, caregivers, and families with young children who are in need. Under the Marymount Green Plan, she added they aspire to broaden the scope of their green movement, and recruit more volunteers to help with their weekly food rescue efforts and tree planting initiative.
“There are many things we can do in the community by understanding residents’ needs and partnering with organisations to address them. I find this very meaningful, and we can make a big difference in the lives of our citizens,” she said.