If you are retired and healthy, and living in Kiwiland, you would have several options to plan your ageing living lifestyle... Your Own Home, Retirement Village, Retirement Home, Council Housing/Pensioner Unit or Rest Home (if you are elderly and needing long-term care).
Should you get sick and disable, you could then apply for Residential (General) Care or Home Support Services and even Palliative Care. The Government will subsidise the costs, fully or partially dependent on assessment of your Asset Threshold (currently 2010, it stands at $200,000 and if you are above 65 years old).
In addition to the above, there are other specialised care services like Respite Care, Convalescence Care, Dementia Care, Psychogeriatic Care, Specialised High Dependency Care and Home Support Services.
Financial support would be subject to referral by the District Health Board services.
In addition, the NZ Government provides a series of financial assistance to the senior population, depending on eligibility and needs. These include:
Accomodation supplement (variable dependent on individual situation)
Community services card (for reduced medication)
Disability allowance (up to $55.88 a week)
Funeral grant (currently up to $1800)
Living alone payment
NZ Super card (free public transport)
Specialised needs grant (eg hearing aids, dentures etc)
Councial rate rebates (up to $550 for annual income less than $21910)
National travel assistance scheme
Those who qualify for full subsidy to stay in a Rest Home would additionally receive a weekly sundries allowance of $35 and an annual clothing allowance of $246.00.
Abbey Heights Rest Home at Waitakere for example has acccomodation for 24 senior citizens, currently mainly of Asian ethnicities.
For those who can afford a retirement home lifestyle, there are many choices of leasing or owning a home in the Retirement Village, mainly run by profit-making private enterprises. In the Greater Auckland region (with the current population of about 1.4 million), there are at least 50 such villages with size ranges from a dozen units to over 350 units.
Vision Waitakere Gardens Retirement Village is one example where currently a 3-bedroom unit would cost $450,000 (car park additional $18,000 one off). You enter an Occupational Right Agreement with the Management which essentially allows you to live there as long as you are able or willing. You can decide to sell back the unit anytime but the outstanding amount the Management will pay back to you would be as follow:
Year 1 less 7.5% of entry fee (of $450,000) or $333,000
Year 2 less 15% or $306,000
Year 3 less 22.5% or 279,000
Year 4 less 30% or $252,000
Year 5 and beyond $252,000
The unit is not transferrable to any 3rd pary but if one of the occupants dies before the other, then the one remaining can opt to stay on...
There is a monthly service charge of $97.80 for 1 person or $127.40 for 2 persons (current rate subject to change, in consultation with the residents). This service charge covers rates, external building maintenance, building insurance, landscaping and amenities, rubbish disposal, common areas lighting, emergency call systems, staffing and admin & management fees.
You are allowed to have visitors staying with you, normally not more than 30 days at any one time, extension will be subject to Management's approval.
The elderly in NZ are also taken care by the Government under a scheme called NZ Super, which is an entitlement to all NZ residents from age 65 (and having lived in NZ for 3650 days, half of those days since age 50) until death. The current weekly payment (since 1 April 2010) are as follow (maximum after-tax):
Single (living alone) $318.12
Single (sharing) $293.65
Married (both qualify) $489.42
Married (only one qualifies) $244.77
NZ , with a $10.1b defecit, is currently borrowing about $240 million a week for the next 4 years, to support the Social Welfare Benefits Scheme. The Government is now looking at checking any loophole and abuses of the Scheme.
Some statistics of expenditure for the 2008/2009 period (totalled $3.989m) :
Domestic Purpose (97000 recipients) $1.53m
Unemployment (64,000 recipients) $0.586m
Sickness (58,000 recipients) $0.613m
Invalids (85,000 recipients) $1.26m
In order to sustain this scheme, the country must continue to prosper and to attract more young people to contribute to the economic development. Currently, the emigration of young skilled workers to Australia is at its height of 3000 long-term departures in 12 months. Before the global recession in 2008 the average monthly long-term departures was 4200, and it was down to about 2100 in 2009.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Hair Cut 2010 Auckland
A normal no-frill hair cut for men would cost between $12 to $35 in Auckland in the Year of the Tiger (2010), much depending on the location of the barber shop.
A friend introduced his best kept secret recently...
A Shanghainess barber...
Clean, articulate and professional, Experienced and friendly. Speaks Mandarin mainly. It is called Tian Tian (Everyday) and service is available in a home environment. And it is value for money - only $5 per hair cut.
Address: 42 Sanft Avenue, Mt Roskill, Telephone: 6209826
Lest some of my friends may think that this is a ChinaDoll like those roaming in Bolehland, let me kill their imagination right now.
Call up to make an appointment -
he is Mr Foong, 76 years old.
After sharing this piece of information..... one of my friends mentioned that not too long ago, he had also got a $5 hair cut and in addition, was asked by the barber to pick vegetables for free from his garden. Obviously when words went round the town, the garden was quickly reduced to empty vegetable plots!!
A friend introduced his best kept secret recently...
A Shanghainess barber...
Clean, articulate and professional, Experienced and friendly. Speaks Mandarin mainly. It is called Tian Tian (Everyday) and service is available in a home environment. And it is value for money - only $5 per hair cut.
Address: 42 Sanft Avenue, Mt Roskill, Telephone: 6209826
Lest some of my friends may think that this is a ChinaDoll like those roaming in Bolehland, let me kill their imagination right now.
Call up to make an appointment -
he is Mr Foong, 76 years old.
After sharing this piece of information..... one of my friends mentioned that not too long ago, he had also got a $5 hair cut and in addition, was asked by the barber to pick vegetables for free from his garden. Obviously when words went round the town, the garden was quickly reduced to empty vegetable plots!!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friendship - fitting last words
If when you give, you expect the same (in equal quantum or more) in return, then you will probably be disappointed most of the time .... particularly in a human relationship called friendship. You can never get the equivalent reciprocity... as you would have hoped to expect in a business relationship - you scratch my back, I scratch yours... with ulterior motives and hidden favours.... Such foundation of any friendship will not last.
One recent example:
maybe you should think back how i treated you & how i tried ?
whatever you proposed & organised - i supported whenever i can..
so what's your " special " offer now !?
My response:
Sorry, no special offer. Can't be what I am not. Just as I am.
We have to learn to accept and be accepted in a diversed group of people... meaning to be congenial (without compromising on your basic principles), be patient and be understanding..
You just don't always walk away from anything or anywhere whenever you cannot have it your way.... Learn to focus less and less on yourself and you will see more and more good of others and life will be less stressful.
Of course we have the freewill choice to walk away from something so intolerable sometimes.
You are observing and evaluating others and similarly at the same time, others are doing just that too. It works both ways. "Take a good look at yourself and then you can look at others differently.."
One recent example:
maybe you should think back how i treated you & how i tried ?
whatever you proposed & organised - i supported whenever i can..
so what's your " special " offer now !?
My response:
Sorry, no special offer. Can't be what I am not. Just as I am.
We have to learn to accept and be accepted in a diversed group of people... meaning to be congenial (without compromising on your basic principles), be patient and be understanding..
You just don't always walk away from anything or anywhere whenever you cannot have it your way.... Learn to focus less and less on yourself and you will see more and more good of others and life will be less stressful.
Of course we have the freewill choice to walk away from something so intolerable sometimes.
You are observing and evaluating others and similarly at the same time, others are doing just that too. It works both ways. "Take a good look at yourself and then you can look at others differently.."
Honour Your Parents?
The Bible ordains children to honour their parents (e.g Exodus 20:2, Deuteronomy 5;16 and Ephesian 6:10). In every day living, there are many guides on how to bringing up children but rarely books on how to honour parents.... to be courteous and to provide assistance when they are in need, perhaps. For the Chinese, filial piety is one of the virtues expected of each generation. With globalisation and cross cultural interactions, this tradition is no more a guaranteed virtue.
Parents are never perfect and even though their love for the offsprings is often unconditional but sometimes misguided or overwhelmed. Over the generations, love always overflows downwards.... seldom upwards.
How do you expect in the case of Chip St. Clair, who as a child was constantly abused by his parents, who were fugitives (without his knowledge for over 17 years) of serious crimes? Chip's father, Michael Dean Grant was a child murderer of several counts. In fact, Chip was nearly killed by his father - when he was 8 years old, was thrown out of the rowboat into the ice-cold water of Lake Michigan, to swim few hundred metres onto the shore, whilst his father rowed the boat ashore; and on another occasion of being forced by his father to stand on the balcony of his 28th floor apartment, pretending to commit suicide, to shock his mother. The fears and mental torture on this growing child must be beyond the imagination of other children with seemingly normal childhood.
The book, The Butterfly Garden (2007) by Chip St. Clair detailed his ordeals as a child and how he survived living with his dysfunction parents. He found solice and inspiration from this poem by William Ernest Henley (1849-1902):
Out of the night that covers me
Black as the Pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeionings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me , unafraid
It matters not how strait the gate
How charged with punishment the scroll
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul
Chip is now the Regional Director of the Justice for Children (Michigan Chapter), a NGO set up to help abused and neglected children. Chip had found support from his love, his friend and his wife in Lisa, who helped him to overcome his unpleasant childhood and turn it into a strength.
Quoting Chip, "To open up to another to make yourself vulnerable, is the beginning of introspection, the transformation into a butterfly... a butterfly which brings forth our colours from within, not hide them from the world - for they are part of our very being - the pelette of our life's experiences. We must not be afraid to reveal the rainbow buried deep within us to spread our wings and help make the world flourish."
Parents are never perfect and even though their love for the offsprings is often unconditional but sometimes misguided or overwhelmed. Over the generations, love always overflows downwards.... seldom upwards.
How do you expect in the case of Chip St. Clair, who as a child was constantly abused by his parents, who were fugitives (without his knowledge for over 17 years) of serious crimes? Chip's father, Michael Dean Grant was a child murderer of several counts. In fact, Chip was nearly killed by his father - when he was 8 years old, was thrown out of the rowboat into the ice-cold water of Lake Michigan, to swim few hundred metres onto the shore, whilst his father rowed the boat ashore; and on another occasion of being forced by his father to stand on the balcony of his 28th floor apartment, pretending to commit suicide, to shock his mother. The fears and mental torture on this growing child must be beyond the imagination of other children with seemingly normal childhood.
The book, The Butterfly Garden (2007) by Chip St. Clair detailed his ordeals as a child and how he survived living with his dysfunction parents. He found solice and inspiration from this poem by William Ernest Henley (1849-1902):
Out of the night that covers me
Black as the Pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeionings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me , unafraid
It matters not how strait the gate
How charged with punishment the scroll
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul
Chip is now the Regional Director of the Justice for Children (Michigan Chapter), a NGO set up to help abused and neglected children. Chip had found support from his love, his friend and his wife in Lisa, who helped him to overcome his unpleasant childhood and turn it into a strength.
Quoting Chip, "To open up to another to make yourself vulnerable, is the beginning of introspection, the transformation into a butterfly... a butterfly which brings forth our colours from within, not hide them from the world - for they are part of our very being - the pelette of our life's experiences. We must not be afraid to reveal the rainbow buried deep within us to spread our wings and help make the world flourish."
Friday, April 9, 2010
The JM Collection - a preview
Josh and his sister, Abby came over to sleepover at Somerton Rise...
Can't help but capture this series of books being penned by this 8 year old writer.... they will one day be published. This is a sampling preview:
Savers 3 - The Birth of Versa - Will Droy Finally Have An Army?
Recently... Zegbar has managed to steal Droy's plory card, which has his plans. His Master, Greva has been killed, and so it is 3 against 1, until now..
Chapter 1 - Cops and Robbers
"Draket, stay here. I need to get Zegbar," Droy told Draket. He started walking to the transport baty.Droy climbed into a small delivery jet. He decided that even if the Savers 3 could detect him, they won't care about a small delivery jet. Zegbar had stolen Droy's plory card, which had his future plans. "If he finds out about Versa, I am going down, "Droy thought to himself. He opened the transport bay doors, and flew out . Droy flew to the Savers 3's HQ, where he had locked up Vezer and Jaeper, in his invisible mobile prison cell.
Beep! Beep!Beep! Zegbar stopped what he was doing and looked through the camera, "A little delivery jet? Has master Dranger given us another toy?" Zegbar said to himself. He walked closer to a control panel. There was a bright red button labelled, "Transport bay - Open/Close." Zegbar pressed it. Instantly, the doors opened and the jet flew in and landed on the landing pad. Suddenly, Droy forward flipped out of his jet and kicked Zegbar in the face. He fell down unconscious. When his body hit the ground, Zegbar lost grip of the plory card and it was sent flying up into the air. Droy jumped up and caught it .
Suddenly, Vezer and Jaeper came out of nowhere, and instantly attacked Droy. But Droy was ready for them. Just as Jaeper fired a high powered laser at him, Droy jumped out of the way. The laser hit the jet's window which reflected of it, and came back at Jaeper. "AAAGGGHHH!" he shouted. He fell down unconscious.
Droy turned and jumped into his jet's cockpit, "Oh no, you don't," Vezer shouted. But it was too late, Droy flew the jet back to his HQ...
Other titles in the JM Collection on Savers 3 series:
1. The Power Force Battle
2. Droy's Revenge
3. Zegbar's Success
4. The Birth of Versa
5. Dranger's Death
6. Peace At Last
Can't help but capture this series of books being penned by this 8 year old writer.... they will one day be published. This is a sampling preview:
Savers 3 - The Birth of Versa - Will Droy Finally Have An Army?
Recently... Zegbar has managed to steal Droy's plory card, which has his plans. His Master, Greva has been killed, and so it is 3 against 1, until now..
Chapter 1 - Cops and Robbers
"Draket, stay here. I need to get Zegbar," Droy told Draket. He started walking to the transport baty.Droy climbed into a small delivery jet. He decided that even if the Savers 3 could detect him, they won't care about a small delivery jet. Zegbar had stolen Droy's plory card, which had his future plans. "If he finds out about Versa, I am going down, "Droy thought to himself. He opened the transport bay doors, and flew out . Droy flew to the Savers 3's HQ, where he had locked up Vezer and Jaeper, in his invisible mobile prison cell.
Beep! Beep!Beep! Zegbar stopped what he was doing and looked through the camera, "A little delivery jet? Has master Dranger given us another toy?" Zegbar said to himself. He walked closer to a control panel. There was a bright red button labelled, "Transport bay - Open/Close." Zegbar pressed it. Instantly, the doors opened and the jet flew in and landed on the landing pad. Suddenly, Droy forward flipped out of his jet and kicked Zegbar in the face. He fell down unconscious. When his body hit the ground, Zegbar lost grip of the plory card and it was sent flying up into the air. Droy jumped up and caught it .
Suddenly, Vezer and Jaeper came out of nowhere, and instantly attacked Droy. But Droy was ready for them. Just as Jaeper fired a high powered laser at him, Droy jumped out of the way. The laser hit the jet's window which reflected of it, and came back at Jaeper. "AAAGGGHHH!" he shouted. He fell down unconscious.
Droy turned and jumped into his jet's cockpit, "Oh no, you don't," Vezer shouted. But it was too late, Droy flew the jet back to his HQ...
Other titles in the JM Collection on Savers 3 series:
1. The Power Force Battle
2. Droy's Revenge
3. Zegbar's Success
4. The Birth of Versa
5. Dranger's Death
6. Peace At Last
Thursday, April 8, 2010
1988 Personality Profile
This was conducted by the Company in 1988 in an organisational renewal exercise.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicators using the following 8 characteristics - Extraversion(E), Sensing(S), Thinking (T), Judging(J), Introversion(I), iNtuition(N), Feeling(F) and Perceptive(P)
Categorised under a "ESTJ" type which, according to the experts, has the following description:- Practical, realistic, matter-of-fact, with a natural head for business or mechanics. Not interested in subjects they see no use for, but can apply themselves when necessary. Like to organize and run activities. May make good administrators, especially if they remember to consider others' feelings and points of view.
It will be interesting to revisit the similar test done in 1988 to see whether these have changed now, after all these years? Probably - retired and tired?
Myers-Briggs Type Indicators using the following 8 characteristics - Extraversion(E), Sensing(S), Thinking (T), Judging(J), Introversion(I), iNtuition(N), Feeling(F) and Perceptive(P)
Categorised under a "ESTJ" type which, according to the experts, has the following description:- Practical, realistic, matter-of-fact, with a natural head for business or mechanics. Not interested in subjects they see no use for, but can apply themselves when necessary. Like to organize and run activities. May make good administrators, especially if they remember to consider others' feelings and points of view.
It will be interesting to revisit the similar test done in 1988 to see whether these have changed now, after all these years? Probably - retired and tired?
Monday, April 5, 2010
OSA - a first-hand experience
OSA in this case is not Official Secrets Act but instead it stands for Obstrustive Sleep Apnea, a serious sleeping disorder. Severe prolonged OSA can lead to high blood pressure and heart failure.
My friend, Tapora AK has been suffering from this disorder for years without realising it, as he has thought his sleeping was merely affected by his sinus problem, And for more than 10 years, he has lost his sense of smell...
One day he was asked to do a clinical monitoring of his sleeping pattern - a technician came over to his house at night to set up the monitoring probes on his body (polysomnography). After 5 hours of sleep, the monitor revealed to him that he in fact had more than 200 lapses of breathing or cessation of airflow into his lung/body. The pulses of cessation of air intake ranged from 12 seconds to 72 seconds. He is categorised under the severe category (>30 cessations per hour) as opposed to the normal category of <5 cessations per hour. This test cost him RM600.
He was recommended for a surgical procedure to remove his extended growths in the tonsils and turbinate bones. Post operation, his sinus problem is gone and he is now sleeping well with normal air flow into his system.
"It is so good to be able to smell again.....even my own shit!!" said Tapora AK.
My friend, Tapora AK has been suffering from this disorder for years without realising it, as he has thought his sleeping was merely affected by his sinus problem, And for more than 10 years, he has lost his sense of smell...
One day he was asked to do a clinical monitoring of his sleeping pattern - a technician came over to his house at night to set up the monitoring probes on his body (polysomnography). After 5 hours of sleep, the monitor revealed to him that he in fact had more than 200 lapses of breathing or cessation of airflow into his lung/body. The pulses of cessation of air intake ranged from 12 seconds to 72 seconds. He is categorised under the severe category (>30 cessations per hour) as opposed to the normal category of <5 cessations per hour. This test cost him RM600.
He was recommended for a surgical procedure to remove his extended growths in the tonsils and turbinate bones. Post operation, his sinus problem is gone and he is now sleeping well with normal air flow into his system.
"It is so good to be able to smell again.....even my own shit!!" said Tapora AK.
FAQ Christianity
This Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) by intellectuals, as answered by Henry F Schaefer (Professor in computational chemistry, U of Georgia) attracted my attention:
Q: Why are there many hypocrites in the church?
A: Yes, there are people in the church who do not live a life as they profess. God hates such pretense as much as you do. But in businesses, social clubs and other religions all have their hypocrites as well.Christainity stands or falls on the life of Jesus Christ and not on the performance of His followers.Anything in life that is genuine will inspire counterfeits.Don't miss out knowing Jesus because of someone else's failure.
Some reactions from my sharing with my golfing group:
GOD also can hate? I thought he loves everyone including his enemy? For if he can harbour hatred, he is no difference from you and me.
And if he hate hypocrites, then he hates everyone of us. For we are all hypocrites to some degree. Anyone who think he is not hypocrite at all, or has never been a hypocrite all his live. PLS stand up and be counted!!!
I think your response to the FAQ answer is fairly universal amongst imperfect mortals like us. In fact your challenge to stand up is exactly what Jesus asked the crowd when the teachers of the law and Pharisees were putting a woman caught in adultery on trial.
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" (John 8:7)
The need to correct our human failings and to repent is in-built in our conscience... it is up to individuals to work on it, I guess.
Since I started the sharing, let me try to close it by saying that As a simple man I would never attempt to fully understand God;I am sure He does not expect me, being a mere mortal, to be able to explain to others all His actions or "in-actions".
I believe we can make our prayer requests (and not demands) and accept His answers,which could be YES, NO or NOT YET.I believe He is a faithful and a just God.God is not all love and smiling at us all the times... He punishes if we rebel against Him.I will need to try to do my part to live an obedient life.... but admittedly falling and getting lost along the paths of life..
In John 8:11 when all the crowd dispersed without anyone throwing a stone at the adulterous woman, Jesus declared, "Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin." This is one example of God not ignoring or condone her sin, but ready to forgive the sinner.
Don't let human's failures prevent you from knowing Jesus.
Q: Why are there many hypocrites in the church?
A: Yes, there are people in the church who do not live a life as they profess. God hates such pretense as much as you do. But in businesses, social clubs and other religions all have their hypocrites as well.Christainity stands or falls on the life of Jesus Christ and not on the performance of His followers.Anything in life that is genuine will inspire counterfeits.Don't miss out knowing Jesus because of someone else's failure.
Some reactions from my sharing with my golfing group:
GOD also can hate? I thought he loves everyone including his enemy? For if he can harbour hatred, he is no difference from you and me.
And if he hate hypocrites, then he hates everyone of us. For we are all hypocrites to some degree. Anyone who think he is not hypocrite at all, or has never been a hypocrite all his live. PLS stand up and be counted!!!
I think your response to the FAQ answer is fairly universal amongst imperfect mortals like us. In fact your challenge to stand up is exactly what Jesus asked the crowd when the teachers of the law and Pharisees were putting a woman caught in adultery on trial.
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" (John 8:7)
The need to correct our human failings and to repent is in-built in our conscience... it is up to individuals to work on it, I guess.
Since I started the sharing, let me try to close it by saying that As a simple man I would never attempt to fully understand God;I am sure He does not expect me, being a mere mortal, to be able to explain to others all His actions or "in-actions".
I believe we can make our prayer requests (and not demands) and accept His answers,which could be YES, NO or NOT YET.I believe He is a faithful and a just God.God is not all love and smiling at us all the times... He punishes if we rebel against Him.I will need to try to do my part to live an obedient life.... but admittedly falling and getting lost along the paths of life..
In John 8:11 when all the crowd dispersed without anyone throwing a stone at the adulterous woman, Jesus declared, "Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin." This is one example of God not ignoring or condone her sin, but ready to forgive the sinner.
Don't let human's failures prevent you from knowing Jesus.
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