Shakespeare calls senescence the second childhood. And indeed, it is when you think about it in terms of how, just like children, the aged seek help to do their day-to-day activities. However, the difference in both the phases is the ‘hope for tomorrow’—while there is surety for improvement in terms of agility and development in the case of a child, there is almost zero expectation for any progress among the elderly. This is when they are touted as a burden and, further, isolated. While many 23-year-olds had plans that had nothing to do with the outcast elderly folk, Isaiah Chng made the biggest decision of his life—to serve the aged. This was back in 2006, and since then Chng has not turned back.
It was 2007 that Chng became a believer, and God was quick to stir up his heart. He planted visions of things to come in Chng’s heart and sowed a desire in him to serve the elderly. His faith in God watered that seed of desire and with every passing day, all he could think about was serving the elderly. It was an interesting process for Chng considering the fact that he was not particularly close to his grandmother; their dialogues always revolved around just cordial greetings. But God transformed him, inside out.
His heart ached every time he saw the plight of the elderly. He started to volunteer at nursing homes for the aged. And he was taken aback by what he saw there—pain, loneliness, suffering. He saw rooms in these homes with 15 to 20 beds with barely enough space to move. He wanted change especially after he met Auntie Tan (name changed). She suffered from diabetes and it got so severe that the only course of action left for doctors was to do a high amputate of her lower limbs. Chng knew that there was nothing left to do except pray. But she inspired him to put together a wellness programme that would prevent others like her from deteriorating to a similar state. He put together a team that helped with organising exercise sessions, outings and other physical and emotional wellbeing programmes for seniors. Thus began, ProAge.
ProAge is a social enterprise and accredited consultancy for workplace heath, specialising in running health and wellness programmes. Empower Ageing is the charity side of his venture. It is a non-profit organisation that seeks to reverse frailty, social isolation and improve the lives of the elderly with dementia.
The programme saw improvements in muscle strength of the lower limbs of several seniors who enrolled in the sessions. In addition to physical strength, their stamina, as well as depressive symptoms, also saw improvements, thanks to the community and the power of togetherness. Chng says that the journey has not been rosy but he always found strength in God and His Word. And he constantly felt that God was pushing him to do more. God’s supernatural provision was rampant in his life. Over the past 10 years, ProAge has provided subsidised rates of over 200 thousand dollars for exercise classes for senior folks. His vision is not just for Singapore; during Covid times, his team started work in Australia and they look to start the programmes in US as well. Currently, he has 10 full-time staff and 40 associates.
The team has started a challenge in 2018 called the GYM Challenge—Go For Your Mountain. The challenge is jointly organised by Empower Ageing and ProAge. It is an event that hopes to empower the elderly to age well by partnering with seniors, families and communities to encourage the old and young to climb greater heights. In this programme, teams of young and old are trained to climb a mountain together. As part of training, the groups—with at least one member aged 55 years and above in each team—take part in outdoor walks, power training and weight training. At the end of the programme, the teams scale Mount Faber together. And, interestingly, the challenge has seen seniors get off their wheelchairs and go for the climb. Inspired by Caleb’s story in the Bible, Chng was strengthened to pursue all that God had intended for him when he reread the story in the book of Numbers and Joshua. When God spoke to Caleb, He gave him a dream. This dream showed Caleb that God intended Hebron to be his inheritance.
Chng hopes to transform lives and reflect Christ through ProAge and Empower Ageing; he wants to catalyse a shift in the thinking of people when it comes to taking care of the elderly. Everybody’s mountain is different, but it need not be a speed-breaker instead it can be a strength-booster.
When asked how he manages to keep looking forward, Chng says: “Write your vision; Get your experts counsel—both spiritual and subject-related; And don’t give up.” He goes on to say that God has big plans for you and these may not be things that you have thought of. The key here is to just ‘trust and obey’. Remember—”God does not quantify success based on a yardstick of the world.”