Making It After 60
Retirement is not about giving up, rather it’s about living for enjoyment. Rather than closing a chapter in your life, it’s about opening a new one.

Making It After 60

Grace Chan – Professional Writer in banking, finance and insurance fields
(Article is provided by Manulife (International) Limited)

Retirement is not about giving up, rather it’s about living for enjoyment. Rather than closing a chapter in your life, it’s about opening a new one. Here are just three amazing retirement stories about people in Hong Kong who tried something new and got inspired.

Taking Centre Stage in Retirement
Everyone has dreams they wish would come true. For 70-year-old Helen Tsang, winner of the Outstanding Third Age Citizens Award, retirement was a long-awaited and exciting moment. She enrolled in volunteer training half a year before she retired and in the eight years since, she has studied dance, Chinese music and massage, even going on to teach classes in these subjects herself. She has now taught more than 10 interest classes at the community centers she volunteers at, enjoying the company of friends and living out her dream of being a playwright.

Helen founded her sample clothing factory at the age of 19. In its 40 years of operation, the factory hired several thousand workers. Eight years ago, Helen decided to close her business to pursue a life that she always dreamed of. Half a year before her retirement, Helen enrolled in a certified volunteer training program to gear up for her new life.

“Business is all about money. When I see people doing volunteer work, I see their genuine care for others. Even the elderly who sometimes shy away at the center will suddenly brighten up in the interest classes.” “In my eight years of volunteering, I’ve studied dance, Chinese percussion, Cantonese opera, massage and Chinese medicine. I play the piano and write lyrics to sing with my friends and we also write screenplays and rehearse together,” Helen adds. She calls herself an outgoing person and says the life of a volunteer is packed with excitement and joy from helping others. “I’ve been drawn to drama since the age of 11, and I also love writing. Once I wrote a screenplay over several nights for an exchange activity for retired persons. My team and I rehearsed the play together and we won the grand prize in the contest. It was a childhood dream come true.”

A winner of the Outstanding Third Age Citizens Award for the sixth consecutive year, Helen is the Yuen Long District team leader at Enjoymentelderly Charitable. She and other volunteers organize dinner gatherings for the Winter Festival and Chinese New Year’s Eve to spread love and warmth to those elderly living alone during the holiday season.

Jazzing Things Up
“Work is for making a living, but it’s not what we live for. We should do what we enjoy while we still can,” says PP Ma, the 63-year-old stakeholder of a trading company. A lover of orchestral music, Ma studied the clarinet during his school years but put it aside when he started working. ”In our youth, we must be careful with how we spend our money and accumulate our wealth.” To achieve abundance for his later years, Ma began his retirement saving plan at the age of 40, with a focus on investment that generated substantial income. After retiring at 60, Ma joined Men in Jazz, a music group formed by retired persons. It marked his reunion with the clarinet and his love for music.

“I didn’t finish my clarinet studies in my youth. Now I’m pursuing it again and I jam with my friends. We receive weekly lessons from the tutor of the music group, and we’ve made great progress from being total beginners to competent players.” He says that most members were executives before their retirement, and many put their love for jazz music aside because of their busy work schedules. Now they regularly gather and enjoy music together in their spare time.”

Ma remarks that lessons are jovial and stress-free, as the group members are keen on learning from each other. He also joins the music group in giving free concerts to the community. “We enjoy success, but also place emphasis on a willingness to fail as it provides us with an opportunity to learn.” Cooperation is essential to the music group, where Ma has met many new friends and learnt to be accepting of others. “The elderly are relatively stubborn, especially those of us that came from corporate life. We’ve learnt to embrace our differences by spending time together and learning from one another how to better enrich our lives.”

In the past, Ma spent his days buried in his work. Now he spends his time as he pleases. He also makes time to travel and explore the world, as well as meet his former colleagues for tea, living a life of fulfillment and fun. Adding Value After 60
A former executive at a consultancy firm, Ho Siu Wan retired early at the age of 59 due to work stress. Now a full-time housewife, Ho says, “The life of a housewife was very relaxing at first. But the daily routine of food shopping, cooking and laundry became boring after a few months. My family often wasn’t able to spend time with me and I was rarely in touch with my former colleagues. My social circle kept getting smaller.”

Feeling lonely at home, Ho visited the elderly center nearby on her 60th birthday and offered to do volunteer work. “At the start I only paid visits to those who lived alone, bringing them gifts for the festivals. Gradually I took part in more voluntary work. Now I volunteer whenever the center gives me a call.” She prepares afternoon tea for the elderly at the center once a week. She is also the Sun Ambassador who coordinates the activities for the elderly.

“Being able to spend time with the elderly means they open up to me more. They share with me their memories of suffering during the war as well as happy stories from their lives. It allows me to learn more about the world.” Volunteering has been an opening for Ho to meet people from all walks of life and to expand her social circle, while she lives for the joy of helping others.. “The elderly take delight in the small exchanges. When my elder sister went to the hospital, many of the elderly asked about her and showered me with affection.” Ho admits that she has made more friends since her retirement than before.

“It’s a blessing to help others and it’s not about return. Anything can be accomplished at any age, and life after 60 is still full of rewards. My self-worth has been strengthened because of volunteer work.” Her five years of volunteering has brightened up her life in retirement. Whenever she faces any trouble in her daily life, she talks to her friends at the center. “It’s important to support and care for one another!”

Retirement offers an opportunity to pursue a dream, try your hand at something new, or give back to others in ways you couldn’t while in full-time employment. Helen, Ma and Ho have all found out that some of your greatest successes can come well after you’ve reached 60. Make sure you’re in a position to enjoy them.


Making It After 60

Grace Chan – Professional Writer in banking, finance and insurance fields
(Article is provided by Manulife (International) Limited)

Retirement is not about giving up, rather it’s about living for enjoyment. Rather than closing a chapter in your life, it’s about opening a new one. Here are just three amazing retirement stories about people in Hong Kong who tried something new and got inspired.

Taking Centre Stage in Retirement
Everyone has dreams they wish would come true. For 70-year-old Helen Tsang, winner of the Outstanding Third Age Citizens Award, retirement was a long-awaited and exciting moment. She enrolled in volunteer training half a year before she retired and in the eight years since, she has studied dance, Chinese music and massage, even going on to teach classes in these subjects herself. She has now taught more than 10 interest classes at the community centers she volunteers at, enjoying the company of friends and living out her dream of being a playwright.

Helen founded her sample clothing factory at the age of 19. In its 40 years of operation, the factory hired several thousand workers. Eight years ago, Helen decided to close her business to pursue a life that she always dreamed of. Half a year before her retirement, Helen enrolled in a certified volunteer training program to gear up for her new life.

“Business is all about money. When I see people doing volunteer work, I see their genuine care for others. Even the elderly who sometimes shy away at the center will suddenly brighten up in the interest classes.” “In my eight years of volunteering, I’ve studied dance, Chinese percussion, Cantonese opera, massage and Chinese medicine. I play the piano and write lyrics to sing with my friends and we also write screenplays and rehearse together,” Helen adds. She calls herself an outgoing person and says the life of a volunteer is packed with excitement and joy from helping others. “I’ve been drawn to drama since the age of 11, and I also love writing. Once I wrote a screenplay over several nights for an exchange activity for retired persons. My team and I rehearsed the play together and we won the grand prize in the contest. It was a childhood dream come true.”

A winner of the Outstanding Third Age Citizens Award for the sixth consecutive year, Helen is the Yuen Long District team leader at Enjoymentelderly Charitable. She and other volunteers organize dinner gatherings for the Winter Festival and Chinese New Year’s Eve to spread love and warmth to those elderly living alone during the holiday season.

Jazzing Things Up
“Work is for making a living, but it’s not what we live for. We should do what we enjoy while we still can,” says PP Ma, the 63-year-old stakeholder of a trading company. A lover of orchestral music, Ma studied the clarinet during his school years but put it aside when he started working. ”In our youth, we must be careful with how we spend our money and accumulate our wealth.” To achieve abundance for his later years, Ma began his retirement saving plan at the age of 40, with a focus on investment that generated substantial income. After retiring at 60, Ma joined Men in Jazz, a music group formed by retired persons. It marked his reunion with the clarinet and his love for music.

“I didn’t finish my clarinet studies in my youth. Now I’m pursuing it again and I jam with my friends. We receive weekly lessons from the tutor of the music group, and we’ve made great progress from being total beginners to competent players.” He says that most members were executives before their retirement, and many put their love for jazz music aside because of their busy work schedules. Now they regularly gather and enjoy music together in their spare time.”

Ma remarks that lessons are jovial and stress-free, as the group members are keen on learning from each other. He also joins the music group in giving free concerts to the community. “We enjoy success, but also place emphasis on a willingness to fail as it provides us with an opportunity to learn.” Cooperation is essential to the music group, where Ma has met many new friends and learnt to be accepting of others. “The elderly are relatively stubborn, especially those of us that came from corporate life. We’ve learnt to embrace our differences by spending time together and learning from one another how to better enrich our lives.”

In the past, Ma spent his days buried in his work. Now he spends his time as he pleases. He also makes time to travel and explore the world, as well as meet his former colleagues for tea, living a life of fulfillment and fun. Adding Value After 60
A former executive at a consultancy firm, Ho Siu Wan retired early at the age of 59 due to work stress. Now a full-time housewife, Ho says, “The life of a housewife was very relaxing at first. But the daily routine of food shopping, cooking and laundry became boring after a few months. My family often wasn’t able to spend time with me and I was rarely in touch with my former colleagues. My social circle kept getting smaller.”

Feeling lonely at home, Ho visited the elderly center nearby on her 60th birthday and offered to do volunteer work. “At the start I only paid visits to those who lived alone, bringing them gifts for the festivals. Gradually I took part in more voluntary work. Now I volunteer whenever the center gives me a call.” She prepares afternoon tea for the elderly at the center once a week. She is also the Sun Ambassador who coordinates the activities for the elderly.

“Being able to spend time with the elderly means they open up to me more. They share with me their memories of suffering during the war as well as happy stories from their lives. It allows me to learn more about the world.” Volunteering has been an opening for Ho to meet people from all walks of life and to expand her social circle, while she lives for the joy of helping others.. “The elderly take delight in the small exchanges. When my elder sister went to the hospital, many of the elderly asked about her and showered me with affection.” Ho admits that she has made more friends since her retirement than before.

“It’s a blessing to help others and it’s not about return. Anything can be accomplished at any age, and life after 60 is still full of rewards. My self-worth has been strengthened because of volunteer work.” Her five years of volunteering has brightened up her life in retirement. Whenever she faces any trouble in her daily life, she talks to her friends at the center. “It’s important to support and care for one another!”

Retirement offers an opportunity to pursue a dream, try your hand at something new, or give back to others in ways you couldn’t while in full-time employment. Helen, Ma and Ho have all found out that some of your greatest successes can come well after you’ve reached 60. Make sure you’re in a position to enjoy them.