In 2009:
Straits Times, Feb
10:
SINGAPOREANS could consider living in nursing
homes in neighbouring Johor Baru, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan
suggested yesterday.
It would be cheaper, yet be near enough to
Singapore for family members to visit and for residents to return
for medical care if necessary, he said.
He told Parliament yesterday that he recently
visited a site in Johor Baru where a Singaporean investor was
planning to build a 200-bed nursing home.
He asked the investor about the costs involved,
and was stunned at how low they were.
He said: ‘It is mind-boggling. The cost of land
and construction cost is so low that my cost of putting up just a
polyclinic (in Singapore) is probably more than his cost of putting
up a 200-bed nursing home (in Johor Baru).
‘The monthly cost of keeping a resident in a
private nursing home in Singapore, you can stretch it easily to pay
at least 2-1/2 months of nursing home care in Johor
Baru.’
If any medical problems cropped up, the elderly
could be taken back to Singapore by ambulance, he
said.
For most Singaporeans, visiting a relative in a
Johor Baru nursing home would not pose significant difficulties, he
said.
The investor, who is a nursing home chief
executive, told him that many people visited their relatives
weekly, even in nursing homes in Singapore.
Mr Khaw added: ‘Of course many visit daily, but
quite a significant number visit only during the weekends, so what
is the difference in putting them in Johor Baru?’