A generational divide? No, our ahmas and ahgongs are already environmentalists

my ahma birdwatching

Why doesn’t the older generation care as much about climate change as the younger ones? For years, we’ve heard this narrative again and again. They don’t seem as concerned nor as vocal as younger activists, reports insist. Even when surveys such as the 2021 OCBC Climate Index show that the elderly are more likely to take public transport and save electricity or water at home, we hesitate to believe whether this demonstrates a greater desire to protect the planet or a greater desire to cut costs. After all, we’ve seen the mushrooming of youth climate groups recently, but have scarcely heard our ahmas and ahgongs expressing support for a plastic bag charge.

We need our elderly to be more environmentally conscious, some sigh. Some go further, saying that change will happen once the older generation passes on and the younger generation, supposedly more ‘woke’ and ‘better’ environmental stewards , takes over instead. But does this really make sense — if old people are the problem, then when their generation is gone, the climate crisis will automatically be solved, right?

On a deeper level of analysis, the idea is not only ludicrous, but it is also rather chilling that we speak of them in the same language as we do fossil fuels — they are essentially obstacles to climate action that need to be ‘phased out’. But long-term buy-in of this narrative has also ingrained into the young a harmful binary: your generation destroyed the planet. Mine will be the one to save it.

Many have tried explaining this apparent phenomenon. Maybe the elderly are indifferent because they don’t have as much stake in the future as young people do. Maybe they are ignorant because they face a language barrier in receiving environmental news in today’s English-saturated media landscape. Maybe they are dismissive because they do not use social media, the house of environmental activism.

I was once a believer of this narrative too. When I was 17, I conducted a workshop on plastic pollution for the elderly, hoping to spread the environmental message to an age group I saw as marginalised.

But now I realise that the dominant narrative of them as ‘needing to be educated’ sidelines and incapacitates the elderly in the climate movement. Singling this age group out firstly distracts us from seeing that the issue is systemic. It reinforces misconceptions such as that the climate change can and should be solved by individual actions; those who do not adopt environmentally friendly habits should essentially be faulted for and blamed. This polarisation between the “good” and the “bad” constructs a dangerous myth that unfairly excludes and penalises the wrong people.

This essay does not aim to romanticise the older generation, traditional practices and worldviews of the past. Indeed, there are many harmful ideologies that have been passed down through the generations and still need to be uprooted. And of course present-day environmental narratives are not irrelevant; we still need to reduce plastic usage and eat less meat. Neither does this essay dispute data showing generational differences, such as that the old are less likely to experience climate anxiety than the youth. Rather, I aim to undo the prejudices and preconceived notions that much of our society harbours about the elderly. No progress on the climate narrative can be made if our eyes are blurred with such an age-discriminatory stance.

In general, rather than seeing the masses as greedy resource-takers, the transition from low-carbon lifestyles of the past to the buy-and-throwaway lifestyles we collectively lead today demonstrates that our economic system today makes us live in excess; it creates new habits to sustain that excess. People couldn’t have suddenly turned greedy overnight, or be said to possess such innate tendencies, if they had long been living in societies devoid of them. Our overproduction and pollution epidemic today has steadily ballooned thanks to certain economic policies. Having lived through the old and new eras, the elderly are perhaps best positioned to speak of that transition.

On the other hand, the typical characterisation of the elderly as ‘ignorant’, ‘uncaring’, or needing to ‘educated’, bespeaks moral superiority and underestimates their innate capabilities. The elderly are treasure troves of cultural heritage, which is crucial to the fight against erosion of local culture.

Similar to Indigenous wisdom, local culture and its preservation is an important but under-recognised climate strategy in our ever-modernising Singapore. Singapore’s climate strategy has typically been techno-centric, which makes fringe improvements to a fundamentally problematic high-resource lifestyle. As mentioned in the introduction, the elderly are the age group with the least resource-intensive habits. While one could argue that it is driven by cost savings, it would be woefully inaccurate to say that cost alone dictates the elderly’s lifestyle choices. While the young today grow up hearing the sustainability narrative over and over again, while the elderly by and large grew up in frugality, simplicity and neighbourliness — which, if needs are adequately met, are in fact principles central to environmentalism.

Still, far from being passive victims of the carbon-intensive system, the elderly are also our active climate solutions providers. As above, we must continue to diversify our understanding of climate action and dismantle stereotypes of what ‘climate solutions’ mean. Without outrightly brandishing their humble work as ‘green jobs’ as is so often performed in the corporate world, they are most certainly the best native environmental stewards. At Ground-Up Initiative, I see the elderly’s power in the way they know so many different ways of composting and regenerating the dead soil. At Repair Kopitiam, I see the elderly’s power in the way they teach us how to repair broken electronic devices and equipment. At my neighbourhood, I see the elderly’s power in the garang guni, who goes around collecting items for recycling and tells people what can or cannot be recycled. At my grandmother’s house, I see the elderly’s power in her nimble fingers fixing a torn dress or worn-out elastic.

They are living examples of what a more sustainable lifestyle could look like. So why are we failing to keep the conversation focused on them? Why are we fixated on their technological counterparts, when these low-carbon and human-centric solutions already exist in place?

Finally, given that they are one of the most vulnerable age groups to the effects of climate change, their voices should be given greater attention to when they speak up on climate adaptation and building of a more liveable city. Indeed, steering greater climate resilience goes in tandem with our preparation for an ageing population, for the two goals are quite aligned. Unfortunately, “ageing population” still largely elicits negative sentiments, and ideas of ‘burdensome’ today. But a society that centres inclusion of vulnerable people, that prioritises a slow culture and care work rather than glorifies overwork, fights against the same exploitative culture that destroys the environment.

Growing up in different eras, we have learnt to connect differently to nature. For instance, while the youth may wax lyrical about the intrinsic value of nature, the elderly may be inclined to adopt a more utilitarian ideology. I remember my grandma pointing to a crab at Changi beach, saying,‘That one can eat anot?’.

Is that wrong? It is both unrealistic and unfair to expect everyone to conform to the typical ‘environmentally-friendly’ behaviour in order to regard someone as practising environmental stewardship. A more just approach considers individuals’ diverse entry points and lived experiences, and applies a comprehensive and inclusive lens towards validating and encouraging climate work. Classifying their apparent ‘environmental inactive’ underestimates their knowledge and power to drive change.

At COP27 this year, I saw how the call for climate action and climate justice was echoed by people of different ages. We have long championed for solidarity across races, nationalities and income levels in the climate movement, for it is only when we empathise with people whom we never know and never meet, do we have the capacity to reject systems that may have disproportionately benefitted ourselves. In a similar vein, let us advocate for inter-generational solidarity. Let us re-focus our climate strategy to be more elderly-centric, and allow their simple philosophy to guide the way we lead our life.

Were we to finally recognise the untapped potential of the elderly, the climate message can travel so much further, and penetrate so much deeper. Our understanding of climate activism would shift from ‘protesters’ to old aunties and uncles in the coffee shop. An expansive understanding liberates not only the elderly but us all.